Friday, August 27, 2010

State Report Card Results for Darke County Schools

The Ohio Department of Education district report cards will be officially released Friday. Preliminary information has been released and compiled into the charts below. For background, there are several statistics generated by the Department of Education. For the purposes of this article, we will concentrate on two.

State Indicators: The Department of Education has created a list of benchmarks for each school district to achieve. These include certain criteria for achievemnent tests in grades 3 through 8; the 10th grade graduation test; the 11th grade graduation test; the overall graduation rate; and attendance. You can view these in more detail by clicking this link and then clicking on "2009-10 Guide to Understanding Ohio's Accountability System." It is significant to note that from 2007 through 2009 there were a total of 30 state benchmarks, or indicators - but the state eliminated four of the categories so that there are only 26 state indicators for 2010 (and consequently each district's numbers went down in  2010, at least partially due to the elimination of the four categories).

Designation: Each school is given one of six designations, in order from best-to-worst: Excellent with Distinction, Excellent, Effective, Continuous Improvement, Academic Watch, and Academic Emergency.

* The graphic now correctly shows an "effective" rating for Bradford. A lower rating was originally listed by mistake.

42 comments:

  1. Predicting if that Green line ran around 25 or better - it would be a bit easier to promote building. The direction it currently is heading means the school board has bigger problems . . as a Greenville resident and father of high school student - Im kind of embarrassed

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  2. Gee,

    If the school levy would have passed, those Greenville score would have surpassed all.

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  3. Before people start complaining, remember that all of the schools went down somewhat, and that Greenville is the largest school in the county with the most diverse population. All of our county schools are VERY GOOD and no matter where you live, or where your child attends, you should be happy that we have such good education taking place in the entire county. Most counties in Ohio can't say that!

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  4. I left my computer open to this screen and my three year old son saw this graph. he said "look mommy that green line is at the bottom and it goes down" his learning and enjoyed telling mommy about the graph but i thought what he said was very fitting. inside i thought how glad i was that he didnt have to go to that school. I just hugged him and told him he was right.

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  5. Correct me if I'm wrong but if they deleted 4 categories from last year and Greenville slipped only 2, that actually means they met 2 more categories than they did last year. In contrast, the gold standard in Darke County (Versailles) met 5 fewer categories than last year meaning they met one less than they did last year. So, actually, Bradford, MV and Gville made the most progress from last year.

    That's the good news. The bad news is that more quality families are leaving the school district due to the failure of the levy. (I wish I could name names so people would understand). So, there is little hope that Greenville school district's progress this last year will be sustainable--there is no way to test well as a district when all of the quality students leave. I won't beat that dead horse again but we really blew it as a community.

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  6. Thank you Jeff for your comment. Some say a picture is worth a thousand words but that doesn't mean that those thousand words tell them entire story. I wish members of the community would look at what is behind the numbers before drawing any conclusions from this graph. When ever school declines form one year to the next, it begs the question , Why? I wonder if the state is evaluating differently and it may take a year or two for teh schools to adjust to the new evaluation or evaluator. Just a thought...

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  7. Twist your numbers any way you wish . . . .to have the lowest categories [ and at a steady pace that is VERY undesirable ] met is STILL embarrassing.

    The pig STILL stinks no matter how much perfume you apply - student number, levy passing, category deletion.

    Its time the efforts of the area school board would be to increase the EDUCATION numbers. No building will assist with that. The heart and soul of educators and its school board assure this.

    We as a community need to start in this direction and finally leave the past.

    IT STARTS ON TUESDAY!

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  8. For one, yes, Greenville is the lowest.

    Based on the index score the school received, it also made the most improvement (Jeff's analysis helps explain this).

    Further, if you want to use this as an example of why to vote no on the levy, I'd have to greatly disagree with you.

    If you accept that the quality of education is an issue and you also accept that South school is beyond conducive and needs replaced, why would you forsake an opportunity to address one need because another isn't met?

    It's too bad, and i would argue embarrassing, that people see these results and use it as a way to validate the idea that Greenville is a poor performing district and therefore use it as an excuse to not invest in that district.

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  9. Jeff .... so diversity is an excuse? I thought diversity was a good thing.

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  10. 9:50 ... you can't draw that conclusion. The state may have eliminated four indicators Greenville was already failing. If that was the case, they dropped two additional. But you'll never know without examining the records further.

    As for Versailles, any criticism of them is crazy. In 2009, they had a perfect score - 30 out of 30 indicators. In 2010, they had a near-perfect score of 25 out of 26 indicators. So in their case, you can conclude that the state eliminated four categories they were already passing, and for 2010 they fell short in just one.

    Versailles - 25 out of 26.
    Greenville - 14 out of 26.

    It's quite spin-tastic to say Greenville's improvement was better than Versailles. Yummy lemonade!

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  11. Snark - Diversity IS a good thing and not an excuse by any means....my point is that the smaller districts in the county do have the differences in changing enrollment that Greenville has from year to year by people moving around, and the majority of the families/students in those districts are more the same (meaning income levels, ethnicity, religion, less single parent homes, etc.)
    Bottom line is that success in education is what PARENTS put into it for their kids. If a parent (or set of parents) does not value education, support it, or work with their child and the childs' school....then no amount of "great teaching" will help.
    As I stated earlier, ALL of the schools in Darke Co. are good places of education. If more people spent less time putting down and/or being negative, then perhaps the 3 "bottom" schools would fare much better in these very stupid state test results.
    By the way, I can tell you that all school "teach the test" anymore because they have to. When the testing is over, their isn't a whole lot of "education" going on for the remainder of the school year. It's time to dump this form of standardized testing, and get something that actually works for ALL students and ALL districts no matter what the finances, population, and "diversity".

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  12. Ooops... meant to say "the samller districts do not have the differences..... sorry for the typo, folks.
    J

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  13. The results speak volumes on Greenville Schools.The Boards incompetence and the ones they have chosen to run this 30 millon dollar a year system.

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  14. DJ: It's not spintastic to say Greenville's improvement was greater than Versailles' improvement.

    Improvement is a relative term. It's the difference between where you were and where you are. It's undeniable fact (based on these figures) that Greenville met a higher percentage of criteria than they did last year and Versailles met a lower percentage. That's not being critical of Versailles. VHS still clearly scored the highest. That's why I referred to them as the gold standard.

    My point was that this color graph gives the false impression that the whole county is tanking and that Greenvillle is on a downward trend (which gives people another chance to be negative about the schools). Then your intro reveals that the graph is misleading because of the changes in the "scoring" from 2009-2010.

    We live in a world where people don't/can't understand complex matters. That's why the GOP gets votes. ;) That's also why I don't think the graph is helpful at all. A better graph would be one showing the percentage of criteria met. That would show you exactly my point: GHS (among others) improved and VHS actually dropped a notch (not that I take any happiness in that). That graph would be a more accurate visual depiction of year-to-year performance of each school. It would still show GHS is the lowest and VHS is the highest but it would show that GHS is on an upward trend, not a downward trend.

    By the way, in a community that insists on making lemons out of lemonade, I'll keep my yummy lemonade. Cheers!

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  15. Because of the changing standards, the graph is misleading and should be deleted. I have a lot more I could say about some of these comments, but I'm holding my proverbial tongue, at least for now.

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  16. GHS Parent / GHS AlumniAugust 27, 2010 at 5:35 PM

    At best we can say Greenville stayed the same from last year as 1/2% improvement not signficant. Looking at longer term, different answer.

    2007 - 20/30=66.7%
    2008 - 20/30=66.7%
    2009 - 16/30=53.3%
    2010 - 14/26=53.8%

    Other districts of similar size and higher poverty levels are performing better than Greenville.

    It is time for the excuses to end and educational performance to happen.

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  17. Really? Seriously? You can't factor in the difference when looking at the graph? Oh my.

    New graph added.

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  18. DJ: I really, seriously can factor the difference when looking at the graph. That's why I pointed it out.

    The comment above about someone's 3 yr old looking at it and saying the green line is at the bottom and is going down is telling because, based on the voting results around here, that's the level at which most people in this community operate.

    Thank you for posting the other graph. Now that commenter's child (and GSD voters) may not be SOOO down on the school and everything else (or so I tell myself).

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  19. I am glad we are not wasting good money on a new school to house such terrible students and teachers.

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  20. 9:28, the decision to reconfigure the schools was made during the previous administration, right before he left. He was here one year, just enough to make a huge mess, in my opinion. Susie Riegle has worked tirelessly since then, not once placing any blame on past administrations. That is commendable.

    I would ask commenters to leave their real names with their comments, especially if they are going to bad mouth anyone. It's the honorable thing to do.

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  21. A childs education starts at home. The teachers and the building affect on learning is small if there is no help at home.

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  22. To Jeff @ 12:44 P.M..........I am a teacher at Versailles and for you to say,"By the way, I can tell you that all school "teach the test" anymore because they have to. When the testing is over, their isn't a whole lot of "education" going on for the remainder of the school year. ", is a bold statement for not ever being in my classroom and knowing what happens prior to the test or after. I do NOT appreciate your saying that not much goes on for the remainder of the year.s This is offensive to me. You have NO idea what teaching to the test means, and you should NOT make invalid statements. You also used the wrong their/there, which is a fourth grade skill, by the way.

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  23. sounds like the old dead horse is still getting beat . dont we have anything else in the county. go to the fair

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  24. If a student has been educated properly, he/she will pass the test no problem. Teaching the test I don't think this happens in Versailles. I do think Greenville has focused more on getting new buildings instead of educated the students. Remember Versailles was in the top of the schools for the state of Ohio. And that happened well before a new school was built.

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  25. Is there any proof that new school buildings increase test scores of students? I'd love to see proof that they do. Maybe we ought to build a building like they did in L.A. They spent 578 million dollars on a new school for a district that has a 40% grad rate. I am sure they will all graduate now that they have the most expensive public school ever built.

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  26. I'm glad my kids don't go to Versailles now...after seeing that kind of response by a teacher. Not very professional, and you didn't even sign your name. Classy, real classy and such a fine representation of your craft. By the way, I agree with Jeff...you might not teach the test in your class, but MANY do.

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  27. The fact of the matter is, Greenville is failing. If that was you child’s report card (which it is) they would be repeating the same grade. Let’s stop with the throwing of stones… and determine why we are failing, fix the problem, and go on…

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  28. Two simple questions: 1) Do you agree that students will leave/are leaving Greenville School District due to the condition of the buildings?; 2) Do you think that the reason the parents of these kids are pulling them out of GSD (they are involved in their kids' education) is the same reason these kids tend to perform better on tests? If so, the lack of quality buildings means the scoring for our school district will only continue to deteriorate regardless of what the administration does.

    It's obvious to me but people just don't seem to get it. As goes the school, so goes the community.

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  29. One of the additional factors that hurts Greenville's scores is the number of special education students in the district. Small districts with fewer special education students don't count those scores, while Greenville does. This makes significant impact.

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  30. @teacher in versailles,

    you used their/there incorrectly too...

    'When the testing is over, their isn't a whole lot of "education" going on for the remainder of the school year. ", is a bold statement for not ever being in my classroom and knowing what happens prior to the test or after.'

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  31. the anonymous person 9:46 pm hit the nail on the head.a childs education starts at home.the teachers can only do so much.if a child does not get no help at home.he will be lost at school.i work at GCS and trust me i can see it.

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  32. As a teacher working extremely hard at gcs it is so discouraging to read these comments. We need community support. Every teacher I know goes above and beyond. Our teachers are not terrible...And please do not call our students terrible. We have amazing kids. Get involved and get educated on what is really going on before you make such harsh judgements.

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  33. The Greenville Schools have the wrong people in charge and will never get any better!!

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  34. To the person being critical of the Versailles teacher using the wrong form of "their"

    It was used wrong in a quote, that was the whole point of the post.

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  35. With the rate at which the numbers are going in Greenville (and I believe will continue downward next year), something different needs to happen. No longer can the board just let everything pass through that the Superintendent wants. They need to take charge and hold her accountable to change things for the better, not just put her friends in positions and give them raises. Until things change at the top, nothing will improve and there will remain little respect or support from the community.

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  36. Do you people understand that the special education students take the OGT and their scores are averaged in with all the scores? I don't have the statistics in front of me, but I would be willing to bet that GCS has the highest percentage of IEP students as compared to the rest of the schools on this graph. "Diversity" is a good thing when you are talking about things like tolerance, culture and race... but "diversity" in the sense of economically disadvantaged and special ed test scores lumped in with the general populous is damaging to things like averaging scores. The two indicators that GCS consistently fails are the ones for economically disadvantaged students and special education students. It just isn't fair to compare standardized scores when the student populations are NOT the same. If you could factor out those two areas I think this community would be in for a BIG surprise at how well students are educated in GCS.

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  37. Just think, if you Greenville residents would have voted yes you would be wasting more of your money on a terrible education system. Maybe the yes voters should look at this graph and maybe they will understand the no vote. The top 3 in that chart will be moving into their new schools either this year or next year. Start doing a better job Greenville teachers, and Administration and maybe someday you will get a new school levy to pass. Or you can just complain about the no votes and have more and more people leave the school district.

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  38. Hey Mark, we are glad your kids dont go to Versailles to. Keep you're ignorance and stupidity in the Greenville City Limits.

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  39. Its GEORGE BUSH'S FAULT AND THOSE DARN REPUBLICANS!!!!

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  40. Dont ask and dont tell!!

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  41. Please go to http://ilrc.ode.state.oh.us/ for any references needed. Just wanted to say it is interesting that the percentage of teachers who have a Masters degree seems to directly effect the schools scores. Check it out!

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  42. Stop blaming Special Ed kids. They are not "averaged in". Scores are weighted by "performance" with those scoring the lowest having less impact on "the average" than those scoring "proficient" (which tho only an average score, it would be "passing"). That being said, students who score above "proficient" are weighted MORE HEAVILLY into the overall score given in an area. So to be clear, the special ed kids scores do NOT count as much as the proficient scores and above average scores count even more!

    Simple math should tell you that it is not that Greenville has "too many special ed kids", instead it is that there are not enough kids scoring proficient or higher. Why would that be? Could it be that Greenville's students are NOT being taught "proficiently", much less "above average-ly"? Or, perhaps our above average students (who thanks to weighted scores have the ability to "counteract" the scores of special ed. kids or kids with "bad parents") are being brought down to average (proficient) thanks to lack of programming and focus on their needs? Any way you shake a stick at it, the district and it's blind supporters need to quit making excuses and passing the buck...blaming the poor or the special ed. kids or "bad parents". The lack of accountability is disgusting, especially when you consider that state averages (that we don't meet) are derived from averaging in ALL Ohio school's performances. People! This means that when arriving at the "numbers" of which all schools are expected to perform, data was not just obtained from those "rich-no special ed having-good parent only" schools...it was also obtained from inner city ghetto schools and schools with far more "obstacles" than ours has.

    Educate yourselves on the test, what the numbers mean and how they are calculated...don't be naive and simply believe what you are being fed by the district and its ask-no-question followers. Those of us who have done that understand that on a community as nice as ours, there is no excuse for this. Period.

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