How to Research a School District

Sites like www.greatschools.org will give you testing results, rankings, statistics and parent reviews.

The best place to start would be with the State Board of Education. Here is NH's website. http://www.ed.state.nh.us/education/board/index.htm On the left hand side they have several different categories. Look for Data and Reports, district report cards, etc. This can be a little overwhelming at first, but its definitely a great place to start. Also if you can narrow it down to a few different districts you can go visit the schools office to get info directly from them. Check out the neighborhoods and talk to some of the parents/ families in the area. Getting their opinions can also be a big bonus. Good luck, hope this info helps you get started. :)

We can get state scores online in the state of OH. I type in the school district and get information there. I recently moved and did this with my son starting first grade. My parents did it a few years ago with my brother in high school when they HAD to move for the first time in 26 years!
You can call the districts up, visit their schools, find out long term goals and if they have the ability to meet increase demand in population.
Also, find out how the district taxes you. Some districts have property taxes, some have income taxes and some (like the one I moved into AHH) has both. Find out how that money is allocated.
Discuss how they handle children with disabilities even if your child has none, other children may affect his day. I learned this because this year my son grade has two classes. One has 27 kids but fewer with IEP's and the other has 25 kids but more children with IEP's. I'm sure it's similar in most schools but can be frusterated at times when dealing with many difficult children.
Visit the schools during program nights or preformances open to public and such to see the other parents and the turn out of people that support their children.
Remember many districts, at least in OH, have MANY elementary schools. Just because one elementary school is good, one might be bad. You will have to look at elementary school lines within a district also.

Try
www.schooldigger.com

I just discovered www.greatschools.org the other day and it ranked all the schools in our state on a variety of measures; ie test scores, diversity, budget etc. Also has parent ratings. I couldn't believe that this info was out there, as I'd tried looking when we were contemplating a move about a year ago, and could find nothing of the sort. I am happy to pass it on now that I know it is there. If it has your state, (which I think it probably does seeing as how it has little old Rhode Island - LOL) then I think you will likely be very pleased with the info available to you.
Good luck to you.

In my state we have the chalkboard project which is where people can grade the school districts. Each school district has their own website but people can vote, etc. on the chalkboard website. I would see if you're state/city has something like that.

I have some experience with this -- I've moved, on average, every two years my whole life. My kids are all grown now so it's been a few years since I've researched schools. Also, there are resources available now that weren't when my kids were younger. But here's what I've found: As one poster already said, elementary schools can vary greatly by district. You have to look at each one individually and not just the district as a whole. That is less true for middle schools and high schools.

Test scores are a good place to start, but they don't tell the whole picture. Same with rankings. If you're going to consider high schools when making your choice, look at the percentage of students who graduate and the percentage of graduates who go on to college and graduate from college. If those numbers are low, especially the h.s. graduation rate, I would want to know why. Keep in mind, though, that all those things are statistics. They don't tell the whole story. If student starts school there and moves away, they are counted as not graduating. So a school near an military base, for instance, would probably have a low number for graduates. But a higher number for those who went on to college and graduated from college.

Definitely visit the schools you're considering. Most schools administrators will be happy to meet with you and show you around if you make an appointment. I would tell you take in to consideration how your child learns, what environment she's comfortable in, etc. But she's not really old enough to know that. Make a list of questions that are important to you, as others have suggested, and take it with you when you visit schools.

Having said all that, I've found that word of mouth is very reliable. If you keep hearing that such and such school is good, it most likely is. And vice versa. There will always be one or two people who don't like a particular school and there will always be some people who don't have a problem with a less than desirable school. In general, though, there will be a consensus. Talk to lots of people. Ask which are the best schools in the area. In my experience, people will be happy to tell you.

Good luck.

One thing I would add to this list is, once you narrow it down to a district or two, ask the principal how they handle fundraising. If there is an active parent group, that's good. If they need to do a huge amount of fundraising just to meet basic needs, that's a red flag. If it's for enrichment, that can be a good thing. Also find out if their fundraising projects are things like silent auctions and ice cream socials or can/bottle drives or even book fairs (all good), or if they expect the kids to go door-to-door selling wrapping paper or candy bars, especially if they give prizes to the big sellers which is really the kids whose parents take the forms to their big offices (a big no-no).

look for groups on facebook, and look at their websites.