NEW MADISON — The Ohio Department of Education has released school district report cards, including those evaluating eight school districts in Darke County, and Tri-Village Schools received an overall grade of B.
School Report Cards are designed to give parents, communities, educators and policymakers information about the performance of districts and schools in order to celebrate success and identify areas for improvement, according to the ODE website. The information presented helps identify schools that need more intensive public support and provides data on student performance in areas such as graduation rate and college and career readiness. The goal is to ensure equitable outcomes for all of Ohio’s students.
Districts evaluated receive an overall letter grade, as well as individual grades on up to six separate components.
“The district is pleased with our overall grade,” Tri-Village Superintendent Josh Sagester said. “Statistically speaking, there were 28 As, 191 Bs, 253 Cs, 122 Ds and 14 Fs across the state of Ohio in the overall grade category. As a result, Tri-Village was in the top 36 percent of all school districts in Ohio based on the overall grade of a B.”
Sagester also was pleased with the district’s Value Added score.
“The district earned an overall Value Added grade of A, which indicates that our students as a whole are making more than a year’s worth of growth,” Sagester said. “Specifically, our lowest 20 percent in achievement and our students with disabilities earned an A.”
The Prepared for Success component measures whether a significant number of students have received training in a technical field, become prepared for work or college or are generally well-prepared for all future opportunities. Tri-Village received a rating of D on this component. The report found that only 38 percent of graduates earned a remediation-free score on all parts of the ACT or SAT, received an honors diploma or earned an industry-recognized credential while only about 45 percent participated in the ACT or SAT at all.
The Achievement component, meanwhile, measures how well students performed on state tests. The district received a rating of C on this measure with the report showing that fewer than 80 percent of students passed tests in English, science and math.
Ohio’s Third Grade Reading Guarantee ensures that students are successful in reading before moving on to fourth grade. It was found that 76 third graders in the district started the year below this standard, of which 44 percent were able to meet the standard by the end of the year.
Tri-Village received a B on Progress, which measures growth students are making based on past performance. The report showed fifth, sixth and eighth graders making less than the expected amount of progress in science and math. Sixth graders also made less progress than expected in English language arts. The measure also found lackluster progress among students identified as gifted, giving the district a grade of C in that regard.
The Gap Closing component shows how well schools are meeting performance expectations for vulnerable students in areas such as English language arts, math, graduation rate and English language proficiency. Tri-Village was given a component grade of B on this measure.
“Our most improved component was the gap closing measure,” Sagester said. “Last year we received an F for this measure, both building and district-wide. This year our elementary building earned an A, our junior high and high school building earned a B, and the district earned a B overall. The credit for this turnaround goes to our staff, students and parents for working together to close the gap.”
Finally, the Graduation Rate component looks at the percent of students who are successfully finishing high school with a diploma in four or five years. The district received a component grade of A on this measure.
“Like every year, we celebrate our successes and seek strategies to improve areas of concern revealed by the data,” Sagester said. “The history of the Tri-Village Local School District state report card has illustrated that our students, staff, parents and community have been able to meet and exceed expectations once the Ohio Department of Education bestows clear targets and testing measures remain consistent over a period of time.”
