NonPublic Schools: Part IV--Academic Program

• NonPublic Schools: Part I--Overview
• NonPublic Schools--Part II Evaluating Mission, Values, & Goodness of Fit for Your Child
• NonPublic Schools--Part III Faculty and Staff Qualifications
• NonPublic Schools--Part IV: Evaluating Academic Program
• NonPublic Schools:Part V--On Accreditation
• NonPublic Schools:Part VI--More Detail on Financial Issues: IRS Status

The Academic Program
Most if not all states now have state educational standards, which are articulated to a greater or lesser degree. For example, you can read California's state standards at
 
http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/
 
You should ask:

• How does the private school's curriculum align with state standards?

However, many state content standards are "a mile wide and an inch deep". A private school may elect to cover one area in more depth and not attend to other areas.

More questions to ask:

Authority to Issue Report Cards and Diplomas

• What is the school's authorization to issue report cards, diplomas and transcripts?
 
• What accreditations or guarantees does this school offer that the next level of schooling will accept their diplomas, transcripts, report cards and transfer credits? (Also see the section on accreditation)
 

 

Curriculum Evaluation

• Is the curriculum one-size-fits-all, or does the school discuss differentiated instruction?*
 
• Is the curriculum one-size-fits-all, or does the school practice ability tracking? (ie, "honors" or "advanced placement")
 
• If the curriculum is "one-size-fits-all", what enrichment opportunities are there for the more able students?
 
• If the school has tracks, how does a student move up and down the track?
 
• Is there a curriculum map for the school?
 
• (For schools serving grades k-5) What is the philosophy of reading instruction?  Is the reading curriculum research based?
 
• (For schools serving grades 6-12) Are reading lists for the grades available?
   
• What is the articulation between grades?
 

 

Student Success Indicators

• What is the success rate of students leaving this school at the next schooling level?
 
• What is the school’s evidence of the successful placement of their graduates in the next level of schooling?
 
• Does the school use annual standardized testing to evaluate the school's effectiveness and student progress?
 
• If yes, what testing programs are used?  (A partial list of such tests follows)
  
  
  • Educational Records Bureau (ERB), http://www.erbtest.org/pages/ERB_about.html
  
  
  • Thurbur's Educational Assessments supply the California Achievement Tests (CAT5) http://thurbers.net/teatests.html
  
  
  • Iowa Test of Basic Skills, http://www.education.uiowa.edu/itp/itbs/
  
  
  • Stanford Achievement Test 10, http://harcourtassessment.com/HAIWEB/Cultures
    /en-us/Productdetail.htm?Pid=SAT10C
    i>
    
• How do the student results of testing at this school compare with other schools and with national and statewide norms?
 
• How does the school use the results of standardized testing (ie, to improve teaching, to provide benchmarks for parents, and so on)?

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*Good web resources on differentiated instruction:

http://www.cast.org/publications/ncac/ncac_diffin
struc.html

http://www.frsd.k12.nj.us/rfmslibrarylab/di/diffe
rentiated_instruction.htm

• NonPublic Schools: Part I--Overview
• NonPublic Schools--Part II Evaluating Mission, Values, & Goodness of Fit for Your Child
• NonPublic Schools--Part III Faculty and Staff Qualifications
• NonPublic Schools--Part IV: Evaluating Academic Program
• NonPublic Schools:Part V--On Accreditation
• NonPublic Schools:Part VI--More Detail on Financial Issues: IRS Status