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New Ohio Department of Education statistics show charter schools in the Mahoning Valley making gap closing improvements, and area technical schools continuing to help students find places in their chosen career paths.
School report cards, revealing the performance of students in all school buildings and districts statewide, were released in September to evaluate performance in six categories, one of which is gap closing.
The gap closing component shows how well schools are meeting the performance expectations for students in English language arts, math and graduation.
It also measures how schools are doing in supporting English learners to increase language proficiency, reducing chronic absenteeism for all students and identifying gifted students and providing gifted services.
"The gaps we were closing prior were not as large as the gaps we're closing now," Heather Knapp of Youngstown Academy of Excellence, said. "Instead of one year of gaps, we're facing a more difficult two to three years of gap closing -- that has to do a little bit with the COVID-19 pandemic."
Trumbull Career and Technical Center, overall rated four and a half out of a possible five stars, and Mahoing County Career and Technical Center, rated a five overall and in nearly every component, also receive an annual report card.
Tech school ratings are based more on skill attainment.
• 1 to 1 1/2 stars means a district needs significant support to meet state standards;
• 2 to 2 1/2 stars means it 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 it exceeds state standards;
• 5 to 5 1/2 stars means the district significantly exceeds state standards.
TRUMBULL COUNTY
STEAM Academy of Warren attributes its academic success in early literacy to the administrative team's increased focus on reading programs for K-2 learning, after raising its previous 1-star rating to 3 in this category.
The school saw an overall score of 4 stars, while maintaining 5-star ratings in progress and gap closing.
STEAM Principal Wendy Thomas said early literature programs and weekly teacher assessments provided the data the school needs for continued success in its early literacy ratings. And, many instructional aides help with small group instruction, which helps keep students prepared to learn.
Thomas added that the STEAM achievement score remained 2 stars partly because of an influx of new students.
"It's hard to get new students two or three grade levels behind to where they need to be," Thomas said. "I have an amazing grade three through eight staff, always analyzing data and looking back at everything to strengthen gap closing and progress."
• Trumbull Career and Technical Center Director Paula Baco said in terms of the school's strengths, the post-program outcome category helps to boost its score. With an overall rating of 4 1/2 stars, 3 in achievement, 5 in career readiness, 5 in graduation rate and 5 in post-program, the school trademarks the phrase "enrolled, enlist, or employed," inside its building.
Baco added another area of strength is graduation rate, while the four-year is always higher than five-year rate.
"Our achievement rating is a little bit different from our home districts," Baco said. "Their achievement is based more on the end-of-course tests. Ours is a balance with technical skill attainment. So, our students take two different types of end-of-course assessments."
Students at TCTC and MCCTC take assessments weighted heavier within their program areas, along with government and geometry assessments over the course of the year.
"Our students' government scores are always on par with state average or above," Baco said. "And then we have students who take tests again and over again, in English Language Arts II and Algebra I to try to meet that graduation requirement. And so that performance index brings down our technical skill attainment or our career attainment a little bit to affect achievement."
Regarding attendance and chronic absenteeism, Baco said it's somewhat different for students at technical schools with missing because they are training for careers.
"Students know you can't miss welding and become a welder. You have to be here on the equipment or you're just going to get behind. Students here are choosing their program, while taking their English, science and math to graduate. But the fact that they made a commitment to that career field, I think some students who may have had some absenteeism problems in the past, may improve that pattern when they get into a program and they can see, 'Hey, my senior year I'm going to be going out to work.'"
• Niles Preparatory Academy earned a 3 1/2-star overall rating, but went down 2 stars to a 3 in gap closing.
Principal Melanie Jarman said, "Our first school year, we had about 90 students in K-5. Last year we grew and had around 150. We went from having about 25 students test in third to fifth grade, to almost three times that many last year, with around 60 students testing in third to sixth grade. So when your school grows and new students come in, scores are going to fluctuate.
"We did much better on our reading tests than on our math tests. That is something we talked about over the summer and made a game plan to address those issues throughout this school year."
Jarman explained the school wasn't satisfied with its math scores from last year, so administrators decided to have teachers implement small groups into their daily schedules for the curriculum, supplemental resources and instructional delivery.
"During this time teachers are able to fill any gaps that students may have," she said.
The school also noticed 45% of its students were considered chronically absent, missing at least 10% of instructional time whether it is excused or unexcused.
"We really need and want our students to be at school, so they are not missing that important instruction time with their teachers," she stressed.
Early literacy, Jarman said, grabbed administrative attention in setting a standard for early reading achievement. "We know as a school that early literacy is the foundation for everything else in our student's lives … " Jarman added.
• Summit Academy of Warren was rated 2 1/2 stars overall, while Summit Academy for Alternative Learners (Warren Middle and Secondary) earned 2.
Communications director Denise Henry said about 70% of students are on individualized education programs, specifically for children with disabilities. "Summit Academy looks at ongoing assessments to educate students at their individual academic level, adding that test scores are not a full reflection of children's capabilities.
"Despite the learning disabilities a majority of its students face, Summit Academy Community School-Warren earned a score of 3 in the area of progress. This score, according to the ODE website, is evidence that the school met student growth expectations."
Summit Academy Warren Middle and Secondary school administrators explained that although students' disabilities can make it appear as though they are not making progress on state report cards, the school sees its students making growth.
In the 2022-23 school year, the majority of Summit Academy Warren Middle and Secondary students demonstrated growth on norm-referenced assessments in reading and math.