VERSAILLES — The release of the annual Ohio School Report Cards by the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) brings comments from county administrators.
Versailles Exempted Village School District Superintendent Aaron Moran said the district is proud of its overall results.
“We recognize hard work is still needed in all areas,” he said. “We will work to make Versailles Exempted Village Schools the best place for each student.”
Versailles ranked 207 out of 275 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 65 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. This years report card data is based on testing that has been consistent for the past two (2) years, according to Supt. Moran. Below is a brief overview of some components of Versailles report card:
Achievement – B = Performance Index – B, 85.4 percent, and Indicators Met – C, 70.8 percent
The Achievement component represents the number of students who passed the state tests and how well they performed on them.
“‘Indicator Met’ is one quarter of the overall Achievement grade,” Moran said. “This year, schools earned an indicator for having 80 percent of students being proficient in the testing areas. Last year indicators were earned for scores ranging from 66 to 80 percent. Versailles scores were higher than last year’s in just about every grade level, however some did not meet the 80 percent threshold. This year we earned 20 of 27 indicators for “C” grade.”
“Our ‘Performance Indicator’ grade of “B” was earned by achieving 102.453 points,” he added. “This is worth three-fourths of the overall Achievement grade. Points are determined by the percentage of students at each level of scoring (Advanced to Beginner) multiplied by a weighted value. Our district score was 42nd highest of the 608 public schools. Students in the district recognized as gifted reached to the fifth highest in the state.”
Progress – Overall grade of B, same as last year
“Overall our students earned an “A” in Value-Added scores,” Moran said. “Value-Added measures whether students are learning at expected rates. A grade of “C” means students are learning to expected levels: “A” means more than expected levels and “F” below expected levels. Sub groups do not show as strong of learning occurring. This is an area of focus and for providing proper learning supports.”
The Progress component looks closely at the growth that all students are making based on their past performances. The students in grades fourth – eighth made significant more progress than expected in all tests. They made less progress than expected in fourth and eighth grade English, and sixth grade Math. Students made progress similar to the statewide expectation in sixth grade English, Social Studies and eighth grade Math. And they made significantly more progress than expected in fourth grade Math; fifth grade English, Math and Science; seventh grade English and Math and eighth grade Science. The High School students made progress similar to the statewide expectation in English I, less progress than expected in English II and more progress than expected in Algebra I and Geometry.
Gap Closing – B, improved from D last year
“Similar to the Progress grade, Gap closing looks at students in various sub-groups to see if the groups are reaching the same goals in Reading and Math,’ Moran said. “Sub groups data shows improvement is needed in these areas.”
Graduation Rate – remains an A
“The district works with all students to reach required proficiency levels,” Moran said. “This is a priority to keep such high rates.”
K-3 Literacy – Not Rated, last year a D
“The district continuously works with students on literacy in grades K-3,” Moran said. “For the third year in a row all third grade students met state requirements to be promoted (Third Grade Reading Guarantee). The district had less than 30 students, out of 413, in grades K-3 behind in reading at the beginning of the year. A smaller number of students were behind in reading at the end of the year. No score is given, because less than five percent of our kindergarten students were behind in reading.”
Prepared For Success – remains a B
“Students who took college entrance exams (ACT/SAT), AP, Dual Enrollment courses, received Honor diplomas, recognized industry credentials, are input into the grade score for the district,” Moran said. “Our College Credit Plus offering at Versailles High School is a great opportunity for our students to earn college credit. The high school staff has done great work in making these opportunities available for our students.”
