After having abbreviated state report cards for two years due to the pandemic, the Ohio Department of Education has released the 2021-22 cards with a new scoring system.
The components received star ratings of 1-5 based on performance; letter grades were given in past years.
The state has compiled data on five components, including Achievement, Progress, Gap Closing, Graduation and Early Literacy.
Bowling Green earned five stars in Gap Closing, four stars in Progress and Graduation, three stars in Achievement and two stars in Early Literacy.
While 100% of students were promoted to the fourth grade, 63.3% were proficient in third grade reading and 24.3% saw improvement in K-3 literacy.
“It demonstrates what we are doing very well and areas we need to look at more closely,” said Angela Schaal, the district’s executive director of teaching and learning.
The K-3 literacy number is based on the how many students exit the reading improvement and monitoring plan, she said.
“This definitely demonstrates the impact of COVID,” Schaal said.
A new curriculum is in place to tackle early reading skills, she said, and a lot of focus and attention continues to be on early literacy.
“Unfortunately, the way that this is scored, it doesn’t show the growth we see from internal data,” Schaal said. “We’re just playing catchup from the pandemic, and we’ll be fine in the next couple years.”
Earning five stars in Gap Closing “is just great news for us,” Schaal said, adding that it is a testament to the great work teachers are doing.
The Gap Closing component measures the reduction in educational gaps for student subgroups.
Perrysburg Schools led the county with the most five-star ratings with four, in Achievement, Progress, Gap Closing and Graduation. The district received three stars in Early Literacy.
“We are extremely excited about the new state report card feedback. It is a reflection of the hard work and dedication of our faculty members in a time that has brought considerable challenges,” said Brent Swartzmiller, Perrysburg Schools executive director of teaching and learning.
“We are looking closely at our Performance Index (PI). We had a jump of 5.9 points in our PI – from 97.1 to 103.0. For context, this is the highest increase of any school district finishing in the top 50 Ohio school districts for PI last school year. Despite the adversity we have faced, our educators clearly provided an incredible learning experience for our students.”
The Early Literacy component measures reading improvement and proficiency for students in kindergarten through third grade.
Otsego earned four stars in this component. Perrysburg North Baltimore, Eastwood and Lake earned three stars. Bowling Green, Northwood and Rossford earned two.
“Whether it’s letter grades or stars, the community wants to understand what it all means,” said Eastwood Local Schools Superintendent Brent Welker.
Eastwood earned five stars in Achievement, four stars in Gap Closing and Graduation, and three stars in Progress and Early Literacy.
“I think as a district we do a great job of evaluating our students and getting them into remediation,” Welker said, “and even a better job of making sure they grow.”
He pointed out in Early Literacy, Eastwood also had 100% of third graders move onto the fourth grade.
“The goal is if we’re getting them all (to) the fourth grade and the answer is yes,” he said.
“We’ve got room to continue to grow but for the first time out of the blocks, we’re happy with it,” Welker said.
Dan Creps, superintendent at Rossford Village Exempted Schools, said the star system was a step in the right direction and was the state’s attempt to simplify the results.
“All things considered, given the challenges our students and staff faced over the past couple years, we’re encouraged by our results,” said
Rossford received three stars for Achievement, four for Progress and Graduation, five for Gap Closing, and two for Early Literacy.
Creps said, given the disruption that was created over the last two years, “we’re encouraged but we know there is still work to be done.”
He said Early Literacy, which will be a focus area, is divided into third grade reading proficiency, fourth grade promotion and improved K-3 literacy.
At Rossford, third grade reading proficiency has improved to 60% from 46%.
“Our staff has been doing a terrific job with early literacy,” Creps said. “That is where we’re seeing the impact where the in-person instructional model was interrupted.
“Overall, I’m encouraged with our results, given the challenges we’ve all had to face. We’re encouraged by the scores. This is a snapshot of what we do. We serve the whole child,” Creps said.
District’s rating, by stars, in Achievement, Progress, Gap Closing, Graduation and Early Literacy include:
Bowling Green: 3, 4, 5, 4, 2. That is a 3.6 average.
Eastwood: 5, 3, 4, 4, 3. That is a 3.8 average.
Elmwood: 4, 1, 4, 4, 3. That is a 3.2 average.
Lake: 3, 1, 4, 5, 3. That is a 3.2 average.
North Baltimore: 3, 1, 3, 5, 3. That is a 3 average.
Northwood: 3, 5, 4, 5, 2. That is a 3.8 average.
Otsego: 3, 2, 4, 4, 4. That is a 3.4 average.
Perrysburg: 5, 5, 5, 5, 3. That is a 4.6 average.
Rossford: 3, 4, 5, 4, 2. That is a 3.6 average.
The Achievement component represents whether student performance on state tests met established thresholds and how well students performed on tests overall.
The Progress component looks closely at the growth all students are making based on their past performances.
The Graduation component looks at the four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate and the five-year adjusted cohort graduation rate.
The College, Career, Workforce and Military Readiness component looks at how well-prepared Ohio’s students are for future opportunities, whether training in a technical field or preparing for work or college. This component will not be included in the overall report card rating or rated as an individual component until the 2024-25 school year at the earliest.
According to ODE, the annual report cards are designed to give parents, communities, educators and policymakers information about the performance of districts and schools.
This year’s report cards do not include an overall rating, but one will be added when the 2023 report cards are released in the fall of that year.
Grades for individual school districts and school buildings can be found at https://reportcard.education.ohio.gov/.
The Lima News has also created a database to see each district:
Interactive database: Ohio school report card details – 2021-22
(Sentinel-Tribune Staff Writer Roger LaPointe contributed to this story.)
