Top Detroit Schools Named By Excellent Schools Detroit

DETROIT, June 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Detroit parents, educators, community leaders and policy makers are getting a comprehensive and updated tool to help them find the top schools and educational resources with the release of the Excellent Schools Detroit (ESD) K-12 Scorecard that makes it easy to find the information. 

"The 2015 Scorecard features improved information on school performance, including student growth, college readiness and success measures; and school climate surveys," Excellent Schools Detroit CEO Dan Varner said.

All the information will be available on the ESD website: http://scorecard.excellentschoolsdetroit.org/

"Our focus on the top schools in Detroit is designed to drive improvements in all schools for all students," Varner said.  "We hope parents and policy makers use this information to choose and improve schools."

ESD graded more than 200 K-8 and high schools that serve Detroit students.

The top K-8 schools are: Chrysler Elementary, Davison Elementary-Middle School, Bates Academy, University Prep Science and Math, Burton International School, Hamtramck Academy, Detroit Merit Charter School, Charles Wright School, Martin Luther King, Jr. Education Center and Great Oaks Academy.

The top high schools are: Renaissance High School, Cass Tech High School, University High School, Detroit Cristo Rey High School, Henry Ford Academy and Communications and Media Arts High School.

While there are bright spots, the overall results continue to show Detroit schools need significant future improvements, as well as to highlight good and weak performance in Detroit Public Schools, charter and Education Achievement Authority schools, according to ESD.

The K-12 Scorecard grades included school climate survey data from students, teachers and parents in addition to test scores.  Nearly 4,000 teachers across all grade levels and more than 37,000 students in grades 4-12 participated in this year's 5Essentials Survey.  More than 10,000 parents from more than 60 schools also participated in a pilot survey.

A new college success measure has been added that accounts for 40 percent of a high school's grade, giving information about how likely it is that a student will graduate high school on time, and enroll and persist (continue) in college.

A new measurement element was developed through a partnership with the Education Policy Initiative at the University of Michigan's Ford School of Public Policy, the Michigan Department of Education and the Center for Education Performance and Information. ESD was able to measure student growth in an apples-to-apples manner across all schools for the first time. 

The ESD website http://scorecard.excellentschoolsdetroit.org/ will also regularly update school enrollment data, including lottery, application information, and available seats.  Feedback will continuously be added to keep the website fresh.

"This scorecard allows us to not only showcase the latest K-12 Scorecard, but also serves as a tool for ongoing educational communication that parents of children of all ages seek but can't find elsewhere," Varner said.  "As state policy shifts toward empowering every family to choose a school, we're providing the critical service of information."

The 2015 Early Learner Scorecard, a separate scorecard for preschool and early childhood programs, was released in May highlighting the top 140 early education programs in Detroit and within a five-mile radius in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.

Excellent Schools Detroit K-12 Scorecard and its searchable information can be seen at http://scorecard.excellentschoolsdetroit.org/.

About Excellent Schools Detroit: Excellent Schools Detroit seeks to create the conditions necessary to ensure an excellent education for every Detroit child, cradle-to-career, by the year 2020. This goal was established by a coalition of Detroit's civic, community, education, and philanthropic leaders.  Excellent Schools Detroit was established by that coalition in 2011 as an independent nonprofit organization charged with coordinating coalition members and other institutions in the education sector, especially with regard to the issues of talent, accountability, and new school development; identifying and, when necessary, filling gaps in the education ecosystem resulting in poor outcomes for students; and organizing the Detroit community to demand and support excellence in educational services and outcomes. For more information on Excellent Schools Detroit, please visit http://www.excellentschoolsdetroit.org/en.

SOURCE Excellent Schools Detroit

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http://www.excellentschoolsdetroit.org/en