COLUMBUS GROVE — Four school districts in the tri-county region earned five-star overall ratings on their school report cards from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.
Columbus Grove, Minster, New Bremen and New Knoxville each receieved five stars, the highest score available, for their overall district ratings when DEW released the latest school report cards Friday morning.
Most districts in the tri-county area earned the same overall rating as the previous school year, though several school districts saw modest changes in their scores.
This is the second year Ohio used a five-star rating system to measure public school performance, replacing the state’s letter-grade system.
How scores are calculated
A district or school building’s overall rating is calculated using five components: achievement, progress, early literacy, graduation and gap closing.
Achievement and progress components, which measure how well students perform on state exams and student academic growth from year to year, are weighted more heavily in a district or school’s overall rating.
The gap-closing component looks at a district or school’s efforts to close learning gaps for disadvantaged students by measuring things like English language proficiency, gifted student performance, chronic absenteeism and graduation goals for disabled or economically disadvantaged students.
A five-star rating is the highest rating, while a three-star rating means a district or school met state standards.
Each school building receives its own score, which is then averaged with other school building scores to determine district ratings.
A ‘moving target’
Lima schools Superintendent Jill Ackerman likened the school grade cards to a “moving target,” as components used to calculate a district or school’s performance often change.
This year’s progress score, for example, is based on three years of testing data. In previous years, the measure relied on one or two years of testing data to measure student growth from year to year.
“I don’t think there’s ever been two years in a row that you can compare the same thing to the same thing, because there’s always something — benchmarks are raised higher, additional years are added — so it’s hard for us to calculate ahead,” Ackerman said.
The district piloted a new literacy curriculum, started an attendance campaign and is inviting parents to lunch and learn programs, one of several initiatives to improve parent engagement and student achievement.
“The school improvement coach goes over different activities they can do at home to reinforce reading and math,” Ackerman said.
State pushes ‘science of reading’ to improve literacy
This year’s ratings show gains in English language arts proficiency, a key initiative for Gov. Mike DeWine as schools begin to implement curriculum built around the science of reading.
Statewide, student literacy scores increased by 2% in third grade, 5% in fourth grade and 3% in fifth grade, according to a news release from DeWine’s office promoting the results.
“We know the Science of Reading works because we know now exactly how the brain learns to read,” DeWine said in the release. “This is especially important for our young children, because the earlier they are able to master reading, the better positioned they will be for success in every subject throughout their education.”
Schools in the region are already piloting new curriculum to align with the science of reading standards, though several schools in the tri-county region received two-star or below-average ratings for early literacy.
SCHOOL REPORT CARDS
A look at the overall school report card ratings, released by the Ohio Department of Education on Friday, for schools in Allen, Auglaize and Putnam counties:
5 STARS
Columbus Grove
Minster
New Bremen
New Knoxville
4.5 STARS
Bluffton
Kalida
Leipsic
Miller City-New Cleveland
Ottoville
Shawnee
Spencerville
4 STARS
Bath
Elida
Ottawa-Glandorf
Waynesfield-Goshen
3.5 STARS
Allen East
Continental
Delphos
Jennings
Pandora-Gilboa
St. Marys
Wapakoneta
3 STARS
Perry
2 STARS
Lima
