Area schools are doing well overall and in some cases doing better than ever before, according to annual report cards issued Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Education for the 2006-07 school year.

As a district, Chesapeake, Dawson-Bryant, Fairland, Ironton, South Point and Symmes Valley were all rated effective. Green and Rock Hill were listed as being in continuous improvement.

Chesapeake

District wide, Chesapeake schools met 24 of the state’s 30 indicators and achieved a performance index score of 96.6. The district as a whole did not meet Adequate Yearly progress, or AYP, and its improvement status is listed as being at risk.

Chesapeake Elementary School received an excellent designation for the 2006-07 school year.

“It was by a very strong and dedicated staff for students’ learning,” said Jack Finch, Chesapeake Elementary School principal. “They implement best practices of strong professional development and grade and level building teamwork. Of course, with the educational environment, we have strong parent support and district administrative leadership. But, the bulk of the credit must always be leveled to the teacher because they interact daily with their students. With no exception, the teacher is the one that deserves the credit. I’m very proud of the staff. They love the children and they give them the educational skills of life.”

Students met or exceeded the state requirement in third and fourth grades in several areas — reading, mathematics and writing. The state measures the percent of students who achieve at or above the proficient level.

Third grade had a 94 percent in mathematics and 85.5 percent in reading. The state requirement is 75 percent in grades 3-10. The requirement is 85 percent in 11th grade. The ninth grade is not tested.

Fourth grade achieved 85.6 percent in writing and 81.1 percent in both reading and mathematics.

The lowest score for Chesapeake Elementary School was at 81.1 percent both in fourth-grade reading and mathematics.

Both Chesapeake High School and Middle School had effective ratings.

The high score at the high school was 98.8 percent in 11th grade writing. The lowest score at the high school level was 78.4 percent in 10th grade mathematics.

Chesapeake Middle School received a high score of 95.4 percent in seventh-grade writing and the lowest score was 52.6 percent in social studies.

Dawson Bryant

Overall, the district met 23 of 30 state indicators and scored 94 on the performance index. The district as a whole did not meet its AYP. The district’s improvement status is listed as “at risk.”

As was the case with all three schools in the district, Dawson-Bryant High School was rated effective. Dawson-Bryant juniors taking the Ohio Graduation Test posted gains is some areas.

Last year only 75 percent of Dawson-Bryant juniors scored at or above the proficient level in social studies. On this report card, more than 89 percent made the cut.

More Dawson-Bryant 10th graders taking the OGT performed at or above the proficient level in all area of the test. In social studie, the number of sophomores scoring at or above the proficient level increased more than 10 percentage points.

A five percent gain was posted in math, 12 percentage points in reading and three percentage points in science.

Sophomores scored highest in reading and writing and lowest in science and social studies.

Eighth graders posted a 10 percent gain in reading from last year and a five percent gain in math.

Seventh graders scored at about the same level as those tested last year.

Dawson-Bryant Middle School sixth graders posted gains in math, but the number of kids in that grade scoring at or above proficient level in reading decreased from 87 percent to 76 percent.

At the elementary level, fifth graders posted a nearly 2 percent gain in reading but science was their strongest suit (87.3 percent).

Fourth graders posted gains in reading and nearly identical scores in math as compared with last year. As with third graders, Coal Grove’s fourth graders performed well on the math portion of the test (97.5 percent) and not as well (90.1) percent on the reading part of the test.

Last year 100 percent of third graders scored at or above the proficient level in reading. On this report card, 81.2 percent performed that well. Third graders posted the best scores in math, but this year’s scores were still below last year’s 96.1 percent.

Fairland

As a district, Fairland schools met 24 of 30 indicators and earned a performance index score of 98.6. It did not meet its AYP and its improvement status is listed as being at risk.

Fairland High School received an excellent designation with a performance index of 98.6. Its high score of 93.4 percent came in 10th grade mathematics and the lowest score was 85.4 percent in 11th grade mathematics.

All the other schools in the Fairland Local School District received an effective designation with an overall score of 95.3 percent of all schools in the district.

The highest score in Fairland Middle School was 89.5 percent in eighth-grade reading. The lowest score was at 60.9 percent in eighth-grade mathematics.

At Fairland East Elementary, the highest score was in fourth-grade reading with a 93.2 percent and the lowest score of 69.6 percent in fifth-grade social studies.

Fairland West Elementary was effective and had a high score in fourth-grade reading at 93.2 percent and the lowest score in social studies at 69.6 percent.

Green

As a district, Green met half of its 30 state indicators. The district’s performance score was 89.9 and it did not meet its AYP. The district’s improvement status is listed as “at risk.”

At the high school, Green juniors performed best on the writing portion of the OGT (86.3 percent), but scored lowest in math. The only gain posted was in social studies. The percentage of juniors scoring at or above the proficient level rose from 75.6 to 80.4.

Green sophomores performed best in reading but poorest in science. Sophomores posted a gain in science (from 63.8 to 71.7).

Eighth graders scored highest in reading (80 percent) and that was a sizeable jump from the year before (63.3).

Eighth graders also posted an increase in the number scoring at or above the proficient level in math.

Scores for seventh graders mostly matched those of their eighth-grade counterparts. Reading was that grade’s strongest suit (66 percent) while math was the weakest. Only 59.6 percent of Green seventh graders scored at or above the proficient level in math.

Sixth graders performed particularly well on the math and reading portions of their tests and the outcome was among the best in the district. More than 90 percent of all Green sixth graders scored at or above the proficient level on the test. Math scores were strong too — more than 81 percent scored at or above proficient among the students in that grade level.

Fifth graders performed best on the reading portion of the test but less than half the students scored at or above the proficient level in math. Among fourth graders, 75 percent scored at or above the proficient level in math and more than 82 percent scored at or above proficient in reading. Reading was the area in which Green fourth graders performed best.

Among third graders, more than 96 percent scored at or above proficient inmath and more than 92 percent scored in the preferred range in reading.

Ironton

Two Ironton elementary schools were rated excellent— Kingsbury and Whitwell.

Superintendent Dean Nance said he was pleased with

the ratings and said this was the result of a lot of hard work on the part of dedicated teachers.

“We are constantly string to improve in Ironton City Schools and one of the tings we’ve done is align our curriculum to state content standards,” he said. “We’ve also made progress with vertical alignment, which means second grade teachers are working with first and third grade teachers and so on, to align what is being taught. We’ve always worked hard, now we’re working smarter.”

Overall, the district met 16 of its 30 indicators and was rated 91.3 on the state performance index. The district did meet its AYP and was rated as being in improvement status.

More Ironton juniors taking the OGT scored at or above the proficient level in social studies, but reading continued to be the strongest suit of students in that grade level. More than 90 percent of all Ironton juniors taking the OGT scored at or above the proficient level.

Among sophomores taking the OGT, there were no gains posted in an area. The strongest showing among those students was writing; the weakest was social studies.

Eighth graders posted gains in both reading and math while seventh graders posted a nearly 30-point jump in math.

The percentage of sixth graders scoring at or above the proficient level increased on both the reading and math portion of the test.

Among fifth-graders, gains were posted in both reading and math and this was true also of fourth graders. More than 90 percent of all Ironton fourth graders scored at or above the proficient level in reading.

Third graders performed well on both the math and reading portions of their test. More than 94 percent scored at or above the proficient level in reading and more than 90 percent scored in the desired range in math.

The test scores at both Whitwell and Kingsbury ranged in near 90 or above in both math and science and both schools posted individual performance index scores above 100 (Kingsbury’s was 104.5 and Whitwell’s was 107.8).

Rock Hill

While the district itself posted a continuous improvement rating, the high school was rated effective again this year. The district as a whole met 13 of its 30 indicators and scored 88.4 on the performance index. The district did not meet its AYP and its improvement status is listed “at risk.”

Rock Hill juniors, taking the OGT posted gain in all areas of the test except writing. There was an increase of more than eight points in social studies. Last year only 75.5 percent of those in that grade taking the OGT scored at or above proficient level, but this year more than 83 percent made the cut. There were gains of nearly three percent in science and writing.

Sophomores taking the OGT scored gains in reading, writing and social studies.

Sophomores scored a nearly nine-point jump in social studies. Last year only 68.6 percent of Rock Hill sophomores scored at or above the proficient level on that part of the test. This year that figure was 77.1.

Seventh graders posted a gain in reading and sixth graders posted gains in both reading and math— with the increase in math scores being in the double digits. The number of sixth graders scoring at or above the proficient level in math rose from 55.6 percent last year to 73 percent on this report card.

Fifth graders posted a slight gain in reading, which was their strongest subject.

Fourth graders posted gains in reading, math and writing. Third graders, however, showed double-digit improvements in both reading and math. The number of Rock Hill third graders scoring at or above the proficient level in reading rose from 66.1 percent last year to 85.3 percent this year and the same was true of math — from figures in the sixties last year to 82.4 on this latest report card.

South Point

South Point Local School District earned a performance index score of 91.3 percent. It did not meet AYP and its district improvement status is listed as being at risk.

However, South Point Middle School received a continuous improvement designation.

The lowest score was in eighth grade social studies at 42.1 percent. The sixth grade did exceed the state requirement of 75 percent in both reading and mathematics with 80 percent and 76.7 percent, respectively.

The seventh grade exceeded state requirements in both reading at 79 percent and writing at 81.2 percent, but fell below the requirement in mathematics at 61.6 percent.

The highest score for eighth grade at South Point Middle School was 81.8 percent in reading, 69.4 percent in mathematics, 52.1 percent in science, and 42.1 percent in social studies, all three scores below the state requirement.

South Point High School was effective with a high score of 97.6 percent in 11th-grade writing, and a low score of 81.8 percent in 10th-grade reading and mathematics.

South Point Elementary School received a 95.9 percent in fourth-grade mathematics and the fifth grade received the lowest score of 40.2 in social studies.

Burlington Elementary School was effective and had a high score of 89.5 percent in fourth-grade reading and a low score of 59.6 percent in fifth-grade social studies.

Symmes Valley

The district met 24 of its 30 indicators this year and scored 95.2 on the state’s performance index. Symmes Valley did not make its AYP and the district’s improvement status was listed as being at risk.

Symmes Valley juniors taking the OGT posted gains of three percentage points or more in all areas of the test. Writing was the strongest subject. More than 98 percent of all juniors taking the OGT scored at or above the proficient level.

Sophomores posted gains in math and writing.

Among eighth graders, gains were posted in math and the same was true of seventh graders and sixth graders.

Fifth graders, however, posted large gains in both reading and math. Last year the percentage of fifth graders scoring at or above the proficient level in reading was 76.5. This year, that figure jumped to 87.7.

Fourth graders posted gains in reading and math and the increase in reading scores was more than 10 points from last year to this year. More than 90 percent of Symmes Valley fourth graders scored at or above the proficient level. Third graders posted an increase in math.

How does the area measure up?

Statewide, most districts and schools maintained the rating they earned in 2005-06. Eight out of 10 districts are excellent or effective and, for the second year in a row, Ohio has no district in academic emergency.

“Overall results show we are moving in the right direction,” Susan Tave Zelman, superintendent of public instruction, said. “Teachers work hard every day to provide a quality education to our students, and these test results provide a snapshot of their efforts.”

Reading scores improved overall, following two years of flat scores. For example, the percent of students proficient in reading increased by 5 points in fifth grade. However, declines in scores in grades six and seven spotlight the need for continued attention to middle school reading programs.