The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) recently released the 2018-19 Local Report Card for all districts in the state of Ohio. The North Royalton Schools received an overall B grade on the annual state report card. The State Report Card is one way to measure our educational system,” said Superintendent Greg Gurka. A presentation of the findings was given at the North Royalton School Board meeting last month by Director of Curriculum Melissa Vojta and Director of Pupil Services Julie Bogden.
The North Royalton School District received an overall grade of “B” for this report. Schools and School Districts in Ohio are assigned overall letter grades, which are determined by a weighted percentage of the Achievement, Progress, Gap Closing, Graduation Rate, K-3 Literacy and Prepared for Success. They are broken down as follows: A – 31; B – 169; C – 282; D – 122; and F – 4. “I continue to be very proud of the students, staff and parents of North Royalton City Schools and the collaborative environment that we have,” said North Royalton School Superintendent, Greg Gurka. “In our strategic plan, our vision states our educational community will be a model in identifying individual student needs and providing comprehensive support. We do this every day in our buildings and we are continuously identifying our weaknesses and adjusting our curriculum and instruction for improvement.”
Achievement: North Royalton City Schools received a composite score of a “B.”
This component, which includes the district’s Performance Index, represents the students who passed the state tests and how well they performed on them. North Royalton received a 102.1, 11th out of 31 in Cuyahoga County and 52nd out of 608 public school districts in Ohio. This score equates to 60.5% of North Royalton students performing in advanced /accelerated ranges.
“This shows that the majority of our students are not only achieving, but are achieving at the highest levels,” said Gurka. “Our success in this area is reflective of the gains made at the high school level in nearly every subject area, but especially with ELA II scores, where students scoring proficient or higher increased by 16.6%, and geometry increased by 12.6%. Additionally at our middle school, two additional indicators were picked up in sixth grade ELA and math, an improvement from last year.”
Progress : North Royalton City Schools received a composite score of a “B”.
This component reflects student growth, based on past state assessment performance. “The District received a “B” in the category of “overall” for the progress of all students in math, English/Language Arts and science using tests in grades four through eight and some end-of-course exams. The District also received an “A” in the category of “Gifted Students” for the progress of students identified as gifted in reading, math, science and/or superior cognitive ability. A “C” was given for the category of “Students in the Lowest 20% in Achievement” which measures the progress for students identified as the lowest 20% statewide in reading, math or science. An “F” was given for the category of “Students with Disabilities,” which measures the progress for students with disabilities. Various professional development opportunities will take place for both general education teachers and intervention specialists to examine student data further and identify where practices need to be strengthened to improve the progress for students with disabilities. Our District Leadership Team will monitor this process.,” according to school officials.
Gap Closing: North Royalton City Schools received a composite score of an “A”.
This component shows how well schools are meeting the performance expectations for all students and subgroups.
Graduation Rate: North Royalton City Schools received a composite score of an “A”.
This component shows the percent of students who are successfully finishing high school in four or five years.
K-3 Literacy: North Royalton City Schools received a composite score of “C”.
This component, which averages four years of data, identifies the success of getting struggling readers on track to proficiency in kindergarten through grade three. Of the District’s third graders, 100% met the Third Grade Reading Guarantee requirements for promotion to fourth grade. “This indicator is another confusing one for the community when you have 100% of your third-graders pass the required assessment, and yet your K-3 literacy score is a C,” said Gurka. “It also is important to note that this measure is inconsistent between districts because it is based on a list of approved diagnostic assessments the state requires districts to choose from and not all districts use the same tests. Our goal is to ensure our students are reading by the end of the third grade and it is clear we are meeting that goal.”
Prepared for Success: North Royalton City Schools received a composite score of a “C”.
This component shows the preparedness of students for all future opportunities. It includes ACT or SAT remediation-free scores; Honors Diploma recipients; Advanced Placement (AP) test scores, International Baccalaureate tests, and College Credit Plus.
“North Royalton High School (NRHS) students have again had immense success with the Advanced Placement (AP) program,” according to school officials. “The AP program offers college-level curriculum and exams for high school students. Each year, students take AP exams in multiple subjects and by earning a high score on the test, are awarded an AP Scholar Award. NRHS offers 13 AP courses: American Government, United States History, Microeconomics/Macroeconomics, Psychology, English Literature and Composition, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Statistics, Physics I, Physics II, French, Spanish and Computer Science Principles. There were 301 students that participated in 532 AP exams with 74.1% of students scoring a three or better in the 2018-19 school year. The AP awards have several categories. NRHS had 29 AP Scholars, 13 AP Scholars with Honors, 33 AP Scholars with Distinction and eight National AP Scholars in the 2018-19 school year. Also, in the class of 2019, 29% received an Honors Diploma.”
“I am very proud of the education that our students receive in all of our schools,” said Gurka. “Our Board of Education and administrative team reviews our scores intently each year to see where we are improving or where we need additional work. We don’t rely solely on just those numbers or letter grades because there is so much more to evaluate a district’s strengths and weaknesses than this report card.”
By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer