COLUMBUS — Rep. Jim Buchy, R-Greenville, 84th District, has released adjusted report cards for schools in Auglaize, Darke, Mercer and Shelby counties as concerns grow about the impact on local scores from students who opted out of the 2014-2015 PARCC examinations.
In December, legislators introduced House Bill 420, which would have required the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) to issue data to account for students whose parents elected for their child to “opt-out” of PARCC examinations.
“The Ohio Department of Education has issued some adjusted grades, but have been unable to effectively communicate the impacts of opt-outs on the report cards,” Buchy said in a press release Tuesday. “Upon the release of the report cards last month, I was surprised how difficult it was to review accurate scores.”
As The Sidney Daily News first reported last week, local superintendents were very skeptical about what the report cards released by the ODE really meant because there were so many issues with the testing process, so many students opted out, and the data was released so far behind schedule.
The students who did not take the test last year received a zero on the district report cards, creating lower numbers for some grades than what actually reflected the students who took the tests.
In the “adjusted report cards” Buchy released Tuesday, only a few numbers changes for area schools.
Russia and Fort Loramie Local School District’s were the only two to see actual letter grade change for student achievement. They both went from “C’s” to “B’s”. While other districts saw increased percentages, the letter grades didn’t actually shift.
A few districts saw changes in the Gap Closing Grade. Minster Local Schools went from a C to a B, Russia went from a B to an A, Fort Loramie went from an F to a D, and Versailles went from a C to a B.
The report released by Buchy also listed if any appeal was filed regarding the district’s report card. Minster and Hardin-Houston Schools have filed appeals, according to the report, and New Bremen’s “Prepared for Success” data is subject to change due to a local reporting error. The report was also very clear about the “unofficial-ness” of the adjusted grades.
Buchy has posted the adjusted report cards at tinyurl.com/adjustedreportcards. These report cards are unofficial and serve only as a way of reviewing school results to consider the impact of the high level of “opt-outs.” The Ohio Department of Education has the official results posted at www.reportcard.education.ohio.gov.
