A transparent, source-data-only methodology built on the California Department of Education public datasets. No proprietary surveys, no anonymous parent reviews, no demographic inputs.
The Aegis School Excellence Index is a 1 to 10 rating produced for every public school in our coverage area. The score is built only from objective, publicly reported data published by the California Department of Education (CDE). Each school's underlying components and the final score are recalculated annually as new CDE data is released.
The methodology is intentionally simple to read and to audit: every input is a published number, every weight is documented below, and every school's score can be reproduced from the inputs without internal adjustments.
What we never use. Racial, ethnic, or income demographic data is not used as an input or as a tiebreaker, displayed on any rating page, or referenced in any visualization. Anonymous parent reviews are not collected and not consulted. Schools are not assigned to homes or addresses; ratings are educational information only.
Data Sources
California Department of Education (CDE) Datasets
Eight CDE datasets feed the index. All are publicly downloadable from the CDE site:
Data vintage: each rating cycle uses the most recent complete academic year published by CDE. The current rating cycle reflects the 2024 to 2025 school year.
Current data cycle
2024-2025 school year
Last full data refresh
October 2025
Next expected CDE release
Fall 2026 (2025-2026 school year)
Components & Weights
Five Components, Two Weight Sets
Each school's raw component scores feed into a weighted composite. High schools and K-8 schools use different weight sets because the College Readiness component is only reportable at the high school level.
High Schools
Proficiency
35%
ELA + Math composite
Growth
30%
Year-over-year score change
Equity
10%
Performance gap, not demographics
Environment
10%
Suspension rate, attendance
College Ready
15%
A-G, AP, CCI
K-8 Schools (no College Readiness)
Proficiency
41%
ELA + Math composite
Growth
35%
Year-over-year score change
Equity
12%
Performance gap, not demographics
Environment
12%
Suspension rate, attendance
Side-by-Side Weight Comparison
Component
High School
K-8
Proficiency
35%
41%
Growth
30%
35%
Equity
10%
12%
Environment
10%
12%
College Readiness
15%
N/A
Where Equity or Environment is null at the school level, we inherit the district's published average rather than substituting zero. This avoids penalizing schools where CDE redacts small-N reporting cells.
After the weighted composite is computed, each school is mapped to a 1 to 10 rating using a modified decile distribution computed across the full statewide dataset, not just our service area. This keeps the rating comparable across counties and prevents grade inflation in higher-performing markets.
10
Top 5% statewide. Exceptional. Strong on every component.
9
Top 10%. Above Average. Strong on most components.
8
Top 20%. Above Average.
7
Top 35%. Average.
6
Top 50%. Average.
5
Median. Average.
4
Bottom 35%. Below Average.
3
Bottom 25%. Below Average.
2
Bottom 15%. Below Average.
1
Bottom 5%. Below Average.
Validation
How We Audit Each Cycle
Every rating release runs through a four-step validation:
Source reconciliation. Each input is reconciled back to the original CDE file. Mismatches block the release.
Inversion check. If a school's rating moves against its raw test data without a documented Growth or Equity reason, the case is flagged for manual review before publication.
Distribution audit. The 1 to 10 distribution is verified against the modified decile bands across the statewide dataset.
Year-over-year drift. Schools whose rating moves more than three points without a CDE-side explanation are reviewed before the new rating goes live.
Limitations
What Aegis Ratings Are Not
Ratings are educational information only. They do not guarantee enrollment, school assignment, or attendance area.
Ratings are not appraisals or property valuations. Aegis does not connect a property to a specific school.
School district boundaries cross city lines and change over time. Always confirm enrollment boundaries directly with the district responsible for your address.
Charter, magnet, and small-cohort schools are rated when CDE publishes sufficient public data; redacted cells are documented and inherited from the district mean rather than zeroed.
Private schools are not rated because CDE does not require them to report on the same datasets.
Equal Housing
Methodology and Disclaimer
The Aegis School Excellence Index is operated under the California Real Estate Agency rules and the federal Fair Housing Act. School ratings are educational information only and are not used to steer buyers toward or away from any neighborhood.
Aegis Luxury Real Estate complies with all federal, state, and local fair housing laws. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, source of income, or any other protected class.
Intellectual property. The Aegis School Excellence Index, the methodology described above, the modified decile distribution, and the visual treatments (badge, sub-dot, tier label) are proprietary to Aegis Luxury Real Estate Inc. CDE source data is in the public domain and may be reproduced under CDE's terms of use.
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