Parents and policymakers now have a new tool to study education in their communities.

Schoolmatters.com is a Web site that provides national, state and local data on schools throughout the country. Users can look at student performance, community demographics and school financial information for individual schools, districts and states and can compare that data by setting up their own charts and tables.

"It's a pretty amazing, robust tool," said Deborah Hinckley, public affairs director for the Wyoming Department of Education.

While the department said information on the site should be used with care, staffers also said the data could have potential uses for a broad segment of the community.

"A principal can go on and find somebody who has similar demographics to him and a high proficiency rate and call that individual," department spokesman Tim Lockwood said. "People moving into the state have an opportunity to take a look at some of the data and find out about the schools they're moving into."

The site, www.schoolmatters.com, launched Tuesday and is free to the public. Charts, graphs and analysis for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are included on the site, which will be updated with new data as it becomes available. The site was set up by Standard and Poor's in conjunction with the Council of Chief State School Officers. It was funded through the Broad Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Susan Schafer, a director with S&P's School Evaluation Service, said she believes the site will be invaluable for anyone interested in education.

"Everyone from the parent to the governor can look at this data and use it in a way that makes a difference for their community," she said.

However, she added, "This isn't the silver bullet. We're not saying, 'Click five times and you'll have the answer for your schools.'"

Paul Gazzerro, another director at S&P's School Evaluation Services, also noted that the information on the site is meant to be a guide and conversation-starter, not a comprehensive analysis of education.

"If you look at a single indicator, you miss the richness of data," he said. "We want people to come back and use this site … to enhance and add dialogue to local conversations. What does education look like for you? What can you do to drive that dialogue using the data you'll see here?"

Staffers at the Wyoming Department of Education said they appreciate the caution. They said much of the data for Wyoming already is available through the department, though not in the same formats. Additional information on the schoolmatters.com site, however, comes from a variety of sources and should be examined thoroughly, they said.

"There are small inconsistencies," said Vince Meyer, an education statistician with the department. "That's the common output anytime you get different sources compiling data."

Nonetheless, they said, the department already is looking through the data and expects the site to be used by various groups in the state to promote education about local schools.

"I think it's going to be a great tool," Hinckley said.

Staff writer Jenni Dillon can be reached at (307) 266-0619 or Jenni.Dillon@casperstartribune.net.