I don’t have faith in any standardized test scores. As I posted above, they are primarily a reflection of school demographics, and the demographic information is readily available. So that simply wasn’t something that I looked at or considered in choosing schools for my kids.
Inflated as in large. Not artificially enhanced.
Hard to generically equate affluent areas with high test scores. Certainly not the case where I live. Every state is different. Living in FL, we have massive county wide school systems that are poorly run. Our affluent area’s public HSs have well over 50% free lunch programs. Trust me, no one who lives here needs a free lunch. We have a large busing system and the school demographics are nowhere close to the area demographics. Unfortunately many “locals” have opted out and go to private schools or public charters.
Where I grew up, suburbs of Boston, school demographics were far more consistent with town demographics and I Imagine test scores would follow. That’s a situation where people are more inclined to move to a certain town to get to a better high school.
In Tampa, 9th largest school district in the country, it’s a free for all. Although we have a neighborhood school, our kids can attend one of 5 or 6 public schools (not counting charters) provided there’s space available. It’s crazy.