Ohio students' achievement 10-year high

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A record 116 Ohio school districts have been rated excellent and overall student achievement returned to a 10-year high last year, but the statewide graduation rate fell to its lowest in five years, the state's latest rankings show.

Data released Tuesday show that more schools and districts were rated effective or higher. However, test scores in the fifth and eighth grades — entry points to middle and high schools — failed to meet targets in reading, math, science and social studies. The statewide graduation rate for the previous year also fell to 84.6 percent.

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READ: Ohio SAT scores better than average

 

 

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 And the Youngstown schools descended into academic emergency, the first district to receive the state's lowest ranking since the 2004-05 school year. A special distress commission will be dispatched to the Steel Belt city to help administrators on the problem.

About 15 charter schools could be closed for failing to meet state academic performance standards, said state Superintendent Deborah Delisle.

The rankings will serve as a benchmark for judging the success of an overhaul of the state's ailing public school system that Gov. Ted Strickland championed in his January State of the State address and during this spring's state budget-writing process.

Five schools within Toledo Public Schools earned excellent status, including Start. Superintendent John Foley said his district's 38 schools were either graded in continuous improvement, effective, or excellent status.

"I think the fact that we are making progress and it's steady progress," Foley said. "In the three years I've been superintendent, we've shown growth."

"When you take students at any level and provide them with strong instruction and lots of support, they will grow more than they might in a normal setting," he added.

Superintendent Foley said the improvement stems from teacher and parent support in the classroom as well as at home. There are always areas, though, that need improvement, he said. Eight TPS schools are in academic emergency, like Jones Junior High and Pickett Elementary.

"It's a year to get the quirks out," Foley said. "We're continuing to stay focused and provide some support teaching, learning, and professional development."

Bowling Green School District has joined the ranks of the elite with an "excellent with distinction" rating on its local report card, the Sentinel-Tribune newspaper reported. The Tribune is a FOX Toledo News media partner.

Perrysburg and Eastwood districts again can add the "with distinction" marker to their banners for the 2008-09 school year.

Northwood and Rossford held onto their "excellent" designations for the second year, and North Baltimore joined that exalted group for the first time. Otsego, however, dropped a spot back to "effective" by sliding backwards on its performance index and student progress.

"We're really happy. The staff is excited, as well they should be," said Bowling Green Superintendent Hugh Caumartin about the results.

The district earned 28 of 30 indicators, missing the perfect mark by only a few percentage points in fifth-grade and seventh-grade social studies, he explained. Last year, the district met all 30 indicators.

All but two schools - Ridge and Milton elementaries - earned "excellent" designations, but every school in the district met value-added requirements. That means "the kids are actually gaining beyond what they should have gained," Caumartin said.

Value-added measurements reflect how much progress students have made since the previous year.

The impact of exceeding value-added expectations are being felt in North Baltimore.

According to Superintendent Kyle Clark,"We earned a solid effective rating through the entire measurement process."

But when value added measurements were determined, the district has demonstrated growth beyond a year's performance for two years in a row, he added. Based on the state's formula, that accomplishment bumped the district up a rating.

Delisle, who started her job in December, said the results underscore the benefits of phasing in Strickland's so-called evidence-based model over several years.

The plan is slated to eventually bring statewide all-day kindergarten, smaller class sizes, revamped teacher advancement criteria and new graduation requirements to Ohio.

"I'm very pleased where all of the components are not required at the same time," Delisle said in a conference call with reporters. "I think that would place a tremendous amount of stress on districts."

Delisle emphasized the positives in the numbers:

— The weighted average of all tested students in grades three through eight and grade 10 rose for the third straight year, back to the 2005 level that was the highest since the rankings were introduced in 1999.

— Of 610 districts statewide, 521 are ranked in the top three performance categories. That marks a steady climb since 2003.

— A total of 128 districts and 680 school buildings increased their ranking by at least one level, compared with eight districts and 49 schools that saw a decrease.

— Almost 73 percent of districts exceeded expectations in reading and math in the 2007-08 school year, compared with 45 percent the previous year. Another 16 percent met expectations.

But Delisle called the lagging fifth and eighth grade test scores "extremely disappointing." She said she will focus on making improvements, after seeing more test details.

Three-fourths of students must perform at proficient or above to meet the state standard.

Proficiency levels in the fifth grade were: 72 percent in reading, 62.3 percent in math, 70.6 percent in science, and 61.6 percent in social studies. Proficiency rates in eighth grade were: 72.4 percent in reading, 70.6 percent in math, 62.8 percent in science and 51.1 percent in social studies.

Ohio also missed the math target in seventh grade and the science target in 11th grade, which is 85 percent proficiency.

 

(FOX Toledo's Allison Brown and Marie Thomas, Sentinel-Tribune education editor, contributed to this report)