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Welcome to the assessment department of WikiProject Schools! This department focuses on assessing the quality of Wikipedia's School articles. While much of the work is done in conjunction with the WP:1.0 program, the article ratings are also used within the project itself to aid in recognizing excellent contributions and identifying topics in need of further work.

If you have just rated an article, please leave a short summary here to explain the ratings and/or to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the article.

Ratings are done in a distributed fashion through parameters in the {{WPSchools}} project banner; this causes the articles to be placed in the appropriate sub-categories.

Frequently asked questions

How can I get my article rated?
Please list it in the section for assessment requests below.
Who can assess articles?
Any member of the Schools WikiProject is free to add—or change—the rating of an article. However, please review WP:COI before rating an article you are heavily involved in.
What if I don't agree with a rating?
You can list it in the section for assessment requests below, and someone will take a look at it. Alternately, you can ask any member of the project to rate the article again.
Aren't the ratings subjective?
Yes, they are, but it's the best system we've been able to devise; if you have a better idea, please don't hesitate to let us know!

If you have any other questions not listed here, please feel free to ask them on the discussion page for this department.

Instructions

Shortcuts

An article's assessment is generated from the class and importance parameters in the {{WPSchools}} project banner on its talk page: 

{{WPSchools
 |class=
 |importance=
}}

If the article already has an infobox, add the line: needs-infobox=no. By adding "info=<text of assessment>" this template will generates a boilerplate assessment text.

Process

  1. Tag an article related to this project (or look at a tagged article).
  2. Read the article and analyze it.
  3. Place your assessment in the {{WPSchools}} banner on the articles talk page (according to the scales below).
  4. Unless the reasoning for an assessment is self-evident, such as assessing a very short article as Stub-class and Low-importance, please place a summary of your assessment on the article's talk page. This should include a rationale for your choice of ratings, and possibly suggestions for future contributors on how to improve the article's quality rating. If the assessment is likely to be controversial you may wish to leave a note about it on the main project talk page.

Quality scale

An article's quality assessment is generated from the class parameter in the {{WikiProject Banner Shell}}. Articles that have the {{WPSchools}} project banner on their talk page will be added to the appropriate categories by quality.

The following values may be used for the class parameter to describe the quality of the article (see Wikipedia:Content assessment for assessment criteria):

FA (for featured articles only; adds articles to Category:FA-Class school articles)  FA
A (adds articles to Category:A-Class school articles)  A
GA (for good articles only; adds articles to Category:GA-Class school articles)  GA
B (adds articles to Category:B-Class school articles) B
C (adds articles to Category:C-Class school articles) C
Start (adds articles to Category:Start-Class school articles) Start
Stub (adds articles to Category:Stub-Class school articles) Stub
FL (for featured lists only; adds articles to Category:FL-Class school articles)  FL
List (adds articles to Category:List-Class school articles) List

For non-standard grades and non-mainspace content, the following values may be used for the class parameter:

Category (for categories; adds pages to Category:Category-Class school articles) Category
Disambig (for disambiguation pages; adds pages to Category:Disambig-Class school articles) Disambig
Draft (for drafts; adds pages to Category:Draft-Class school articles) Draft
FM (for featured media only; adds pages to Category:FM-Class school articles)  FM
File (for files and timed text; adds pages to Category:File-Class school articles) File
Portal (for portal pages; adds pages to Category:Portal-Class school articles) Portal
Project (for project pages; adds pages to Category:Project-Class school articles) Project
Redirect (for redirect pages; adds pages to Category:Redirect-Class school articles) Redirect
Template (for templates and modules; adds pages to Category:Template-Class school articles) Template
NA (for any other pages where assessment is unnecessary; adds pages to Category:NA-Class school articles) NA
??? (articles for which a valid class has not yet been provided are listed in Category:Unassessed school articles) ???

Note: You should not assign any GA, A, FA or FL grades arbitrarily. These grades must pass through official Wikipedia channels and undergo a peer review process.

Examples

Class Criteria Reader's experience Editor's experience Examples
FA
 The article has obtained Featured article status.
More detailed criteria
The article must meet the featured article criteria:

A featured article exemplifies Wikipedia's very best work and is distinguished by professional standards of writing, presentation, and sourcing. In addition to meeting the policies regarding content for all Wikipedia articles, it has the following attributes.

  1. It is:
    1. well-written: its prose is engaging and of a professional standard;
    2. comprehensive: it neglects no major facts or details and places the subject in context;
    3. well-researched: it is a thorough and representative survey of the relevant literature; claims are verifiable against high-quality reliable sources and are supported by inline citations where appropriate;
    4. neutral: it presents views fairly and without bias;
    5. stable: it is not subject to ongoing edit wars and its content does not change significantly from day to day, except in response to the featured article process; and
    6. compliant with Wikipedia's copyright policy and free of plagiarism or too-close paraphrasing.
  2. It follows the style guidelines, including the provision of:
    1. a lead: a concise lead section that summarizes the topic and prepares the reader for the detail in the subsequent sections;
    2. appropriate structure: a substantial but not overwhelming system of hierarchical section headings; and
    3. consistent citations: where required by criterion 1c, consistently formatted inline citations using footnotes—see citing sources for suggestions on formatting references. Citation templates are not required.
  3. Media. It has images and other media, where appropriate, with succinct captions and acceptable copyright status. Images follow the image use policy. Non-free images or media must satisfy the criteria for inclusion of non-free content and be labeled accordingly.
  4. Length. It stays focused on the main topic without going into unnecessary detail and uses summary style where appropriate.


Professional, outstanding, and thorough; a definitive source for encyclopedic information.


No further content additions should be necessary unless new information becomes available; further improvements to the prose quality are often possible. 		Plano Senior High School
(as of July 2008)
FL
 The article has obtained Featured list status.
More detailed criteria
The article must meet the featured list criteria:
  1. Prose. It features professional standards of writing.
  2. Lead. It has an engaging lead that introduces the subject and defines the scope and inclusion criteria.
  3. Comprehensiveness.
  4. Structure. It is easy to navigate and includes, where helpful, section headings and table sort facilities.
  5. Style. It complies with the Manual of Style and its supplementary pages.
  6. Stability. It is not the subject of ongoing edit wars and its content does not change significantly from day to day, except in response to the featured list process.
 List of schools in Northland, New Zealand
(as of June 2008)
A
 The article is well organized and is essentially complete, having been reviewed by impartial reviewers from a WikiProject or elsewhere, as described here.
More detailed criteria
 A

Provides a well-written, clear and complete description of the topic, as described in Wikipedia:Article development. It should be of a length suitable for the subject, appropriately structured, and be well referenced by a broad array of reliable sources. It should be well illustrated, with no copyright problems. Only minor style issues and other details need to be addressed before submission as a featured article candidate. See the A-Class assessment departments of some of the larger WikiProjects (e.g. WikiProject Military history).

Very useful to readers. A fairly complete treatment of the subject. A non-expert in the subject matter would typically find nothing wanting. Expert knowledge may be needed to tweak the article, and style issues may need addressing. Peer-review may help. Lethbridge Collegiate Institute
(as of June 2008)
GA
 The article has obtained Good article status.
More detailed criteria
The article must meet the good article criteria:

A good article is:

  1. Well-written:
    1. the prose is clear, concise, and understandable to an appropriately broad audience; spelling and grammar are correct; and
    2. it complies with the Manual of Style guidelines for lead sections, layout, words to watch, fiction, and list incorporation.
  2. Verifiable with no original research:
    1. it contains a list of all references (sources of information), presented in accordance with the layout style guideline;
    2. reliable sources are cited inline. All content that could reasonably be challenged, except for plot summaries and that which summarizes cited content elsewhere in the article, must be cited no later than the end of the paragraph (or line if the content is not in prose);
    3. it contains no original research; and
    4. it contains no copyright violations or plagiarism.
  3. Broad in its coverage:
    1. it addresses the main aspects of the topic; and
    2. it stays focused on the topic without going into unnecessary detail (see summary style).
  4. Neutral: it represents viewpoints fairly and without editorial bias, giving due weight to each.
  5. Stable: it does not change significantly from day to day because of an ongoing edit war or content dispute.
  6. Illustrated, if possible, by media such as images, video, or audio:
    1. media are tagged with their copyright statuses, and valid non-free use rationales are provided for non-free content; and
    2. media are relevant to the topic, and have suitable captions.
 Useful to nearly all readers, with no obvious problems; approaching (although not equalling) the quality of a professional encyclopedia. Some editing by subject and style experts is helpful; comparison with an existing featured article on a similar topic may highlight areas where content is weak or missing. Aquinas College, Perth
(as of July 2008)
B
 The article is mostly complete and without major issues, but requires some further work to reach Good Article standards. B-Class articles should meet the six B-Class criteria:
More detailed criteria
  1. The article is suitably referenced, with inline citations. It has reliable sources, and any important or controversial material which is likely to be challenged is cited. Any format of inline citation is acceptable: the use of <ref> tags and citation templates such as {{cite web}} is optional.
  2. The article reasonably covers the topic, and does not contain obvious omissions or inaccuracies. It contains a large proportion of the material necessary for an A-Class article, although some sections may need expansion, and some less important topics may be missing.
  3. The article has a defined structure. Content should be organized into groups of related material, including a lead section and all the sections that can reasonably be included in an article of its kind.
  4. The article is reasonably well-written. The prose contains no major grammatical errors and flows sensibly, but does not need to be of the standard of featured articles. The Manual of Style does not need to be followed rigorously.
  5. The article contains supporting materials where appropriate. Illustrations are encouraged, though not required. Diagrams, an infobox etc. should be included where they are relevant and useful to the content.
  6. The article presents its content in an appropriately understandable way. It is written with as broad an audience in mind as possible. The article should not assume unnecessary technical background and technical terms should be explained or avoided where possible.
 No reader should be left wanting, although the content may not be complete enough to satisfy a serious student or researcher. A few aspects of content and style need to be addressed, and expert knowledge is increasingly needed. The inclusion of supporting materials should also be considered if practical, and the article checked for general compliance with the manual of style. Institut Le Rosey
(as of July 2008)
C
 The article is substantial, but is still missing important content or contains a lot of irrelevant material. The article should have some references to reliable sources, but may still have significant issues or require substantial cleanup.
More detailed criteria
The article is better developed in style, structure and quality than Start-Class, but fails one or more of the criteria for B-Class. It may have some gaps or missing elements; need editing for clarity, balance or flow; or contain policy violations such as bias or trivia. Articles on fictional topics are likely to be marked as C-Class if they are written from an in-universe perspective.
Useful to a casual reader, but would not provide a complete picture for even a moderately detailed study. Considerable editing is needed to close gaps in content and address cleanup issues. Northwood School (Durban North, South Africa)
(as of July 2008)
Start
 An article that is developing, but which is quite incomplete and, most notably, lacks adequate reliable sources.
More detailed criteria
The article has a usable amount of good content, but it is weak in many areas, usually in referencing. Quality of the prose may be distinctly unencyclopedic, and MoS compliance non-existent; but the article should satisfy fundamental content policies such as notability and BLP, and provide enough sources to establish verifiability. No Start-Class article should be in any danger of being speedily deleted.
Provides some meaningful content, but the majority of readers will need more. Provision of references to reliable sources should be prioritised; the article will also need substantial improvements in content and organisation. Black Forest Academy
(as of July 2008)
Stub
 A very basic description of the topic.
More detailed criteria
The article is either a very short article or a rough collection of information that will need much work to become a meaningful article. It is usually very short, but can be of any length if the material is irrelevant or incomprehensible.
Provides very little meaningful content; may be little more than a dictionary definition Any editing or additional material can be helpful. The provision of meaningful content should be a priority. The Grange School, Aylesbury
(as of July 2008)

Importance scale

School articles are rated on this importance scale. Importance must be regarded as a relative term. If importance values are applied within this project, these only reflect the perceived importance to this project and to the work groups the School falls under. An article judged to be "Top-Class" in one context may be only "Mid-Class" in another project. The criteria used for rating article priority are not meant to be an absolute or canonical view of how significant the topic is. Rather, they attempt to gauge the probability of the average reader of Wikipedia needing to look up the topic (and thus the immediate need to have a suitably well-written article on it). Importance assessments, especially of schools in the higher categories, are frequently reassessed and may go up or down in order to retain an appropriate balance within each country and within all the categories. Assessors are not experts on the schools in every country of the world, and will only make assessments based on the content of the existing article. Assessors can also check viewing stats for school articles using the Wikipedia stats tool, though stats will only be used in combination with other factors.

 Top 
 High 
 Mid 
 Low 
 NA 
 ??? 

The following values may be used for importance assessments:

Article importance standards

Assessments should not, in general, leave this field blank. This guide acts as a general standard by which to measure WikiProject:Schools articles

  • Top-importance - It is expected that at least one article from each country should be in this category. Countries with higher populations will necessarily have more schools of top importance. Top importance schools will usually have a long list of notable international alumni or important national alumni (eg, prime ministers, presidents, senior royalty, Nobel prize winners). They will often have received substantial national or international media coverage as evidenced by inclusion in TV programmes, books, e.t.c. They will be the most notable schools in their particular country, and they are also likely to have articles in foreign-language Wikis.
  • High-importance - Such schools will usually have a long list of notable alumni. They are often amongst the oldest or highest performing schools in their particular country. They will have received substantial media coverage and multiple sources will be available to aid the expansion of the article. Schools which feature in other encyclopedias such as Microsoft Encarta or Encylopedia Britannica are included in this category if they are not already of top importance.
  • Mid-importance - Such schools will have a few elements of more general national interest (e.g. a few particularly noteworthy and important alumni or significant awards).
  • Low-importance - Low importance schools are of vital interest to their communities but have no national or international recognition or importance. Nearly all primary/elementary schools and middle schools will fall into this category, as will the majority of high/secondary schools.
  • ??? - This is the default setting and should also be used for articles which have been assessed but have not had their importance established.

School age

School ages are considered in relative terms within countries. For example a school founded in the eighteenth century is often young in European terms. For further reference see:

Categories

Click on "►" below to display subcategories:
WikiProject Schools articles

Assessment requests

Shortcuts

If you have made significant changes to an article and would like an outside opinion on a new rating for it, please feel free to list it below. If you assess an article, please strike it off using <s>Strike-through text</s> so that other editors will not waste time going there too. Old and fulfilled requests are periodically removed from the list.

Please note: If you aim for an article to be promoted to GA, A, or FA class, please consider requesting a peer review as well so the article can be exposed to closer scrutiny from a broader group of editors. This section is also not intended to replace Wikipedia:Good article nominations and Wikipedia:Featured article candidates.

Add requests to the bottom of this list, please also sign your request by adding four tildes (~~~~):

Assessment summaries

Up until February 2010 assessment summaries were placed in this section. However, to make assessing articles easier this practice has ended with old assessments now archived. At present assessments should be placed on the respective article's talk page (see #Process).

Article completions

There is a backlog of 2,000 articles with no assessment at all at Category:Unassessed school articles, which has held at around this number since December 2009, and the same can be said of the 13,000 page backlog of articles missing importance assessments at Category:Unknown-importance school articles. Last verified: CT Cooper · talk 12:18, 5 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Assessment team

An alphabetical list of those of us who are active within the Assesssment Department of WikiProject Schools:

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