More area districts than ever before are now rated “effective,” according to the latest report cards issued by the Ohio Department of Education.

The state’s rankings of school districts were released Tuesday morning. Chesapeake, Dawson-Bryant, Fairland, Green, Ironton, South Point and Symmes Valley were all rated “effective.” Rock Hill remained in “continuous improvement,” though its high school attained an individual “effective” rating. The new rankings were an improvement for Ironton schools, who were last year ranked in the “continuous improvement” category.

What do all those

phrases mean?

Each district and each school in a district is rated using several factors, such as how many students are graduating, school attendance and how well students are performing on proficiency tests and the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT). There are 25 state indicators rating schools in these areas.

So what is a Performance Index Score? For each subject in grades four and six, students get one of four performance levels - below basic, basic, proficient and advanced - on a test. The performance index averages the scores for the five subject areas tested in your school and creates a scale of 0-120 with 100 being the goal. The performance index score represents the achievement of all students on all five subject areas of the proficiency tests.

The designation is determined by two things: Whether it mets its Adequate Yearly Progess (AYP) status for the year and the number of state indicators met or the performance index score.

The final goal for the AYP is for all students to reach the proficient level in reading and mathematics by 2013-14. Until then, yearly goals are set to reach proficiency in these subjects. For the school to meet AYP, goals for each student group must be met. If any goal is missed, the school does not meet AYP for the year.

Dawson Bryant

Third-graders in the Coal Grove district chalked up a 100 percent on the reading achievement test. That means 100 percent of all third graders taking the test scored at or above the proficient level on that part of the test — that’s a nearly seven percent increase over the previous year’s test.

“We’ve had 11 retired teachers help (the students with reading). There’s been a commitment,” said Eric Holmes, principal of Dawson Bryant. “There’s been an emphasis on the test to make sure every student passes.”

He credits the staff with the improvement in scores; in addition to the software-reading program Study Island, which “had been very effective.”

Third graders also performed well on the math portion of the achievement test: 96.1 scored in the desired range.

Among fourth graders, 94.8 percent scored in the desired range in reading, 97.4 percent in math and 96.1 in writing. The percentage of fourth-graders scoring at or above proficiency in writing jumped nearly 20 points.

Among fifth-graders, 84.5 scored at or above the proficient level in reading; on the math part of the test that figure was 75.3.

Among sixth graders, 87 percent scored at or above proficient in reading; that figure was 82 in math.

Among seventh-graders, 73.5 percent scored at or above proficient in reading, 75.8 in math. The math scores are an improvement of the 2004-05 report card, when only 53.7 percent scored at or above the proficient level.

Among eighth-graders, 68.5 percent scored at or above the proficient level in reading; that figure was 79.3 on the math portion of the test.

On the OGT test, the percentage of sophomores scoring at or above the proficient level was 59.5 on the social studies portion, 71.1 in math, 71.9 in reading, 66.1 in writing and 57.9 in science. Among juniors, those figures were 75.3 in social studies, 86.5 in math, 92.1 in reading, 85.4 in writing and 76.4 in science.

As a district, the student attendance rate was 95 percent, nearly unchanged from the previous year. The graduation rate jumped two points to 96.1.

The school’s performance index was 93.1 and the school did not meet its AYP. Dawson-Bryant schools met 16 of the 25 state indicators. Individually, the elementary school was rated “excellent” while the high school was in “continuous improvement” and the middle school was rated “effective.”

Green

Among Green third-graders, 72.2 scored at or above the proficient level in reading and 77.8 scored in the desired range in math. While the scores in reading decreased over the previous year, math percentages rose by nearly 10 points.

Of the fourth graders taking the proficiency test, 67.5 scored at or above the desired level in reading, 72.5 in math and 62.5 in writing.

Among fifth-graders, the percentages were 88.6 percent in reading and 86.4 in math.

Among Green seventh graders, 83 percent scored in the desired range in reading and 48.9 in math. The math percentage is a nearly nine- point gain over the previous year.

The percentage of Green eighth- graders scoring in the desired range was 63.3 in reading, a decrease of nearly 20 points from the previous year and 51.7 in math.

On the OGT, the percentage of 10th graders scoring in the desired range was 83 in social studies, 78.7 in math, 89.4 in reading, 85.1 in writing and 63.8 in science. Among their junior counterparts, those figures were 75.6 in social studies, 86.7 in math, 88.9 in reading and 82.2 in science.

Individually, the grade school was rated “effective” and the high school as being in “continuous improvement.”

Green’s posted a slight increase in its attendance rate (94.1 percent) while its graduation rate was 88.7 percent. The school’s performance index was 91.4; 12 state indicators were met but the district did not meet its AYP.

Ironton

Of all Ironton third-graders taking the test, 81.9 scored at or above the proficient level on the reading achievement test, a decrease from 88.5 the previous year. On the math portion of the test, the percentage of those scoring in the desired range was 81.9.

Fourth-graders posted a sizeable gain in reading:

81.9 scored at or above the desired level, an increase of more than five points, in math the percentage in the desirable range was 90.4, in writing, 92.6.

Among fifth-graders, the percentage scoring in the desired range was 66.4 in reading, 39.1 in math.

The percentage of sixth-graders scoring at or above the proficient level was 71.8 in reading and 62.9 in math.

Among seventh-graders, the percentage of students scoring in the desired range was 76.4 in reading, 33.3 in math, a decrease from 59.8 the previous year.

Among the eighth graders, the percentages were 73.3 in reading and 74.8 in math.

On the OGT, the percentages of 10th graders scoring at or above the proficient level was 74.2 in social studies, 69.7 in math, 89.4 in reading, 90.2 in writing and 65.2 in writing. Among their junior counterparts,

the percentages scoring in the desired ranges were 85.0 in social studies, 88.5 in math,

92.9 in reading, 93.8 in writing and 82.3 in science.

Individually, Whitwell was rated as “excellent” while Ironton High School and Kingsbury were rated as “effective” and the junior high and middle school were rated as being in “continuous improvement.”

The district’s attendance rate was unchanged at 94.5 percent and its graduation rate was 95 percent, an increase of more than three points. The district’s performance index was 90.1. The district met 14 of the state indicators but did not meet AYP.

Rock Hill

Among third-graders, 66.1 percent scored at or above the proficient level in reading, the same amount who scored in the desired range in math. The math score was an increase of more than 12 points over the previous year.

Of fourth-graders taking the test 71.8 percent scored at or above the proficient level in reading, 69.4 in math and 76.6 in writing.

Among fifth-graders, 69.7 percent scored at or above the desired level in reading, a four-point increase over the previous year, while the percentage in math was 68.9.

Among sixth-graders, the percentage scoring at or above the proficient level was 72.2 in reading and 55.6 in math.

Eighty percent of Rock Hill seventh-graders scored in the desired range in reading, 62.5 in math.

Among eighth graders, 79.6 scored at or above the desired level in

reading, a more than three percent gain. The gain in math was the largest jump, however. Rock Hill eight-graders scoring in the desired range jumped from 47.4 percent last year to 77.2 percent this year — a nearly 30- point leap.

On the OGT, the percentage of 10th graders scoring at or above the proficient level

was

68.6 in social studies, 76.4 in math, 87.1 in reading,

86.4 in writing and 67.9 in science.

Among juniors, the percentages were 75.5 in social studies, 84.6 in math, 90.1 in reading, 86 in writing and 75.5 in science.

Individually, Rock Hill High School was rated “effective” while the middle and grade schools were listed in the “continuous improvement” category.

The district’s attendance rate was 94.1, showing a slight increase while the graduation rate rose from 81.3 to 86 percent. Rock Hill’s performance index was 90.5. The district met 10 state indicators but did not meet AYP.

Symmes Valley

Among third-graders, the percentage of those who scored in the desired range was 85.7 percent, a slight dip, while the math percentage jumped from 82.8 the previous year to 90.5 on this latest report card.

Among fourth-graders, the percentages of those scoring in the desired range were 80.3 in reading, 83.6 in math and 88.5 in writing.

Among fifth graders, the percentages were

76.5 in reading and 76.5 in math as well.

Sixth-graders posted a nearly two-point gain in reading scores, with the percentage of those attaining a proficient or above level standing at 92.4; 90.9 percent of sixth-graders scored well in math.

Among seventh-graders, the percentages were 81.7 in reading, and 76.1 in math— a 13-point jump from the previous year.

Eighth grade percentages were 83.7 in reading and 75.6 in math, a seven-point decrease from the previous year.

On the OGT, the percentages of sophomores scoring in the desired range were 72.4 in social studies, 78.9 in math, 85.5 in reading, 84.2 in writing and 78.9 in social studies.

Among juniors, those figures were 85.2 in social studies, 90.2 in math, 91.8 in reading, 93.4 in writing and 83.6 in science.

Individually, both of the districts’ schools were rated “effective.”

Symmes Valley’s attendance rate was 95.6, nearly unchanged as was its 94.4 graduation rate. The district’s performance index was 96.9 and while it did not meet its AYP it did collect

23 indicators.