What Makes an Elementary School the "Best"?

As I was surfing through the Orange Country Register Online, I noticed an article in which they ranked the top 164 elementary schools in Orange County. Before I started to read the article, I assumed that all of the schools would be in higher-income communities, but I found that the Register used far more interesting and fair criteria.

Not only do the schools range in diversity, community, and income, but I also found that the author of the article took the teaching methods into account. The authors say that,

"Teachers at Orange County's best public elementary schools strive to understand every child who passes through their doorways and vigorously reach out to each one, at the child's own level – and take that child by the hand, confidently, to the next level."

Sometimes I feel that being future teachers, we can become idealistic about what teaching will be like, and that there could be a very harsh reality in store for us. I think it's great that these reporters really took the teachers of these schools into consideration. These seem like great teachers, ones that we're being taught to become like, and I think it's really inspiring that it's these teachers that not only make these schools the best, but that they're also given credit for it.

You can view this website for the article: http://www.ocregister.com/news/-232746--.html