The Development and Use of School Profiles

Abstract

School profiles, report cards, performance reports, and accountability reports are all common labels for reports used to inform the public about the status of schools. (In this chapter, "school profiles" is used in place of the litany of labels that are used across settings.) Contained in the school profiles are indicators of school performance, which include such quantitative information as student attendance rates, pupil/teacher ratio, and grade-level achievement scores. In some profiles, qualitative indicators about school performance provide information about school and community partnerships and awards received by the school. Potential audiences for school-level profiles include parents, real estate agents, principals, teachers, superintendents, and school board members. Although also potential consumers of school report card information, less than a third of the general public and about 50% of educators report having seen a school profile (Olson, 1999).