SIDNEY — The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) released it’s final grades for the 2014-15 school year Thursday and local superintendents are not taking the results too seriously.
“The report card data that was released by the state has very little relevance to our student performance,” Russia Superintendent Steven Rose said. “Last year we had approximately 11 percent of our students whose parents opted them out of state testing due to concerns about the PARCC consortium.”
Last year, the ODE administered exams through the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), an organization that prepared exams based on Common Core standards the state has adopted.
An outcry from parents, teachers and school administrators who believed the tests were too complex and time-consuming led Gov. John Kasich to eliminate funding to these exams as part of the state budget he signed in July.
The students who did not take the test last year received a zero on the district report cards.
“We had a large number of students who opted out of taking the tests and that really adversely effected our overall grades in a few areas on the report card,” Fort Loramie Superintendent Daniel Holland said.
“When considering that 11 percent of our students who traditionally perform very well on standardized testing received a zero on last year’s test it truly makes our district test scores irrelevant and not a reflection of the quality of education we are providing to our students,” Rose said.
Fairlawn Superintendent Steve Mascho agreed, “We are disappointed in certain individual grades that were assessed to our district on the state issued Local Report Card. However, like many other districts we are even more concerned that last year’s state testing data does not accurately reflect the progress of the students in our district as it has in the past.”
The testing process in general was difficult for many districts in Ohio.
“What some may not be aware of is that random students were knocked off of their tests several times within the testing window and often times were not able to get back on the testing site to complete their tests for as long as 20 minutes. This was only the beginning of student frustration and, because of the overwhelming number of mandated seat hours that frustration led to a phenomenon now called student test fatigue,” Hardin-Houston Superintendent Larry Claypool said. “It was reported by school administers around the state that many students were so frustrated that they took their tests in five to 10 minutes just to get them done. Obviously not a true test of student’s knowledge or the teaching staff’s abilities that prepared them.”
The Sidney Daily News was directed by several districts to a press release about State Rep. Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo) and Ohio Board of Education member A.J. Wagner calling to ignore the report cards, that they said hurts kids, communities and school districts.
The lawmakers contend that the PARCC tests, an estimated cost of $200 million, were not properly vetted, but in fact were hastily designed and put into use without sufficient validation.
“Every grade on these report cards is tainted by unverified, arbitrary, poorly designed and implemented tests that have been thrown out by the Ohio legislature,” said Fedor, who serves as ranking minority member on the House Education Committee. “The flaws are so pervasive that the grades on the Ohio School Report Cards should not be counted for anything. The state calls it a safe harbor, which should lead one to question: why are there report cards at all?”
Several area superintendents said getting the results so late, compared to other years, didn’t help either.
“The results this year are close to eight months behind when we usually have them. Our staff has done a great job of self-identifying areas of strength and weakness for the 2015-16 school year, so getting results this late is rather meaningless,” Jackson Center Superintendent Bill Reichert said.
“The report card results from last year’s testing being received with two-thirds of this school year completed indicate a mixed bag of information to analyze and review,” added Sidney City Schools Superintendent John Scheu.
The 2015 Ohio School Report Cards include six major components – Achievement, Progress, Gap Closing, Graduation Rate, K-3 Literacy and Prepared for Success. There are one or more measures within each component. The state assigns an A to F letter grade to each. Districts and schools can receive up to 10 grades altogether.
The attached graph shows the letter grades for local school districts in all categories and sub-categories. The Indicators Met category answers the question: “How many students passed the state tests?” While the Performance Index category asks: “How well did the students do on the state tests?” The graduation rates cover how many students graduated in four years and five years.
The progress section is the district’s average progress for its students in math and reading, grades four to eight. It looks at how much each student learns in a year. Did students get a year’s worth of growth? Did they get more? Did they get less? It looks at all students, gifted students, lowest 20 percent of students in achievement and students with disabilities.
The gap closing or annual measurable objectives (AMO) grade measures how the performance of student groups in the district compare to the state goal in reading, math and graduation regardless of income, race, ethnicity or disability.
The K-3 Literacy grade answers the question: “Are more students learning to read in kindergarten through third grade?” The “n/a” means that the sample size was too small for the affected students. Superintendents agree this is usually a good thing.
They also agree their faculty, students and parents work hard.
“The hard work and efforts of our faculty, and students make a difference for us,” Botkins Superintendent Connie Schneider said. “We are appreciative of our parents who support our efforts in providing the best possible education for our students.”
“Our students perform well because of the high value placed on education at home and in the classroom,” said Minster Superintendent Brenda Boeke.
A comprehensive letter grade for each district will not be released until 2018 due to the drastic changes in the state assessments. The 2015-16 school year marks the third year in a row with new assessments.
This year, Ohio public schools will use American Institute Research (AIR) tests, which is the same company that had previously developed the state’s science and social studies exams. AIR will now provide language arts and mathematics exams in addition to science and social studies.
See all comments from area superintendents below:
Botkins Local School
“Overall Botkins Local School district is pleased with our test results,” said Superintendent Connie Schneider. “Our Performance Index was the highest in the area as we ranked 28th in the state with a 103.1. This places us in the top 5 percent in the state. We earned an ‘A’ for indicators met and our graduation rate was 100 percent which earned us the distinction of being among only 17 districts who achieved this.
“Our attendance rate was 96.2 percent. Seventy percent of our funds are spent for instruction which ranks us 17th of 163 in our comparison group,” she said.
“We will focus our efforts on making certain all students are succeeding in reading and math. In addition we will focus on meeting the needs of our gifted students,” Schneider said. “The hard work and efforts of our faculty, and students make a difference for us. We are appreciative of our parents who support our efforts in providing the best possible education for our students.”
Fairlawn Local School
“We are disappointed in certain individual grades that were assessed to our district on the state issued Local Report Card. However, like many other districts we are even more concerned that last year’s state testing data does not accurately reflect the progress of the students in our district as it has in the past.”
“It is our district’s goal to work with the state’s ever changing testing process as we teach our children to demonstrate as accurately as possible their true academic achievement from one year to the next.”
“We think the fact that 100% of the third grade children in our district passed the third grade reading guarantee and that the district had a 100% 4-year graduation rate are important measures of the progress of the children and the district.”
We will continue to use MAP testing three-times per year to progress monitor the achievement of our students. We know that this test is accurate and that the results are immediate. In addition, our staff has been organized into Teacher Based Teams (TBTs) to effectively deliver the curriculum to students based on their individual identified needs.”
Fort Loramie Local School
“The Fort Loramie school district ranked 17th out of 881 school districts in Ohio based on our Performance Index Score. We were extremely pleased with that result. It is an indication of the hard work of our students and staff and the support our school system receives from the parents and the community,” Superintendent Daniel Holland said.
“We had a large number of students who opted out of taking the tests and that really adversely effected our overall grades in a few areas on the report card. In addition, we switched to taking the test online which was a big change for our students, particularly at the lower grade levels. With those two items taken into consideration, we don’t feel as if the assessments really have given us a true indication of the students’ performance levels. We continue to monitor student progress locally and have been pleased with our academic progress within our schools,” he said.
“With the changes to the tests this coming year we feel like our legislators have listened to our concerns. The removal of PARCC as the test developer has been a positive move and the reduction in the overall time that tests will take has been a benefit to all of the school districts,” Holland said.
Hardin-Houston Local School
“In light of the issues regarding the PARCC assessment problems and other issues the state has been dealing with regarding school assessment, we feel pretty good about our scores,” Hardin-Houston Superintendent Larry Claypool said. “Of course, like all school administrators, we want our students to have the opportunity to do the best they can and demonstrate their acquisition of the curriculum, but we believe that due to the many issues noted, this year’s scores are not a true account of our students academic abilities.”
“We had no idea how the state report card would end up looking like with the combo PARCC/AIR assessments and student opt-out concerns. The fact that some schools took paper assessments and other districts decided to prepare for the future and train their students using on-line assessments added a wrinkle in the outcome, since much of the assessment concerns came from overwhelming technology problems that schools who took paper test did not deal with,” Claypool said.
In a Feb. 25, 2016, article from Focus Education, a statement was made where PARCC admitted that about 35 percent of the tests taken were by pencil/paper and would have different results than the tests taken on computer. That’s a disappointing note for those districts who did all assessments online, Claypool said.
“As we all know, the PARCC assessments were filled with problems and therefore was unfunded by the legislators. What some may not be aware of is that random students were knocked off of their tests several times within the testing window and often times were not able to get back on the testing site to complete their tests for as long as 20 minutes. This was only the beginning of student frustration and, because of the overwhelming number of mandated seat hours that frustration led to a phenomenon now called student test fatigue,” he said. “It was reported by school administers around the state that many students were so frustrated that they took their tests in five to 10 minutes just to get them done. Obviously not a true test of student’s knowledge or the teaching staff’s abilities that prepared them.”
“Every year our H-H Administrative Team breaks down the data and isolates specific areas where we see opportunities to make improvements in our curriculum delivery model or implementing the latest staff PD. That process has already begun for the next year. We have been working to improve our K-3 Literacy and have a plan in place with a Young Five’s Kindergarten program that we believe will have a significant impact on this component,” Claypool said.
Jackson Center Local School
“Jackson Center experienced mixed results on our state report card this year,” Superintendent Bill Reichert said. “But we are not dwelling on either end of our grade card spectrum for the following reasons:
• The results this year are close to 8 months behind when we usually have them. Our staff has done a great job of self-identifying areas of strength and weakness for the 2015-16 school year, so getting results this late is rather meaningless.
• The company used for most of the testing (PARRC) has now been terminated after one year so growth measures will not be consistent with years past.
• Many of the districts were adversely affected in different ways by public outcry (rightfully so) so their results will not be conclusive which skews the entire set of state results .
We do think that the state legislature has made tremendous strides in improving the system for future years, but after the debacle last year, it will take some time to right the ship.”
Minster Local School
“The school district report card is one measure for evaluating how a school district performs. Our students perform well because of the high value placed on education at home and in the classroom,” said Superintendent Brenda Boeke. “The data used to compile this year’s report card is somewhat skewed because of events surrounding the testing process last year. A modified achievement measure and an AMO download file were added to the report card this year in order to share the impact of student participation on a school district’s Performance Index and Gap Closing scores. As with any information we receive from the state department, our staff will review the results, celebrate what we do well and develop an action plan to address those areas where we can improve.”
New Bremen Local Schools
“New Bremen Local Schools earned an A for its students test performance, a C for its performance index, which adds credit for very high scores and penalizes very low scores. We are proud that we earned an A for value-added, which measures how much progress students made in one year. An A indicates our students are going more than one academic year,” Dr. Andrea Townsend, New Bremen Superintendent said. “Our graduation rates remain high at over 98 percent. We expected scores to have lower scores this year as the state implemented more challenging state achievement test through different vendors. We will compare these test with the recently released preliminary scores to adjust instructional practices. We are hopeful that testing will be much smoother this year using Ohio’s newly developed state test.”
Russia Local School
“The report card data that was released by the state has very little relevance to our student performance. Last year we had approximately 11 percent of our students whose parents opted them out of state testing due to concerns about the PARCC consortium. Since last year’s testing, the state of Ohio has dropped PARCC which is a step in the right direction,” Superintendent Steven Rose said. “The students who did not take the test last year received a ZERO on the district report card. When considering that 11 percent of our students who traditionally perform very well on standardized testing received a zero on last year’s test it truly makes our district test scores irrelevant and not a reflection of the quality of education we are providing to our students. If the state would release report card data that did not include the students who opted out of the testing it would be a much more accurate reflection of our student’s performance in Russia.”
“Due to the fact that the data from the state is not a true reflection on our student’s abilities, the district is relying on local measures to monitor our student progress. Our student’s continue to perform at some of the highest levels in the state on the ACT and other standardized tests. Overall we are pleased with our student’s overall progress,” Rose said.
Sidney City Schools
“With a very diverse group of students we serve in Sidney, our biggest challenge remains closing the gap among these various sub groups of students: we need to do a better job of reaching all students (received an F grade for gap closing),” Superintendent John Scheu said. “An obvious strength of ours is the Value Added grade (A). We are doing a very good job of focusing on having students achieve a minimum of one year’s growth. We intend to address the areas of concern, and make sure we continue doing the positive things reflective of our report card rating.”
