Mississinawa Valley receives C on state report card

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UNION CITY — Mississinawa Valley Schools received an overall grade of C from the Ohio Department of Education as part of the state’s annually issued Report Card.

Broken down into specific categories, MV received the following grades:

Achievement: D

Progress: C

Gap Closing: B

Graduation Rate: A

Improving At-Risk K-3 Readers: D

Prepared for Success: F

MV Superintendent Doug Dunham provided his thoughts on the grades and what steps MV Schools are taking to help students improve and achieve.

Asked if he believed the grades issued this year are fair and accurate, Dunham said, “I feel the report cards are what has been developed and implemented for all public schools, so we have to go with the system that they are using to grade our schools. I want them to be consistent each year with they are using to grade us and giving us a overall grade this year was something new.

“I know overall our district received a C; however, I believe the report card is just one way to grade a district and does not indicate the overall performance level of our staff and students,” he added, saying the MV district uses the state’s assessment as well as its own observations to look at strengths and weakness from PreK through 12th grades.

“We are using the data from students to drive our instruction,” he said. “Our District Leadership Team is focusing on UDL teaching strategies, providing high-quality professional development for our teachers, and we are initiating a new reading program for the elementary.

“One of our weaknesses was the performance indicators, so we are focused on improving the end-of-year testing. Strengths were: Graduation rate at the high school level, receiving an A at the elementary building in Progress, receiving an A at the elementary in Gap Closing and receiving a B in Gap Closing at the middle school/high school.”

Dunham said educators are becoming more accustomed to the state’s expectations.

“I think the teachers, students, parents and community members are in the process of adapting to the new State Report Card and adapting to the change in testing,” he said. “They are being more consistent with the end-of-year tests.”

Regardless of the state’s grades, Dunham touted the accomplishments of MV graduates.

“I would like to see more credit given to our graduates as they enter college, work-force, military or apprenticeship programs, for our class of 2018 graduates received quite a bit of scholarship monies to universities/colleges, and I think somehow that should be noted on the report card,” he said.

For more information on Mississinawa Valley’s 2018 report card, go online to https://bit.ly/2N3enA1.

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By Erik Martin

[email protected]

The writer may be reached at 937-569-4314. 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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