State Report Cards: Bradford Exempted School District continues to make improvements

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BRADFORD — The release of the annual Ohio School Report Cards by the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) brings comments from county administrators.

Bradford Exempted Village School District’s new Superintendent Joe Hurst said the school is making progress.

“This year we passed five indicators, which doesn’t sound like a lot – and it’s not,” he said. “But let’s compare it to last year. Last year we met eight indicators, including the five passed Ohio Graduation Tests (OGT scores). If we take out the OGT indicators that are no longer required or relevant to the report card, we actually met more indicators this year than last.”

Bradford Exempted Village School District ranked 128 out of 163 in a comparison group of schools ranking the percentage of funds used for classroom instruction. A rank of one indicates the highest percent spent on classroom instruction. The district spent 61.6 percent of funds on classroom instruction.While schools and districts have received A-F letter grades on “Indicators Met” and“Performance Index” for several years, something new this year was the increase from 75 to 80 percent of students needing to score proficient or higher on each state test. Some of Bradford’s summary of report card components and grades are as follows:

Achievement – D = Performance Index – D, 68.7 percent, and Indicators Met – F, 21.7 percent

The Achievement component represents the number of students who passed the state tests and how well they performed on them. The Performance Index measures the test results of every student, not just those who score proficient or higher. Indicators Met measures the percent of students who have passed state tests. It also includes the gifted indicator. Test results are reported for each student in a grade and subject. The passage rate for each indicator is 80 percent.

Progress – F

In grades fourth – eighth, students made less progress than expected in all tests. Students made more progress than expected in fourth grade math. They made progress similar to the statewide expectation in fourth grade English and seventh grade math. Students made less progress than expected in fifth grade English, Math and Science; sixth grade English, Math and Science; seventh grade English and eighth grade English, Math and Science. High School students made progress similar to the statewide expectation in English I; less progress than expected in English II and Algebra I and more progress than expected in Geometry.

K-3 Literacy – D

Graduation Rate – A

“We have a 100 percent four-year graduation rate and a 97.8 percent five-year graduation rate,” Hurst said. “What that means is that all 44 of our students in the 2016 graduating class, graduated within the four years allotted. And of those 45 students that started one year before that, only one did not graduate. “

“We have work to do, but I am proud of our students and teachers for showing growth in 15 of the 22 tested areas,” Hurst said. “We have some improvements to make and we all own this data, but please don’t ever believe that this is the only piece that should evaluate our progress, our teaching staff, our students or our school. State Superintendent Paolo DeMaria during his release of the 2-16-2017 Ohio Report Cards video said, ‘Report cards aren’t the only gauge of a school’s or district’s accomplishments’. We will continue to make every effort to improve our instructional methods and curriculum, to provide the best possible education for the students of Bradford EVSD. We simply need to do our best – every teacher, every student, every day.”

By Carolyn Harmon

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The writer may be reached at 937-569-4354. Join the conversation and get updates on Facebook search Darke County Sports or Advocate 360. For more features online go to dailyadvocate.com.

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