With only 62 schools scoring better statewide, Fairland Local School District placed first in the county in the Ohio Department of Education report cards.

Tuesday, January 18, 2000

With only 62 schools scoring better statewide, Fairland Local School District placed first in the county in the Ohio Department of Education report cards.

The Rome Township and Proctorville area school district received 22 of the 27 points possible on the rating, which is based on the state’s proficiency test data, said Ken Ratliff, district administrative assistant.

"As I reported to the board the other evening, the teachers, administrators, students and our community should be proud of this report card," superintendent Jerry McConnell said. "The report card represents student achievement. We have spent a great deal of our time trying to refine our curriculum so that students can achieve their ultimate score."

School districts can receive five points at each of the proficiency test grade levels – fourth, sixth, ninth, 10th and 12th, Ratliff said.

Two other points are awarded based on the district’s attendance and graduation rates.

Fairland was close to receiving 23 points this year, but a few percentage points stood in the way, Ratliff said.

"We received the attendance rate point, but not the graduation rate point," he said.

The graduation rate is determined by how many students enrolled in a district’s ninth-grade class graduate four years later, Ratliff said.

"You have to have 90 percent graduate to get the graduation rate point," he said. "We had 83 percent."

Fairland is already gearing up for this year’s exams, which will be reflected in next year’s report cards, Ratliff said.

"We currently are looking at data for the 2001 report card," he said. "The testing is coming in March. We’re trying to get everyone geared up and ready."

And it’s the district’s goal to gain as many of the remaining five points as possible by next year, McConnell said.

"We’ve already begun looking into our next report card by having meetings with our staff members and explaining to them the points we received and those we did not," he said. "We will continue to fine tune our curriculum so we can offer students areas that the test may cover."

Although they don’t have as high a score as Fairland, Chesapeake-Union Township Exempted School District and South Point Local School District also scored within the continuous improvement range of the report card.

South Point attained 15 of the 27 points possible, while Chesapeake received 14.

"We’re working really hard," said Fred Wood Jr., Chesapeake superintendent. "We have programs in place, and we are looking at areas where we have not met scores and we’re really working hard to improve those areas."

South Point schools are also targeting better scores. Superintendent Rick Waggoner hopes to make significant gains over the next two years.

"We’re working toward our proficiency outcomes," Waggoner said. "Each teacher has been working at each grade level and that has made a big difference. Everyone has been focused and we’re trying to teach what they are being tested on."

Waggoner is happy to be listed in the continuous improvement category with two other local school districts, but he said he will not allow the district to stay there.

"This is the first official year of the report card," Waggoner said. "We’re at continuous improvement and happy to be there. We just want to continue to improve, and we will be shooting for the 20s.

"Each year we hope to improve and with our focus on proficiency outcomes, we think we can do that."

Even the best plans can fail, especially when relying on a rigid rating system, though, Wood added.

"The makeup of a group of children is so different from one year to the next ," he said. "It’s staggering."

And the size of the school district matters when looking at report card scores, Wood said.

"Say we had a class of 82 seniors," he said. "One or two people could change the percentage amount. If you have 500, one or two don’t make a difference. Each person becomes a very significant factor. We almost have to be letter perfect to score."

Chesapeake will continue to try for a perfect score, Wood said.

"We’re very happy with where the school’s headed and we think it’s attributed to the fact that we have a lot of good parents out there, and teachers who have selected good reading and writing programs and a Board of Education that has done everything it can to support the schools."

At 11, Dawson-Bryant School District and Ironton City Schools have not yet rated in the continuous improvement category.

Both on academic watch, school officials will be required to approve a continuous improvement plan within 120 days after the official results are released at the end of February, and they are required to implement the plan within 165 days, Ratliff said.

That should not be a problem for either of the districts, however.

"We’re taking an intense look," said Dr. James Payne, Dawson-Bryant superintendent. "We’re dealing with curriculum alignment. We’re looking at test results and what we’re actually teaching."

Ironton Board of Education members should receive a continuous improvement plan to approve soon, said Stephen Kingery, Ironton superintendent.

"We are continuing to review our curriculum, doing some curriculum alignment with the teachers, reviewing attendance and discipline policies, and looking at ways to encourage kids to stay in school," Kingery said. "We’ve also got a continuous improvement plan. It’s being developed and will be presented to the board for adoption very soon. With all these efforts, we feel confident we will see an increase in the categories to meet state standards."

A dramatic change might not occur until the 2001-2002 school year, however, Kingery added.

"Basically, this year is a planning year and a reviewing year," he said. "The real improvement, the dramatic improvement, probably won’t be seen until the year after next."

School officials will continue to look for ways to improve the school system, Payne said.

"Our goal in this district is to be an effective school," he said. "We’ve got to make sure our assessments are meeting the needs of each grade level."

Only two points behind Dawson-Bryant and Ironton, Rock Hill and Symmes Valley scored nine points out of 27.

The two districts also are on academic watch, and must prepare continuous improvement plans.

"We’ve been working pretty hard," said Lloyd Evans, Rock Hill superintendent. "But some of the areas they are tracking are difficult for us – graduation rates and attendance – with us being a rural school. It’s tough for us to meet the requirement on some of the items being measured.

"But we are working at it and plan to make a concerted effort to continue to increase it every year."

The school district recently received nearly a quarter of a million dollars to begin targeted reading programs from the governor’s OhioReads grant program, and school officials also plan to extend summer school opportunities, Evans said.

These additions, plus the district’s continuous improvement plan should go a long way in helping the school system increase its standing in the state, Evans said.

Symmes Valley Superintendent Tom Ben refused to discuss the report card data for fear of misunderstanding.

"I won’t make any comments until the report cards are issued to the parents first," Ben said.