We live in a world with a dazzling array of information available at our fingertips. But parents have had little or no access to a central online destination that allows them to navigate the education system, examine available education data, and compare schools to find the best option for their children. We can easily search for information in many other aspects of our life—think Bing, Travelocity, Yelp, and other online services. Yet when it comes to something as critical as finding the right school, such resources have been scarce for families—until now.

Today, NBC, the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA), GreatSchools, Editorial Projects in Education (EPE), Achieve, and the Alliance for Excellent Education, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announced a new tool for parents called the Education Nation Scorecard.

Created by GreatSchools, the Education Nation Scorecard serves as a one-stop information resource that can empower parents to learn more about the quality of their local schools and about the education system more broadly, including how local schools, districts, and states compare to each other and how our country compares internationally.

Equipping parents with knowledge and information empowers them to ask the right questions when deciding on the best school and is one of the most effective ways for them to advocate for their students and demand change and improvement in our schools.

How do you think your child’s school compares? Find out now: www.greatschools.org.