Tag Archives: School Report Cards

Ohio to adopt career-tech report card

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Ohio’s State Board of Education is set to approve an A-F report card for career-technical schools, which will make Ohio the first and only state to issue a graded report card for career-technical education.

The career-tech report card is reported to be a “collaborative effort” between Governor Kasich’s office, the Board of Regents, the state board and a variety of career-technical education associations. It will provide five graded components, including:

    • Reading
    • Math
    • Four-year graduation rate
    • Five-year graduation rate
    • Post-career-technical education program placement

Also included in the report card will be one non-graded component, “Prepared for Success,” which will reflect student participation in earning early college credit. This will include:

  • Advanced placement
  • Post-secondary enrollment options
  • International baccalaureate
  • National standard college entrance test participation
  • Remediation-free attainment
  • Honors diplomas
  • Other college-career ready assessments

Like the local report card, the career-tech report card would use an A-F grading scale, and the additional components for graded and non-graded measures on the report card would phase in over the next three school years. As stated in House Bill 555, the first report card has to be published by Sept. 1, 2013 for the 2012-13 school year.

A career-tech report card is another great step in providing parents with as much information as possible, giving them the ability to make informed choices when it comes to their students’ education.

Dispatch Analysis of Proposed School Rating System

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Recently, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Stan Heffner announced proposed changes to the state’s rating system of public school performance. These changes would replace the existing rating system of “Excellent with Distinction, Excellent, Effective, Continuous Improvement, Academic Watch, and Academic Emergency” with a new grading scale of “A-F.”

The Columbus Dispatch provides an interesting analysis of the impact of the new rating system. You can also see how your school would perform under the new system.

What do you think about the proposed switch to an “A-F” rating?

NCLB Waiver Application Proposes New School Grading System

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Earlier this week, State Superintendent of Public Education Stan Heffner announced proposed changes to the state’s ranking system of public school performance. These changes, proposed as part of the No Child Left Behind waiver application that Ohio submitted to the federal Department of Education, would replace the existing ranking system of “Excellent with Distinction, Excellent, Effective, Continuous Improvement, Academic Watch, and Academic Emergency” with a new grading scale of “A-F”.

As Mr. Heffner explained, “We need to tell the truth.  No one wants to hear bad news, and we are not in the business of making people look bad. The goal is to get edu-speak out of the report cards and get common English in.”

The new grading system will assign a letter grade to school districts and individual buildings on a 0-100 scale based on indicators of performance met, performance index, a value-added compellation of previous year’s results, and achievement and graduation rates.

Based on this new measure, schools (like kids) will receive grades based on the following scale:

A = 100-90% score

B = 89-80% score

C = 79-70% score

D = 69-60% score

F = 59% or below score

Mr. Heffner noted that in the short term, this means that many schools will receive lower rankings than were previously awarded based on the current evaluation system. However, the importance of the new system and the accuracy of the new scale will lead to long-term overall improvement for schools and individual students.

School Choice Ohio has been advocating for these changes, which are similar to evaluation systems which are in place in Florida, Indiana, and several other states and provide a clearer picture to parents and the public at large about the performance of public schools in our communities. Before we can change the system, we need to know what is wrong with the system, and this new grading scale will afford us the opportunity to get a better understanding of how Ohio’s schools are serving our state.

This new grading scale will need to be implemented by the Ohio General Assembly, which may occur as soon as this spring.

The waiver application also included a proposal to make information about school options and school quality more available to families. This is a sorely-needed change. As the menu of options expands, parents need more information to make the best decision on the quality and fit of each option.

We applaud Superintendent Heffner and the Ohio Department of Education for embracing this new grading scale and for advocating for the sharing of more information about school performance with parents, students, and citizens of the State of Ohio at large.

New report shows state school rating system deceptive

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Our friends at the Ohio Association for Gifted Children released a new report today called “Grading on a Curve: The Illusion of Excellence in Ohio’s Schools,” which finds that Ohio’s school rating system can be very deceptive. Today in Ohio, 352 school districts (almost 60 percent of all districts) are rated excellent or excellent with distinction. That sounds very promising on the surface, but this report takes a deeper look at the performance of each of these schools to show how they really stack up.

Below are some of the findings highlighted in the report:

  • 67 districts rated excellent or excellent with distinction had zero students take AP exams
  • 109 districts rated excellent or excellent with distinction had average ACT scores below the state average
  • 160 districts rated excellent or excellent with distinction had fewer than 20% of their graduating class receive diplomas with honors
  • 136 districts rated excellent or excellent with distinction had college remediation rates above the state average
  • 220 districts rated excellent or excellent with distinction serve fewer than 20% of their identified gifted students with 85 of the highly rated districts reporting no gifted services at all

Based on their findings, the Ohio Association for Gifted Children makes several recommendations, including eliminating the labeling of districts until a meaningful system can be developed. School Choice Ohio shared a similar recommendation in October, which called for Ohio to create crystal clear, meaningful state ratings for schools.

The statistics shared in the OAGC’s report show that even in the state’s highest performing public schools, there are still some students whose educational needs are not being met. For those students, it is crucial that they have options so that they can reach their full academic potential. House Bill 136 would create an income-based scholarship program that would give the state’s low-and middle income families the opportunity to find the educational environment that best meets their child’s unique learning needs.

Grading Ohio’s Schools

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Today is report card day for Ohio’s schools. Each charter school and traditional public school received a state rating – an A-F grade– based on student test scores and other factors.

 

What’s new this year? For the first time, schools could be dinged for their value-added results. Schools whose students did not learn an average year’s worth of material can see their ratings lowered. We commend the state of Ohio for highlighting the impact of individual schools on moving students toward proficiency.

 

This year, 443 schools earned a “D” or “F” grade, 21 fewer than last year. An improvement – yes. But, still too few students in these schools are acquiring the skills they need for future success.

 

This is one reason school choice is so important. Families of kids in schools where excellence is not yet widespread need other options.

 

The EdChoice Scholarship will allow some of these students to attend a private school next year. Because eligibility for the EdChoice Scholarship is based on these state ratings, the eligible population changes every year. Last year, the lowest 5% of schools were designated as under-performing and students in these 199 schools in 27 districts were eligible for a private school scholarship option.

 

This year’s EdChoice public school list will be released by the ODE early next month. How will this year’s changes to the rating system affect eligibility? A lot of parents are eager to see how this will shake out for their kids.

 

- Sarah Pechan