Versailles School District receives B grade from state

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VERSAILLES — Versailles School District received a overall “B” grade from the Ohio Department of Education in this year’s annual Report Card, and Versailles Schools Superintendent Aaron Moran has many reasons to be pleased with the result.

“This is the first year districts received an overall grade,” he said. “The community should be pleased with the overall grade for last year’s efforts. Our students and staff will continue to strive together to improve our overall and component grades.”

Versailles received a “B” grade in Achievement.

“The performance index of the district rose from 102.453 to 103.86,” Moran said. “This score was the 36th highest public school district score in the state (out of 608 districts). Our gifted students scored the 46th highest performance index score in the state.”

“The indicators met increased 16.7 percentage points to 87.5 percent. Indicators overwhelmingly are based on whether 80 percent of students taking each grade level test scored at proficient or higher. Ten indicators had scores in the 90-plus percent proficiency rates. We are making improvement towards the goal of all students being proficient.”

In Gap Closing, which measures the performance expectations for sub-groups of students, Versailles scored an “A.” In English and math, the district scored higher in comparison to the state averages.

The district’s Progress grade was a “B,” which is based on student growth compared to past performance on state testing.

“Four groups make up the component grade,” Moran said. “All students and gifted students earned ‘A’ grade components for achieving more than expected growth. Student with disabilities earned a ‘C’ grade for earning expected growth. The lowest 20 percent of student group had a ‘D’ grade. Because of having a ‘C’ or lower grade in a component, the highest grade the district could receive was a ‘B’ even though the calculations were an ‘A’ grade. The district is focused on improving the scores for the subgroups by increasing supports and creativity to meet students needs.”

Versailles earned an “A” for Graduation Rates.

“The high school graduation rate continues to be successful, maintaining its ‘A’ component grade. Even with increased rigor testing, our high school staff continues to work with students to achieve the graduation requirements,” he said.

The only “F” grade received was in the category of Improving At-Risk K-3 Readers.

“This component was called the K-3 Literacy Rate in the past,” Moran said. “For the past four years, 100 percent of our students have passed the Third Grade Reading Guarantee requirements and last year’s third grade students achieved 81.5 percent proficiency on the state test (the highest yet). However, this component measures students who are not at a state-recommended level (using one state approved test score) and then reach the appropriate reading level one year later.

“The district has used the state-recommended scores for deciding student identification on this measure. While we reduced the number of students off-track by 45 percent, we used the state recommendation that these scores did not identify students who ultimately did not meet the score of proficient on the state test in third grade but achieved scores above the Third Grade Reading Guarantee requirement. This resulted in a deduction, taking the final score of a C to an F,” he said.

“Steps are in place to better identify students for on track/off track placement. Student support services continue as a priority. The new identification process aligns with our goals of proficiency for all. I do not believe the grade accurately reflects the work and achievement of our students and staff,” Moran added.

The Prepared For Success category earned the school district a “C” grade.

“This grade is based on the number of students that earned a remediation free score on all parts of the ACT or SAT, earned an honors diploma and/or earned an industry-recognized credential,” he said. “If a student earned one of the criteria listed, bonus points are awarded by earning three or more college credits and/or earning high scores on Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate tests.”

“This year, our score calculation was up 0.4 percent to 71.9 percent of points. However, our grade decreased to a ‘C’ because the grading scale changed to needing a 75 percent instead of 70 percent for a ‘B.’ Only 15 percent of districts in the state received a ‘C’ grade or better.”

For more details on Versailles School District grade report, go online to https://bit.ly/2RjCVbq.

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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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