The U.S. Department of Education has somber news: math and reading proficiency among high school seniors is trending down. The department found that only 26% of high school seniors nationwide are proficient or above in math and only 38% are proficient or above in reading.
Test results are offered to the public through the Nation’s Report Card. In this report, consumers can see which schools in their state fared the worst and the best, and how states stacked up against each other.
Home Buyers Need to Know
For consumers, knowing scores like these can have a substantial impact on their real estate decisions. Home buyers consistently show that school performance is a top concern: the Brookings Institution reported that 24% of families choosing schools, the largest group in the survey, purchased their current home so their kids could attend a particular school.
And in Realtor.com’s NAR Field Guide: Schools and the Home Buying Decision, three out of five home buyers said that school boundaries affect their decision to buy a home. The study also shows that many buyers will pay more or sacrifice amenities – like greater square footage or a larger yard – to buy a property in a neighborhood served by a highly ranked school.
Complete School Solution for Home Buyers: Maponics and GreatSchools
Maponics School Boundaries™ is the first commercial boundary dataset to include school attendance zone boundaries in addition to school districts and school points. Although school district data has been available for years, it’s typically the school attendance zone, not the district, that determines the public school a student will attend. To understand which school is assigned to their potential new home, consumers need to see their school attendance zone.
But how well does that school perform? GreatSchools data, which customers can license with Maponics School Boundaries, answers this question. GreatSchools Ratings provide a simple way to compare students’ academic performance at one school versus others in the state. GreatSchools also offers more than one million school reviews by parents, teachers, and students, which gives consumers vital information from the people who know the school best.
With Maponics School Boundaries and GreatSchools ratings and reviews, consumers have the information they need to choose the right home for their families. Contact us to find out more.