The newly released state report card has given one more school in Lawrence County the much coveted excellent rating as three schools this year got the high marks for the 2011-2012 school year.

Both Dawson-Bryant and Rock Hill school districts received excellent ratings to join the Fairland district, which is earning the excellent rating for the third time in a row.

Here is a breakdown of the state’s ratings of each of the seven public school districts in Lawrence County plus Green schools in Scioto County. As investigations continue into allegations of incorrect data submitted by urban schools in the state, the Ohio Department of Education has labeled these results preliminary.

 

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

The ODE has been issuing its annual state report cards since 1999.

Ratings are computed based on State Indicators, Performance Index, Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and

Value-Added data. These four components measure the achievement and progress of students within a school building or school district.

There are six designations for schools and districts: Excellent with Distinction, Excellent, Effective, Continuous Improvement, Academic Watch and Academic Emergency.

There are 26 performance indicators that districts or schools can earn. Points are achieved by meeting or exceeding the goal of 75 percent proficient or above on achievement tests taken by students between the third and eighth grades and scores 11th graders receive on the Ohio Graduation Test that meet or exceed the goal of 85 percent proficient.

Points are also awarded for attendance meeting or exceeding 90 percent district wide and graduation rates for seniors meeting or exceeding 90 percent.

Schools are also assigned a performance index score. This measure rewards the achievements of every student — not just the ones who score proficient or higher.

Districts and schools earn points based on how well each student does on all tested subjects in grades 3-8 and the 10th grade Ohio Graduation Test.

All achievement tests have five performance levels: advanced, accelerated, proficient, basic and limited.

A students score at the advanced level earns 1.2 points, while accelerated earns 1.1 point and proficient earns 1.0 points. A basic score earns 0.6 points while a limited score earns 0.3 points. Students who are not tested receive zero points. Each weighted score is multiplied by the percentage of student scores at that level to generate a district’s or school’s performance index.

Districts are also judged on whether it met its goals for adequate yearly progress (AYP). The AYP category makes sure subgroups such as special education; economically challenged students and minorities are passing certain tests. One subgroup failing to meet its mark will result in a lower report card score.

 

CHESAPEAKE

For the fourth time in as many years the Chesapeake school district received an effective rating. The district as a whole met 20 of 26 state indicators. It met the value added growth but not its adequate yearly progress. Chesapeake’s graduation rate missed the state requirement of 90 percent by 5.3 percent.

As in the 2010-2011 results the elementary school was rated excellent.

Third grade reading and math scores came in at 86.4 percent and 88.2 percent respectively beating the state requirement of 75 percent. Fourth grade reading scores at 85.7 and math at 84 also surpassed the state minimum. The school met 100 percent of its indicators and value added growth, but missed adequate yearly progress.

However the high school, which had received its first excellent rating in its history last year, dropped to effective for this current rating. Tenth grade scores on the Ohio Graduation Test for reading just beat the state requirement of 85 percent by 2.5 percentage points while OGT math scores came in 3.7 percent below the requirement. However, 10th grade writing beat the requirement by more than 5.2 percent. The school met 83.3 percent of its state indicators and its adequate yearly progress.

Graduation rate was 5.3 percentage points below the state requirement of 90 percent.

The middle school remained at an effective rating as it did the previous year. The school met 63.6 percent of the state indicators. It did meet value added growth, but not the adequate yearly progress. Scores for fifth grade reading at 82 and sixth grade reading at 91.4 beat the state requirement, but fifth grade math and science came in below the state standard.

New Chesapeake Superintendent Jerry McConnell said he plans to analyze the report card results with his staff.

“It is little difficult to say since I wasn’t at Chesapeake at the time,” McConnell said. “We have not sat down, administrators and teachers, to go over those reports. We will study the report card and take a look at our curriculum on whether we need to make changes or stay course.”

 

DAWSON-BRYANT

Dawson-Bryant’s excellent rating comes with a 92.7 percent graduation rate, beating the state requirement by 2.7 percent. It met 20 of the 26 indicators — one higher than last year — and received an above ranking for its value added growth. It did not meet its adequate yearly progress.

This year the elementary school received an excellent with distinction rating, the highest the state can award. The school was above on the value added growth, but did not meet its adequate yearly progress. Fourth grade reading and math scores surpassed last year coming in at 88.8 percent and 84.7 percent respectively. Fifth grade reading went up almost 10 percentage points to 84.7; math dropped about a half percentage point and science went down five percent.

The high school received an effective, at risk, ranking and did not meet its adequate yearly progress. The high school graduation rate at 92.7 percent surpassed the state standard by 2.7 percent. Eleventh grade scores on the OGT beat out their counterpart in 10th grade with reading at 93.7 percent; writing at 92.6 percent; math at 94.7; and science at 90.5.

The middle school also had an effective rank but with no qualifications. That school met both its adequate yearly progress and value added growth. Eighth grade science and reading came in below the state requirement at 70.6 percent and 67.1 percent respectively. However eighth grade math beat the state standard by approximately 6 percent. Seventh grade math was 69. 3 percent while reading was 78.4 percent.

“I just think our staff and students have continued to achieve the academic levels we have expected of them,” Superintendent Dennis DeCamp said. “We say congratulations to the hard work and it pays off when it comes time to evaluate the district.

“We always want to do better and are working with students in the special education population. We are trying to close that gap with those kids.”

As far as the below standard levels such as seventh grade math scores, DeCamp said the school is calling on tutors to help those students.

“We are working with intervention opportunities for those students,” he said.

 

FAIRLAND

For the fourth time in a row Fairland schools pulled an excellent rating overall for the district. The district met all 26 of its indicators, the only district in Lawrence County to do so. Last year it met only 23 indicators. It met its adequate yearly progress but was below its value added growth. Graduation rate was 92 percent, almost three above the state standard.

Fairland East Elementary was not rated but met its adequate yearly progress. Fairland West was rated excellent and met its adequate yearly progress and value added growth. All grades at that elementary surpassed the state standard with third grade math hitting 97.4 percent and reading at 95.7 percent. The lowest score was fifth grade math at 80 percent, which is still 5 percentage points above the standard.

Both the high school and middle school pulled excellent ratings and met their adequate yearly progress. The lowest score at the high school was 10th grade science at 75.8 percent, just above the standard, and the highest score was 11th grade writing at 95.5.

“I couldn’t be more proud to be a Dragon, Roni Hayes Fairland superintendent said. “Our district met 100 percent of the indicators and AYP on this year’s report card. In our efforts to maintain high standards of excellence, I recognize that it takes exceptional students and staff, informed parents and involved community members to create the best possible learning environment for our children. There is still work to do but we are focused on continuous improvement and determined to offer our students an educational experience that is both challenging and rewarding.”

 

IRONTON

For the third time in as many years the Ironton district received an effective rating. The district made 21 of the 26 state indicators, which is two more than last year.

It did not meet its adequate yearly progress, the same rating as in 2011, but did meet its value added growth. Graduation rate was 90.5 percent, almost 7 percentage points behind 2011.

The elementary school pulled a continuous improvement rating and met its adequate yearly progress. However it scored below on the value added growth. The school received its lowest scores for fifth grade reading at 69.5 percent, math at 55.2 percent and science at 65.7 percent. However third and fourth grade scores surpassed the state standard with third grade reading at 87.7 percent and math at 88.7 percent; fourth grade reading came in at 91.2 percent and math at 89.2 percent.

The high school was rated effective and did not meet its adequate yearly progress. Eleventh grade scores for the OGT surpassed the state standard of 85 percent. Reading came in at 93.5 percent, writing was 88.6 percent, math was 91 percent and science was 86.9 percent. However only 10th grade reading at 85.1 percent and math at 88.5 percent beat the standard while writing was 82.8 percent and science at 72. 4 percent.

The middle school received an excellent ranking and was above for its value added growth. However it did not meet its adequate yearly progress. All scores beat the state standard except for eighth grade science, which came in at 67 percent or 8 percentage points below.

Ironton superintendent Dean Nance said he was basically pleased with the report card.

“Overall we had the most indicators that we ever have since they have been giving the state report card,” Nance said. “I am happy that we continue to show progress. I am really proud of the strides we have made especially in the middle school level.

“We have identified what areas we are weak in and have made adjustments through strengthening those area. It is very difficult to achieve what the state is expecting when they are continuously changing what they require. I am very proud of our staff. They are showing continued student growth. I feel that we provide a high quality of education regardless of measuring elements that you use.”

 

ROCK HILL

The Rock Hill school district earned an excellent rating this year. The district met 18 of the 26 indicators, and while not meeting the adequate yearly progress, the district exceeded the value added growth measure. The district’s attendance rate stayed at 94 percent, while the graduation rate declined from last year’s 88.5 percent to 82 percent, again below the state requirement.

“We are ecstatic,” Superintendent Wes Hairston said. “It is a great thing for our district to get to that point. The value added scores are really good and that is indicative that our students are improving. It has been cooperative from everybody.”

Rock Hill Elementary met six of the eight indicators, receiving an excellent rating, moving up from the effective rating earned last year. The school did not meet its adequate yearly progress, but was above standard on its value added measure. The performance index this year is 95.1.

The elementary scores surpassed the state requirement of 75 percent of students scoring at or above the proficient level in all but two areas: fifth grade math with a score of 65.4 percent and 5th grade science with a score of 57 percent.

Rock Hill Middle School met seven out of eight indicators, also receiving an excellent rating, and meeting the adequate yearly progress. The school is above standard on its value added measure, and earned a performance index of 95.6.

The middle school scored above the state requirement in every subject except for eighth grade science, narrowly missing it with a score of 73.5.

Rock Hill High School met seven out of 12 indicators, and was rated effective again this year. The school did not meet its adequate yearly progress and suffered a decline on the performance index, scoring a 92.2, down from 95 in 2011.

The high school categories below the state requirements include 10th grade science scoring 67, 10th grade social studies at 72.5, 11th grade science at 80 percent and 11th grade social studies at 81 percent.

 

SOUTH POINT

The South Point school district stayed consistent this year, again earning an effective rating, but increased the number of state indicators from 17 last year to 19 out of 26 this year. The district scored a 94.4 on the performance index, a decline from last year’s 96.2, and didn’t meet the adequate yearly progress. The graduation rate was the lowest of the district this year, with just under 80 percent.

Burlington Elementary scored above the state requirements in all categories except fifth grade reading, with a score of 72.4, and fifth grade math, with a score of 68.4. The highest score was in fourth grade math, with a score of 92.6.

South Point Elementary scored above the state requirements in all but two categories as well, with a 71.1 in fourth grade math and narrowly missing the requirement in fifth grade math with a 74.7. The highest score came in fourth grade reading with a score of 95.6. South Point Middle School exceeded all state requirements but two, with a 73.2 in seventh grade math and a 70.9 in eighth grade science. The highest score for the middle school was an 81.9 in eighth grade reading. South Point High School exceeded the requirements in tenth and eleventh grade subjects, including reading, writing, and math, but missed the mark with a tenth grade science score of 63.7 and a tenth grade social studies score of 71. The eleventh grade classes earned an 80.7 in science and an 81 in social studies.

“I think we have some improvements to make,” Superintendent Ken Cook said. “I think we have some improvements to make. I am not satisfied until we get all the indicators and all of our students passing the test. We have some improvement to do. … professional development trying to get them teaching the standards and kids understanding it.

 

SYMMES VALLEY

The Symmes Valley school district earned an effective rating again this year, and met 24 out of the 26 indicators. The district scored a performance index of 99.8, a 2-point increase from last year. The district met the value added measure as well as the value added growth.

“We’re doing pretty good,” Superintendent Jeff Saunders said. “There’s always room for improvement. The report card gives us good information we can use to see where we need to work and to try to close those gaps we have.”

He added that the district has teams set up on the district level, building level, and teacher-based teams that will be reviewing the information in the report and deciding any areas that need targeting, as they have done in the past.

The attendance rate for the district was nearly identical to last year, with 94.4 percent, and the graduation rate was down almost 2 points, at 93.2. Saunders attributes the high graduation rate to intervention.

“The biggest part of these team meetings we have is targeting students who are at risk, providing inventions through the school day, so they won’t become frustrated,” Saunders said. He said if a student becomes frustrated, sometimes they just don’t want to keep going. If the school is able to make the day better for that student, Saunders said things will kind of click. “We find that pretty effective,” he said.

The elementary school, with kindergarten through eighth grades, earned an effective rating and met state requirements in scoring in all but two categories: fifth grade reading, barely missing the requirement with a score of 74.6, and fifth grade math, with a score of 64.4. The highest scores were in fourth grade math, with a 95.2, and in sixth grade math, with a 95.5.

The high school earned an excellent rating, and met state requirements in all categories except for eleventh grade social studies, missing the 85-percent mark with a score of 83.6. The highest scores were in eleventh grade reading, writing and math, with identical scores of 91.8.

 

GREEN

The Green school district earned an effective rating, below the excellent rating received last year.

The district met 22 of 26 state indicators, while also meeting the adequate yearly adequate yearly progress as well as the value added measure. The district’s attendance rate was 94.1, up slightly from last year. The graduation rate dropped almost a point, landing at 97.4

Green Elementary School, with third through sixth grades, met the state requirement in scoring in all categories except fifth grade math, where they received a score of 52.2, up 4.5 points from last year, and sixth grade math, earning a 70.2, down more than 5 points from last year. The highest scores were in fourth grade reading, with a 95.5, and a 93.2 in fourth grade math.

Green High School, with grades seven through 12, scored below the state standards in seventh grade math, with a 55.6, down five points from last year, and just missing the mark with a 74.3 in eighth grade science. The highest scores came from the eleventh grade categories, where the school received a 100 percent in reading, writing, math, science and social studies.

Superintendent Sandra Mers was unavailable for comment.