Metro Atlanta Elementary School Rankings showed that student academic achievement varied significantly among the Metro Atlanta area’s elementary schools.  While there are certainly a variety of factors that impact student performance, one important factor may be the school’s diversity.

Take a look at the graph below.  You can clearly see that schools with higher diversity also have higher academic achivement.  As always, we have to remember that correlation does not necessarily reflect a cause & effect relationship.  However, the findings certainly give Metro Atlanta’s parents cause to at least consider diversity when enrolling their children.

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As parents make decisions about the schools their children attend, having access to useful performance data is informative.  As a resident of Atlanta and someone interested in public education, I have been surprised at the lack of accessible information.  So, I set out to compile a ranking of academic performance in Metro Atlanta´s public schools.

I have ranked each of Metro Atlanta´s public elementaryschools considering both the school´s overall performance (40%) and it´s performance relative to peer schools (60%).  Peer schools are schools whose students have a similar level of needs.  In my analysis, economic disadvantage, English language learners, ethnicity, and special education are each considered in determining a school´s level of needs.  A more technical explanation is provided in the linked methodology.   

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