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The Ohio Department of Education has issued each school district in the state a report card complete with a letter grade. While the grades alone do not necessarily paint a rosy picture, the ODE and local superintendents want the public to know it is just one part of a larger picture.
"It is important to note that the scores on the local report card are just one measure of a school district's performance," Toronto City Schools Superintendent Maureen Taggart said. "There are many other indicators of success that are not reported by this system and should be considered before making a blanket judgment about any school district."
The ODE website tells viewers that "Report Cards are only one part of the story. To get a fuller picture, we encourage you to visit schools, talk to educators, parents and students, and review the school's or district's website. A lot of great things are happening every day in Ohio's schools."
Besides giving an overall district grade, the cards indicate letter grades in the areas of achievement, graduation rate, progress, improving at-risk K-3 readers, gap closing and prepared for success.
The achievement component represents whether a student's performance on state tests met established thresholds and how well students performed on tests overall. A new indicator measures chronic absenteeism. The progress component looks at growth that all students are making based on past performances. The gap closing component shows how well schools are meeting the performance expectations for most vulnerable students in English language arts, math, graduation and English language proficiency, according to officials. The graduation rate component looks at the percent of students who are successfully finishing high school with a diploma in four or five years, and the improving at-risk K-3 readers component looks at how successful the school is at improving at-risk K-3 readers. And whether training in a technical field or preparing for work or college, the prepared for success component looks at how well prepared Ohio's students are for all future opportunities, officials said.
"You have to realize that the data they are using is from two years ago," said Steubenville City Schools Superintendent Melinda Young.
Overall grades for the area school districts include Steubenville City School District, B; Harrison Hills City, C; Buckeye Local, D; Edison Local, C; Indian Creek Local, D; and Toronto City, D.
Indian Creek Local School District Superintendent T.C. Chappelear said he understands how people get confused by the letter grades.
"For (most) people it seems like we are making excuses," he said. "The bottom line is that we had five kids last year with a 30 or above on the ACT."
The highest you can score on the standardized test used for college admissions is a 36, he noted.
Young reported similar achievements with her Steubenville graduates.
"We had seven that graduated with an associate degree at graduation last year and will have 34 next year," she said.
Both districts were given an "F" in the Prepared for success component, despite these achievements.
"I know our graduates are doing great things -- the ones going to college and the ones entering the work force," Chappelear said.
Overall the superintendents said that while the report cards are not necessarily an accurate picture of what is going on in their districts, they will use the information to continue to improve their districts.
"We are pleased with our report card," Harrison Hills City Superintendent Dana Snider said. "We are improving and closing gaps. We put in ACT prep courses for all our seniors. I am excited that we are showing some improvement."
Buckeye Local Superintendent Kim Leonard also is using the report cards to help direct the district.
"We will continue to monitor the results and use our professional development to help our staff address these issues," she said.
"We are headed in the right direction, " Edison Local Superintendent Bill Beattie said. "Our staff, educators and administration are doing a great job."