Useful Web sites

Statewide school information: The state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction maintains a Web site with extensive information about individual schools and districts, including: an archive of test scores, demographic information, a breakdown of the state's academic standards and financial snapshots of each district.

Test-score analysis: Student achievement data for every school in the state can be found at a Web site maintained by the Washington School Research Center at Seattle Pacific University and funded through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Washington Mutual. Researchers use test-score data to measure each school's "opportunity gap," or the difference between a school's performance and the average of the highest-performing schools in the state with similar or more challenging student populations.

Grade-level standards: Is your child learning everything he should know in kindergarten, first grade and beyond? Many districts have further honed the state's broad academic standards with more specific grade-level standards. The Federal Way School District offers a thorough list of specific learning expectations by grade level on its Web site. Select the grade you are interested in under "grade-level expectations."

Children with disabilities: Check out the Web page for Washington Parents are Vital in Education, which works to promote independence, empowerment and future opportunities for people with disabilities. Another Web site is the federally funded National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities.

Choosing a kindergarten: The National Association for the Education of Young Children offers many free and low-cost publications that discuss the care and education of children.

How children learn: The Talaris Institute, a Seattle-based nonprofit institute launched by local philanthropists Bruce and Jolene McCaw, studies early brain development in children from birth to age five. The institute's mission is to sponsor scientific studies on early brain and behavioral development and then translate the research findings into useful tools and information for parents, caregivers and others.

The Educator's Reference Desk: AskERIC was a federally funded clearinghouse of information run by education experts that provided education information to teachers, parents and anyone else with a question. A collection of the questions is archived on the Reference Desk site.

U.S. Department of Education: A series of publications with school information for parents, including the "Helping your Child" series with tools and activities for learning at home, can be found on the U.S. Department of Education's Web site.

Standardized tests and what they mean: Harcourt Educational Measurement, one of the many companies that produces standardized tests, offers information for parents that explains the meaning of standardized tests and terms.

Legislative Evaluation and Accountability Program: The LEAP committee was created by the state Legislature in 1977 to be an independent source for developing budgets and tracking budget and revenue activity. LEAP provides four reports on school-district enrollment, staffing, revenue and expenditure.