State grades released, but report cards not the full story

Once again, Highland Schools is the only district in Medina County to earn an overall A grade in the report cards released Thursday by the Ohio Department of Education. Medina and Wadsworth, which represent the two of the county's three cities, earned B grades. Black River, Brunswick and Buckeye were given Cs, with Cloverleaf also receiving a C grade, climbing from last year's D — the then lowest grade in the county. This is the second year of the composite grade, which uses the results in six components: achievement, progress, gap closing, improving at-risk K-3 readers, graduation rate and prepared for success. Each component is weighted differently: achievement and progress make up 20 percent each of the total overall grade. The other four components are weighted at 15 percent each. The report cards can be accessed at education.ohio.gov. This grading system has been in place since 2013, when terms like "excellent," "continuous improvement" and "academic watch" were changed to letter grades. Ranking districts based on achievement When looking at the data within the report cards, a good measure to identify growth is the achievement component. Achievement is made up in two ways — the "performance index" and "indicators met." The performance index looks at students' actual test scores with points awarded for the number of students scoring in the areas of limited, basic, proficient, accelerated, advanced and advanced plus. Indicators met awards points for the number of students meeting state goals on each test. The indicators met area also includes an indicator for chronic absenteeism. For the most part, Medina County districts worked hard from 2018-19 to increase performance index scores, which have a maximum of 120 points, and met more of the state's indicators for academic achievement, a total of 24 such indicators. At the top this year is Highland with a performance index of 105.3 and having met 23 of 24 indicators. The only indicator missed on Highland's report card was eighth-grade math with 74.5 percent of students passing the assessment test. The goal set by the state is 80 percent passage. In 2018, Highland had a performance index of 103.2 and met 20 of 24 indicators, meaning it helped more students pass state tests and had more students performing better. Wadsworth's performance index of 100.3 and 19 of 24 indicators met puts it as the second highest performing school district in the county, according to report card data. The district had a slight bump in its performance index score from 2018 when it was 99.2 and met more indicators from last year when it met 16 of the state's 24 goals. Overall, nearly each district gained a little — Buckeye was the only district to have a lower performance index in 2019 that 2018 and fewer indicators met from report card to report card. Local performance followed state trends of steady growth, said state officials. "This year's report cards show continuous improvement is ongoing and that, across Ohio, we are getting better and better at challenging, preparing and empowering each child," Paolo DeMaria, state superintendent of public instruction, said in a statement. "We are seeing positive results from the focus on equity, partnerships and quality schools for all students." Superintendents weigh in Medina In a written statement, Medina Superintendent Aaron Sable noted areas of grade-level improvements as signs the district is moving in the right direction. Medina's third-graders' passage rate has jumped from 68 percent to 81 percent in English language arts and from 59 to 83 percent in Algebra I. Those moves earned the district two of the three additional indicators received this year. He also lauded the district's A grade for progress, which looks closely at the growth that all students are making based on their past performances. "A grade of a 'C' indicates that students are making one year's growth during their academic year," Sable wrote. "Our score of 'A' implies that our students worked to achieve more than one year's growth in a single school year in all areas. Because of this, the state of Ohio also recognized our district with the Momentum Award, which only 70 of 608 school districts were able to achieve." Cloverleaf Cloverleaf superintendent Daryl Kubilus said that further investment in professional development was a main catalyst in the district jumping from a D to C overall grade. "I think that investment is showing results," he said. "Of course, our improvements are a process that require long-term focus and commitment. It's not just a one-year thing for us. It's going to be a constant, continuous attitude of improvement and we're pleased with that." In the report card's progress category, Cloverleaf rose from an F grade in 2018 to a B grade this time around. "It's important to note that grade is based on a three-year average," said Kubilus. "We had a very low score three years ago. That being said, we've continued to get better. As far as achievement, our composite grade stayed the same but our performance index rose for the fourth straight year. Our indicators met also rose, so we're trending in the right direction." This coming week, Cloverleaf plans to roll out a district quality profile that will be linked to the state Department of Education's website, the superintendent said. Highland Highland narrowly missed achieving straight A's in the report card's six subcategories — registering a B in Prepared For Success. Superintendent Catherine Aukerman said she hopes to improve in that area as well as find ways to push gifted students to even higher levels of achievement. Highland is not scored on the improving at-risk K-3 readers component as the district does not have enough students needing improvement in that area to warrant a grade from the state. "Our whole staff has been dedicated to high outcomes," she said. "I'm extremely proud of our students and staff and it's very nice when the outside measures, the accountability systems like this, reflect the great work we do each day." "I think gifted education continues to be an area that we want to work on," Aukerman added. "Although, that's part of the overall achievement indicator. We know our highest performing students still have room to grow, so we're looking at strategies and different approaches to improve those services. I'd also say the prepared for success rate is something we'll continue to look at. We do very well with the number of kids who are taking college entrance exams and are scoring at proper levels on advanced placement tests. We just have to look at how it all comes together to bump it up to get an A." Brunswick Brunswick interim Superintendent Kathy Verhest, whose district slipped from a B to C overall grade, referenced dropping to a D in the progress category in a prepared statement. "The progress component is meant to measure growth," she wrote. "This metric uses three years of testing data to identify the expected growth of groups of students. It is important to note that a C indicates a year's growth. Once more specific district and building data is released, we will analyze that data to help determine ways to close these growth gaps. "Although the progress component is disappointing, I am happy to let you know that, once again, we continue to see improvement in virtually all other areas of the report card. We have increased our graduation percentage, we are closing achievement gaps for our students, and we helping more of our K-3 students to be on-track readers. Most impressively, our achievement continues to improve. Over the past four years, our scores have increased in 17 of the 21 tested areas. In fact, we have experienced double-digit gains in nine of these tested areas. These increases occur because of our hard-working students, our dedicated faculty and staff and our supportive parents and guardians." Wadsworth Wadsworth's B overall grade was comprised of A's in progress, gap closing, and graduation rate, a B for achievement, and C's in prepared for success and improving at-risk K-3 readers. Superintendent Andy Hill released a statement encouraging those interested to view the district's quality profile, which can be accessed through the district's website, in tandem with the state evaluations. "While we have been very successful in the past on the state of Ohio Report Card, we recognize that continuous improvement is always needed," he wrote. "There is no standing still in education; either we move forward or we fall backwards as a result. The partnerships our district has built within our community provide us with the support necessary to strive for excellence each day and further the opportunities for our most important asset, our students, who are the future of our great community." Buckeye A district quality profile was put out two weeks ago for the fist time by Buckeye Schools, said Superintendent Kent Morgan. Like some of his peers around the county, he said that considering that evaluation along with feedback from the state is vital in gaining an accurate view of the schools. He added that taking students' social-emotional factors into account is needed when forming a proper view of their success and achievement. Buckeye received an A for graduation rate, B for gap closing, C for achievement, and D's in progress, prepared for success, and improving at-risk K-3 readers. "Our instructional focus is the whole child," said Morgan. "That's academic and social-emotional. I think some of the things we see in the state report cards measure those and some of them don't. We focus on using effective data to drive our instruction. There are some things we've identified, some of the specific standards in certain grade levels' content areas, that we need to hone in on more this year. I think that's going to be a big focus. "You just look at the report cards and try to identify the areas where you can make a difference in for the following year." Black River Black River's overall C grade held steady from the previous evaluation cycle. Superintendent Chris Clark said he's happy with improvement in the district's four-year graduation rate and opening up more paths for students to get their high school diploma. "We've seen improvement in many areas," he said. "As a district, we knew we couldn't jump up to A's everywhere at one time but we've been trying to pick out areas and attack those, the ones that give us the best bang for our buck. With graduation rate, we got a B but our four-year rate has been steadily increasing for years. So, our goal has been to try and work with our seniors to make sure they remain on task. Over the past couple of years, we've put in an academy situation for seniors who might be struggling to obtain those graduation credits. Our administration has proved to be very aggressive in meeting with students to come up with a graduation plan." Contact reporter Jonathan Delozier at (330)721-4050 or jdelozier@medina-gazette.com.