How to research school districts?

Question

We all know that a property situated in a good school district tends to be rented faster and a tenant stays longer.  So, if you are a buy and hold investor, researching a school district in which a particular property is located is important.

But, when you screen properties, how do you go about searching school districts?
Is there any good on-line website you use?  Is there any criteria you use to determine whether a particular property is located in a good school district or not (such as 2 miles within an elementary school with 5 star rating etc)??

Rob K. · Answer

This is one of my favorite sites. Gives a lot of info you don't get in other places. Like how many kids get free or reduced price lunches.

http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch/

Greg B. · Answer

http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/account/

Greg B. · Answer

It depends on what state you live in.

In Texas you can search the TEA website for school academic ratings and demographic breakdowns.  However, be aware that the rankings usually change annually and can drop.   Texas is in the middle of changing the state testing so the ratings are going to be stale for about 2 years until they get it running again.

Judging by academic, standardized testing is one method of rating a school.  Another may be by fine arts programs offered or how well their athletic teams perform or if they have great playground equipment or etc.

I would think that each state has an online public access source for checking out local school data.  Good luck.

Sheree H. · Answer

Another site I use is schooldigger.com. Also second Greg's suggestion for using city-data.com for a good place to ask for subjective opinions and personal experiences.

Account Closed · Answer

this is the gov's direct feedback on school performance:

API for California Schools

I'd do a search on google for similar in your area: "xxx department of education"

like other dem sites do w/census data, i'm sure the school comp sites (i.e., greatschools, school rankings, etc.) take that data and piggy back on top of it w/their special formula to provide school district data/performance.

Jennifer Lee · Answer

Second city-data.com

Brian Gibbons · Answer

Hey buddy!

1. GreatSchools.org
2. NeighborhoodScout.com

Ask @Bill Walston too!

John Jackson · Answer

Brian Gibbons  has a site he recommends....Brian..what site is that you refer to?
neighborhoodscout.com  ?

Account Closed · Answer

you can start with contacting the school district's office to ask for a map (online) showing ea school's attendance boundaries. let them know that you'd like to see the boundary map so u can find out what homes/area specific schools serve.

as for school data, u can find that thru sites like greatschools.org or go to gov site (do a google search) and find API scores to give u an idea of school testing scores per grade.

Sharon Rolel · Answer

I use this:

http://compareschoolrankings.org

They have a google powered map for ratings, but mostly for Canada. Maybe you can find something like this in the US..

How to research school districts?

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