I can’t speak for California schools, but I can speak as a public school teacher and father of two children in public schools. The great schools rating isn’t a bad metric, nor are the state scores. That said sometimes it doesn’t say all. For example my daughter first atteneded a school that scored a 10. It was a good curriculum, good teaching, and good school. However, we always felt the teacher neglected our daughter more than the other students (perhaps just helicopter parents, perhaps because she was the only non-white kid in the class). In addition the parents were involved but very materialistic, very instangrammy. Not very Mustachian. When we moved to our current house, the school has the same metrics with staye tests, but a six according to great schools. We love it. The teachers go above and beyond, there are always volunteers, many community nights and it’ packed and the school is bery diverse. Our daughter has more confidence and now four years later in the fourth grade is the VP of the kids coding group. When I volunteer there, I’m always jotting down ideas to use in my classroom.
As a teacher, I’ve taught in the worst schools and the best schools (seriously, Science and Engineering Magnet, look it up). A curriculum is just a guide. A school can go over a curriculum that’s a mile wide, an inch deep, and just become good at recall. A good guide to a school that I’ve seen as both parent and teacher.
1:) Are the community and the parents involved? As much as politicians like to bash teachers, this is the buggest reason to success. They are called “public” schools for a reason.
2.) Is there a school wide discipline plan in place. It doesn’t matter so much what it is, as long as all are doing it.
3.) This isn’t scientific polling but ebery good Principal and every bad principal has responded the same way to this statement. When I meet with a new principal, I always tell them, tha I cannot promise all my students will pass the atate exam. I can promise however, that I can build and put in learning strategies to make the student an autonomous thinker and that in three years he will pass the test in my subject and others. A good principal is excited to hear that strategy and understands that eith young learners sometimes you have to individualize and play small ball to make it home. Bad principal want to hear what I’ll do to ensure all pass now, which results in teaching testing strategies and not learning strategies.
I hope this helps a bit.