Report card ranks Greenville schools low

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GREENVILLE – Greenville City Schools ended up at the bottom of the Darke County school results for achievement and was given straight F’s for progress on the 2014-15 state report card, but the school superintendent pointed out that this is a “transitional year.”

State Rep. Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo, and ranking minority member of the House Education Committee, and State Board of Education member A.J. Wagner have essentially called on the public to ignore this year’s results, calling them inaccurate and even “harmful.”

Greenville City Schools Superintendent Douglas Fries noted the changes and challenges involved in last year’s testing.

“This is a transitional year,” Fries said. “Students, teachers and districts are all in safe harbor this year. Everyone’s going to need time to assess this data and make adjustments. Everybody will need time to continue to improve, but in the meantime, we’re going to continue to provide the best education we can for our students.”

The achievement grade combines the results of how many students passed the state test and how well students did on the test. The Performance Index – how many passed – was 73.6 percent, or a C grade. Indicators met – how well did they do – was 63.6 percent, or a D.

The modified results took into account students who did not take the test and resulted in an 88.9 percent for the performance index, which is still a C.

According to the results, 0.7 percent of Greenville students did not take the test. Of those who did take it, 11 percent ranked as Limited, 20.1 as Basic, 30.2 percent as Proficient, 29 percent as Accelerated, and 9.1 percent as Advanced.

Indicators met measures the percent of students who passed the tests.

Third-grade students had 59.2 percent pass math and 78.3 percent pass the reading test.

Fourth-graders were at 60.7 percent in math, 67.1 percent in reading and 71.8 percent in social studies.

Fifth-graders were at 84.1 percent in math, 67.6 percent in reading and 65.4 percent in science.

Sixth-grade results were 73.3 percent in math, 54 percent in reading and 50.3 percent who passed social studies.

There were 62.3 percent who passed the seventh-grade math test and 69.3 percent who passed the reading test.

Eight-graders had a 55.5 percent pass rate on the math test, 63.5 percent in reading and 57.9 percent in science.

Students in 10th and 11th grade took the OGT (Ohio Graduation Test). The 10th grade pass rate in math was 89 percent, in reading was 88.5 percent, in science was 83.2 percent, in social studies was 84.3 percent and in writing was 90.6 percent. For 11th grade the pass rate in math was 91.7 percent, in reading was 92.7 percent, in science was 86.2 percent, in social studies was 89.4 percent and in writing was 91.3 percent.

The Gifted Students indicator was not met, with a value-added grade of F. The Gifted Performance Index was 109 out of 120 points, which comes out to an A on the grading scale but less than the 115 required to meet the performance index indicator for gifted students. The district met the indicator for gifted inputs, which is based on identification and services provided to gifted students.

The Progress score is the district’s average progress for students in math and reading in grades 4-8. It measures not the students’ achievement but the amount of growth they have attained in a school year. Greenville’s overall grade in Progress was an F, with an F in each category of Gifted, Students in the Lowest 20 percent of Achievement and Students with Disabilities.

Greenville City Schools scored an F in Gap Closing, at 51.7 percent, which is meant to indicate how well all students are doing in the district in reading, math and graduation, and to determine if every student is succeeding, regardless of income, race, ethnicity or disability.

“What we do for students is more than a standardized test,” Fries said. “Our school system is about ongoing growth, improved achievement and total investment in our overall students’ development.”

According to the report card, Greenville City Schools spends 70.9 percent of its funds on classroom instruction, ranking the district 21st in classroom spending out of 108 similar districts. The total spending per pupil is $8,134, which is below the state average of $9,228. The district’s funding is 39.1 percent local, which falls only slightly below the state average of 39.4 percent.

The individual buildings’ results were as follows:

• Greenville Intermediate School – Achievement: performance index, C; indicators met, F. Progress: overall, F; gifted, D; lowest 20 percent achievement, F; students with disabilities, F. Gap closing: F. K-3 literacy: C.

• Greenville Junior High School – Achievement: performance index, C; indicators met, F. Progress: overall, C; gifted, B; lowest 20 percent achievement, F; students with disabilities, F. Gap closing: F.

• Greenville Middle School – Achievement: performance index, C; indicators met, D. Progress: overall, F; gifted, F; lowest 20 percent achievement, F; students with disabilities, D.

• Greenville Senior High School – Achievement: performance index, C; indicators met, C. Gap closing: A.

“The grade card continues to be a dashboard report,” Fries said, “and we will continue to examine all areas and make improvements.”

For details on the school report cards, visit reportcard.education.ohio.gov.

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By Rachel Lloyd

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Reach the writer at 937-569-4354 or on Twitter @RachelLloydGDA. Join the conversation at Facebook.com/Advocate360 or visit our website at www.dailyadvocate.com.

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