Some schools received extra credit-
By RAYMOND L. SMITH-Tribune ChronicleMore schools and school districts statewide are moving up into the excellent category on the annual Ohio Report Card.
And some are getting extra credit.
New in this year's report card is a value-added measurement, in which the state looks at improvements that are being made a both school and district levels. Value-added results are calculated for grades four through eight in reading and mathematics. The results show whether the school or district meets, exceeds or does not meet growth expectations.
Sixty-eight percent of the state school districts met or exceeded value-added expectations.
Those schools or districts that exceed value-added expectations for two years in a row can see their overall ratings go up by one category. Approximately 160 schools had their ratings improve because of their value-added scores.
"Valued-added scores are designed to show how schools and districts have improved over time," Paolo DeMaria, an associate superintendent at the Department of Education, said.
Value-added measurements were introduced last year, but this is the first year it is being used on the state report cards.
In addition to the value-added measurement, Ohio is one of eight states approved by the U.S. Department of Education for a growth model program that allows districts to project whether an individual student will become proficient within two years based on programs within the schools and the district.
Based on the growth model results, a greater number of schools met Annual Yearly Program measures this year than in previous years. The growth model allowed an additional 249 districts and 1,028 schools to meet AYP requirements.
"It was tougher for schools to make the AYP standards this year than last year," DeMaria said.
Ohio's AYP standards have been increasing every year over the next several years, so schools and district will be able to keep up with the federal No Child Left Behind standards.
Susan Tave Zelman, superintendent of public instruction, said that overall Ohio has seen an increase in performance test scores since the 1999-2000 school year, rising from 73.7 percent to 92.3 percent.
"We can see our districts and schools making progress," Zelman said. "Our students are on trajectory to make proficiency by 2012."
Ohio's graduation rate has risen to 86.9 percent of the eligible students in 2007-08 school year from 86.1 percent in the previous year.
There were 226 school districts in Ohio that earned the Excellent designation in the 2007-08 school year compared to 139 districts that earned the designation in the previous year. The number of individual schools that were rated Excellent were 1,274.
This year's excellent ratings include a new category, excellent with distinction, which was earned by 74 school districts and 158 individual schools.
The number of districts that are in academic watch, the second-lowest of the categories, dropped to nine from 11 in the previous year. The number of schools in academic watch remained the same at 230.
For the third year, no school district is in academic emergency, although there are 234 individual school buildings in the emergency category, which is an increase from 182 schools in the previous report card.
Nearly 85 percent of the school districts and 70 percent of the individual schools are rated effective or above.
Not every category has seen improvements. There was a five-point decline in third-grade mathematics scores and a seven-point decline in fifth social studies test scores.
DeMaria said it is not uncommon to see changes for year to year.
"It is important to see how things are changing over time," DeMaria said. "The reality is the report is a snapshot of one year."
