Monday, April 05, 1999
Report Cards: 4 area districts in Ohio's top tier
Cincinnati Public listed in lowest category
BY CHRISTINE WOLFF
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Four Hamilton County suburban school districts were among 15 in Ohio to meet top academic standards on the second trial run of state-issued report cards.
The four — Madeira, Wyoming, Mariemont and Indian Hill — are the only school districts in Greater Cincinnati to be labeled “effective” for meeting at least 17 of 18 minimum performance standards. They are among 15 of Ohio's 611 districts to make it into the top category.
Cincinnati Public Schools ranked third-highest among Ohio's eight urban school districts. Cincinnati met five of the 18 standards to land in the lowest category, “academic emergency.”
But, CPS officials noted, the district came within a fraction of moving up into the next ranking — “academic watch.”
“We are moving closer (to the next category) faster than
we expected,” CPS Superintendent Steven Adamowski said. “We feel very confident that our results this year give credibility to projections that we will move out of "academic emergency' and be the only big city in Ohio to do that.”
The 1999 Local Report Cards — sent to parents this week — provide a look at what school districts are doing well and where improvements are needed. Report cards include details on proficiency test scores, attendance, discipline, promotion, graduation rates, student/teacher ratios, revenue sources and annual spending.
This will be the final trial run for the report cards before the official distribution in 2000.
A district is ranked effective for achieving 17 or more of the 18 standards; continuous improvement for 10 to 16; academic watch for six to 9; and academic emergency for five or fewer.
After 2000, districts ranked in the lower three categories will be required to develop formal plans to address the problems and to show improvement annually, according to the Ohio Department of Education.
Wyoming City Schools met all 18 standards and Superintendent Ted Knapke credited staff quality, student motivation and parental involvement.
“The district has done a good job of making sure we are focusing on the skills and objectives that will be tested,” Mr. Knapke said. “I think we are also looking at the content, that what students are learning is relevant and meaningful to them.”
Thirty-six states keep annual report cards on their schools. Thirteen, including Ohio and Kentucky, require the report cards to be sent home to parents.
All 36 states include test scores on the cards. Sixteen states include teacher qualifications, and 17 include safety or discipline data. States rated more than 1,000 schools as low-performing last year, according to Education Week, a magazine geared for educators.
Sycamore achieved 15 of the 18 standards and the focus will be on improving fourth-grade proficiency test scores, Superintendent Bruce Armstrong said.
Largely a district with above-average family incomes, the sprawling Sycamore district — like Cincinnati — still feels the impact of factors that report cards do not calculate.
“They don't measure how hungry a kid is, or how much money a parent makes or if the kid lives in a house that's warm and safe,” Mr. Armstrong said. “The vast majority of variables associated with success aren't measured.”
Lebanon City Schools met 11 of the 18 standards, down from the 12 met last year. There, too, scores on the fourth-grade proficiency test need to come up, district officials said.
A new Lebanon program called “credentialing” aims to help. Instead of being graded, third-graders this spring also will be evaluated by teachers on their academic preparation, employability skills and career awareness, said district spokeswoman Carole Dorn.
In North College Hill, where the district met nine of 18 standards, Superintendent Stan Wernz also noted the tie between socioeconomics and student performance. “We also notice a high correlation between students who have been with us for a period of time and those who have been transient,” Mr. Wernz said.
Ninth-grade proficiency tests show that North College Hill met or exceeded the state's minimum standard in three out of four subject areas. “We have never had a student not graduate because of proficiency test performance,” Mr. Wernz said.
Enquirer reporters Dana DiFilippo, Bernie Mixon and Miriam Smith contributed to this report.
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