Report cards: Area school districts hold their own
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Public schools in the Mahoning Valley got their own report cards Thursday from the Ohio Department of Education, and test results show slight changes from last year's scores.
Lakeview, Canfield and South Range continue to lead across Trumbull and Mahoning counties, while Warren and Youngstown continue to struggle, with successes -- but overall both districts have room for improvement, according to the reports.
In 2021, the Ohio General Assembly amended Ohio's accountability law, which created a new system for schools and districts to receive ratings overall, and star ratings for five components. The components eligible for five ratings are achievement, progress, gap closing, graduation, and early literacy:
• 1 to 1 1/2 stars means districts needs significant support to meet state standards;
• 2 to 2 1/2 stars means the district needs support to meet state standards;
• 3 to 3 1/2 stars means the district meets state standards;
• 4 to 4 1/2 stars means the district exceeds state standards;
• 5 to 5 1/2 stars means the district significantly exceeds state standards.
In the category of early literacy, many local districts fell short in making improvements. But in the progress category, increases are seen compared to last school year.
Other metrics including college, career, workforce and military readiness; and chronic absenteeism; are included in the assessments, but not rated.
STATEWIDE
Some educators from local districts said the impacts are lasting from the COVID-19 pandemic; however, there is significant growth in comparison to last year. And some scores are indicating that the pandemic's effects may be fading.
In its School and District Results report, the Ohio Department of Education suggests that data on the report card illustrates consistent growth while highlighting areas of continued focus.
"Achievement results are moving in the right direction," said J. Christopher Woolard, interim superintendent of public instruction. "Nearly 90% of districts and 79% of schools earned overall ratings of three stars or more, meaning they met state standards."
The state report adds: "Proficiency rates of all student subgroups have increased, yet achievement gaps still persist among various subgroups." Also, "Chronic absenteeism rates have improved from 30.2% to 26.8%, but attendance remains a concern as student engagement is key to success in school and beyond."
As with metrics such as the performance index, which measures all students' performance on state assessments, the Department of Education said more than 85% of districts improved their performance index scores. Additionally, nearly 25% of districts made substantial performance index improvements of more than three points.
Some experts are certain the effects of the pandemic still challenge learners. Aaron Churchill, Ohio research director for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, doubled down on the organization's stance, stating, "This year's iteration makes clear that the impacts of the pandemic on student learning are still being felt, especially for students from less advantageous backgrounds."
Fordham Institute added that state test results from the 2022-23 school year indicate a mixed picture of post-pandemic academic recovery.
"Ohio students on average have generally recovered in reading, but progress remains sluggish in mathematics with students significantly behind pre-pandemic levels," the institute stated.
Churchill added: "If the pandemic has taught us anything, it's just how crucial it is for students to be in the classroom."
"Unfortunately, too many students still are missing valuable instructional time that can help them catch up. Parents, communities, schools need to work together to address chronic absenteeism. Getting back to a clear expectation that students are in school every day, five days a week, is the first step in combating this attendance crisis."
Here is a sampling of local districts:
WARREN
Warren Superintendent Steve Chiaro said the individual building report cards "demonstrated an overall net gain of six stars across our five buildings as compared to last year. Three of our five buildings -- Lincoln, McGuffey and Willard PK-8 schools -- were all rated three stars overall."
The greatest area of gain is in the category of gap closing, he said, as all five buildings showed improvement compared to last year. "We are pleased with the improved gap closing data, as the data from the state report card is consistent with our internal data, which shows we are indeed closing the learning and educational opportunity gaps of children," Chiaro stated in an email.
Willard PK-8 School showed the greatest improvement with a net gain of three stars, most notably increasing two-star ratings in the area of gap closing.
"We will continue to focus on gap closing, maintaining or improving our rating in the area of progress and look forward to improvements in our early literacy rating with continued professional development in the science of reading," he said.
LAKEVIEW
For Lakeview Superintendent Velina Jo Taylor, gaining an overall five-star rating has been about maintaining what the district has done over the last several years.
Lakeview is the only Trumbull County district that received a five-star rating. Champion and Howland schools each earned 4.5-star overall ratings.
The state report card did not report overall ratings in last year's report.
"We are exactly where we were last year," Taylor said. "I give all of the credit to our staff for implementing our literacy framework and our families who are sending their children to school ready to learn."
The district received top scores in early literacy, graduation and gap closing. It received a three in progress, which measures student growth based on past performances.
Taylor described the district using a new literacy framework that has been important for reading instruction.
"The effort is beginning to bear fruit," she said.
Although pleased with the report card, Taylor emphasized it is just a snapshot of what was happening in a school or district for a single period of time.
"It does not provide a full picture of everything being done within a district,"she said. "It is an accountability tool."
She notes the district is working to improve in areas where it knows some students are struggling, such as mathematics.
"We are looking to cobble a program for kids who don't like mathematics."
Taylor noted that because the district has done consistently well over the last several years, it has affected its ability to make significant improvements in the progress category.
"They changed the criteria so it's harder for individual schools or districts to measure progress," Taylor said.
LABRAE
LaBrae Superintendent Anthony J. Calderone noted the district received a 3.5 overall rating.
Its lone five-star rating was in gap closing and it received a four-star rating in its graduation rate. It earned two stars in progress and early literacy.
"We are pleased, but not satisfied with the report card," Calderone said. "This provides a guide for moving forward."
He added, however, the report card provides only one set of data. The district does its own tracking of student progress through testing that takes place throughout the year.
"We look at how we are trending year-to-year within our district and how we are trending with similar-situated and -sized school districts around us," Calderone said.
While acknowledging the district received two stars in the state report card's early literacy category, Calderone said its internal data shows it is improving. "We are seeing growth. There are signs that the initiatives we took in previous years are making progress."
Calderone said he hopes the growth will be reflected in future report cards.
"We are meeting kids where they are today," he said. "We've seen growth from last year to this year. There are signs the initiatives we've taken are making progress. Gaps are closing."
WEATHERSFIELD
Weathersfield schools in Mineral Ridge took hits in every category except for achievement
Last year, the Rams earned five stars in all categories, except for achievement where they earned a four. This year its early literacy scored three points, graduation three, progress four and gap closing, another four.
"With all of the rigorous testing, we have to remind ourselves that especially with gap closing, the bar is always raised once you get to a peak performance," Superintendent Damon Dohar said. "Our bar is so high, and the expectation is there. I wouldn't blame it on the pandemic. It set us back, but it also set everyone else back."
Promotions to fourth grade made it to 100%, but improving K-3 literacy only reached 45.8%. Dohar said the state graded early literacy differently, along with other subjects. For other subjects, the superintendent said, the cut scores (taking in to account the difficulty of the items on the test) were lowered, making gap closing tougher.
"Kids who don't meet a score may be special needs. If they're still passing, why count it against them?" Dohar said.
"And our graduation rate slipped because some kids just never came back from COVID," Dohar noted. "We just lost kids. Some went on to work trades, jobs or waited to get their GED, and they end up making more money than us. But we are looking to recognize more at-risk kids earlier in their tenure."
Staff writer Raymond L. Smith contributed to this report.