Department of Education officials caution parents that school-by-school standardized test scores released yesterday offer just one slice of information about their child's school.

How they perform in relation to standards under the federal No Child Left Behind Act have become the primary guideline by which schools are judged, but there are other ways to evaluate them as well.

"Overall, these are the percentage of kids proficient in a score, but they don't tell us how safe do kids feel in that school or how much do they like that school or how engaged they are," said Robert McClelland, director of the DOE planning and evaluation office.

It's important to note, however, that whether a school meets state standards determines whether some children will qualify for extra tutoring at state expense or whether they might be able to transfer to better-performing schools. Transfers are on a space-available basis, and other rules and considerations may apply as well.

Contact your school for more information.

Two other assessments of schools provide more information for parents. They include the School Quality Survey and the Trend Report.

The quality survey asks parents, teachers and students how they feel about the school, its academics, environment and overall satisfaction. The 2003 survey is already on the DOE Web site — www.doe.k12.hi.us — and the 2004 results should be posted soon, officials said.

The trend survey covers a much broader array of data, including how many children attend the school, how many teachers have been there five years or longer, how many have master's degrees, how many children have been retained in a grade and how many graduate in four years (if it's a secondary school), and how many offenses have occurred at the school involving drugs or violence.

The first trend reports were done last December, and the results are on the Web site now. The next reports will be done in December and also posted.

McClelland suggested that one of the best ways for parents to assess a school is to spend time in it, and not just depend on test results or surveys.

"Go visit the school, walk around, volunteer in your child's classroom," he suggested.

Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com.