By Wayne Gates
The Ohio Department of Education has released the 2017-2018 School Report Cards for local school districts.
The grades are based on a A-F scale and evaluate the performance and goals of individual schools and districts.
Brown County Educational Service Center Superintendent Jim Frazier said that the grades may be alarming to some people at first glance.
“In my opinion, the report card does not reflect the kind of job that the school district is doing,” he said.
“The most important grades to look at are the progress one and the value added. That shows educational growth for the students from year to year. When you look at that, our scores look pretty good.”
Frazier said that the local graduation rates were high as well.
He added that part of the issue with school testing results are the challenges faced by local students.
“For many of the students in Brown County, particularly when they are struggling with poverty, they are starting with lower test scores when they start school, so they have a little further to go to catch up,” Frazier said.
“Right out of the gate, the kids are coming in less exposed to technology, less exposed to books, less likely to be read to on a regular basis. Those all present challenges to education.”
Because the data is so detailed and contains so many factors, it’s difficult to objectively declare one district “better” than another. What follows is a breakdown of the grades from each of the five school districts in Brown County and what they mean.
The overall grade is based on six factors; Achievement on state tests, Progress based on past student performance, Gap Closing, which according to the ODE “shows how well schools are meeting the performance expectations for our most vulnerable students in English language arts, math, graduation and English language proficiency,” Graduation Rate, Improving K-3 Reading Level and Prepared for Success, which measures “how well prepared Ohio’s students are for all future opportunities.”
That metric includes the number of students who have done well on the SAT and ACT tests, as well as those who have earned college credit in high school compared to the number of graduating students. All local districts got an F in Prepared For Success. 40 percent would earn a D, 60 percent a C, 75 percent a B and 93 percent an A.
The Achievement metric tracks the performance of students in math, language arts and science from third grade through high school. These scores were used in the past be the ODE to give overall grades to school districts until it switched to the new system.
Western Brown
The Western Brown district received an overall grade of C. Hamersville Elementary and Mt. Orab Middle School received an overall grade of B, Mt. Orab Elementary got an overall C and Western Brown High School received an overall D.
The district received a D in Achievement, an A in Progress, a B in Gap Closing, a B in Graduation Rate, a C in Improving K-3 Reading and an F in Prepared for Success.
The data showed that 25.9 percent of graduating seniors had performed well on the ACT/SAT or had earned college credits in high school.
Eastern Brown
The Eastern Brown district received an overall grade of C. Eastern Middle School and Russellville Elementary School received an overall B, Eastern High School received and overall C and Sardinia Elementary School received and overall D.
The district received a D in Achievement, an B in Progress, a B in Gap Closing, a B in Graduation Rate, a C in Improving K-3 Reading and an F in Prepared for Success.
The data showed that 25.1 percent of graduating seniors had performed well on the ACT/SAT or had earned college credits in high school.
Georgetown
The Georgetown district received an overall grade of C. Georgetown Elementary School received an overall C, as did Georgetown Junior/Senior High School.
The district received a D in Achievement, an B in Progress, a C in Gap Closing, a A in Graduation Rate, a D in Improving K-3 Reading and an F in Prepared for Success.
The data showed that 26.5 percent of graduating seniors had performed well on the ACT/SAT or had earned college credits in high school.
Fayetteville-Perry
The Fayetteville district received an overall grade of D. The elementary school received an overall C, while the middle and high school received and overall D.
The district received a D in Achievement, an D in Progress, a D in Gap Closing, a B in Graduation Rate, a C in Improving K-3 Reading and an F in Prepared for Success.
The data showed that 31.2 percent of graduating seniors had performed well on the ACT/SAT or had earned college credits in high school.
RULH
The Ripley district received an overall grade of D. The elementary school received an overall C, while the middle and high school received and overall D.
The district received a D in Achievement, an F in Progress, a C in Gap Closing, a B in Graduation Rate, a D in Improving K-3 Reading and an F in Prepared for Success.
The data showed that 18.9 percent of graduating seniors had performed well on the ACT/SAT or had earned college credits in high school.
To find out how individual schools did on state tests in individual subjects and grades, go to education.ohio.gov. Click on the box titled “2017-2018 School Report Cards” to search for your district or school.
Then, under the Achievement category, there will be a button titled “View more data”. Click the button to view the specific data for grade level and subject performance on state tests.