The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) released the second part of the district report cards in late February. The first portion was released in January. This portion of the report contained the results for the value-added scores, based on grades 4-8 math and reading, which was taken from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessment for the 2014-15 school year.
According to Dr. Lonny Rivera, Ohio Interim Superintendent of Public Instruction, “The Ohio School Report Cards for the 2014-2015 academic year give every school and district A-F letter grades on up to 10 measures of education quality. The measures fall under six areas of school responsibility, including student learning progress, graduation rate and reading mastery for our youngest students. The report card’s easy-to-follow format gives users a deep and well-rounded look into what’s happening in their schools and districts. Ohio’s switch last year to new, more challenging state achievement tests means that some schools and districts have lower grades on some measures. This has been a challenge, but we have long expected that it would happen as Ohio gradually raises the bar for student learning. We fully expect our students and schools to rise to the new expectations as they adjust to the teaching, learning and testing of deeper knowledge and higher-level skills.”
However, the state of Ohio was one of a twelve state consortium that utilized PARCC assessments for Common Core Testing. In June of last year, Governor John Kasich ordered that a new provider would be sought, due to a number of technological glitches that took place with the PARCC testing. The American Institute of Research was then named for the state of Ohio for future testing.
The following, indicates the scores for the North Royalton School District over the past three years (2013, 2014, 2015):
Performance Index Grade: B, B, B
4-Year Graduation Rate Grade: A, A, A
5-Year Graduation Rate Grade: A, A, A
Indicators Met Grade: A
Overall Value-Added Grade: A, A, F
Gifted Value-Added Grade: C, A, F
Students with Disabilities Value Added Grade: D, B, C
“A letter grade of C indicates that students have made the expected amount of growth according to the Ohio Department of Education. Our students consistently do well academically in our district, and they have so for years. There are many variables that contribute to the value-added scores,” said North Royalton School Superintendent, Greg Gurka. “While the value added scores do not reflect what we would expect from our district, our district scores on the PARCC assessments show that our students exceeded the state average in every area except for High School Government (which was given to seniors at the end of last year and did not count towards their graduation requirements).
Gurka went on to say that the rules for state assessments do not necessarily compare apples to apples and keep changing. “In addition, our district consistently has high numbers of students proficient or higher on the assessments at all grade levels, as well as ACT, SAT, OGT and AP tests. The district’s Performance Index Score is a 102.7, which equates to a letter grade of B. This score is ranked 12th highest in all of Northeast Ohio and is consistent to what it has been in previous years. Performance Index measures the cumulative total of all students who take the state assessments with the premise that the more students who score in the accelerated or advanced ranges equate to a higher score,” said Gurka. The North Royalton School District ranked 7th in Cuyahoga County. Over the past three years, the district ranked 76 in 2013; 44 in 2014 and 34 in 2015 with a B in each year.
Gurka said that individual student data, which is not public information, is expected to be released to the districts in April. “We’re going to look at the data, identify inconsistencies and look at what resources are necessary to meet the student’s needs.” He also noted that the district “is involved in the Ohio Improvement Process, in which district and building leadership teams examine data and make instructional decisions to provide for individual student needs. As part of this process, the district is currently examining a new universal screening tool that will provide data on whether the district’s core instruction is strong enough, and regular monitoring of specific students in need of intervention. Professional development time continues to be spent to align curriculum with assessments. Teachers continue to effectively differentiate instruction to meet the needs of all learners at all grade levels.”

By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer