Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
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Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Miami Valley schools ranked top to bottom
Here’s how the Miami Valley’s 60 school districts ranked for “performance index score,” a state statistic that gauges test performance across all grade levels:
No. 1 Oakwood 108.6
No. 2 Mason 108.5
No. 3 Centerville 105.4
No. 4 Botkins 105.4
No. 5 Russia 105.2
No. 6 Sugarcreek 104.7
No. 7 Kings 104.4
No. 8 Vandalia-Butler 104.3
No. 9 Springboro 103.9
No. 10 Anna 103.8
No. 11 Fort Loramie 103.8
No. 12 Tipp City 103.7
No. 13 Beavercreek 103.6
No. 14 Northmont 103.4
No. 15 Versailles 102.3
No. 16 Cedar Cliff 101.7
No. 17 Wayne 101.3
No. 18 Yellow Springs 100.8
No. 19 Newton 100.6
No. 20 Kettering 100.5
No. 21 Little Miami 100.5
No. 22 Miamisburg 100.4
No. 23 Franklin Monroe 100.2
No. 24 Lebanon 99.9
No. 25 Milton-Union 99.8
No. 26 Brookville 99.8
No. 27 Troy 99.4
No. 28 Arcanum 99.2
No. 29 Covington 99.1
No. 30 Valley View 98.7
No. 31 Tri-County North 98.4
No. 32 Miami East 98.2
No. 33 Bethel 97.9
No. 34 Greeneview 97.3
No. 35 New Lebanon 96.5
No. 36 Huber Heights 96
No. 37 Hardin-Houston 95.8
No. 38 Fairlawn 95.7
No. 39 Eaton 95.1
No. 40 Ansonia 94.7
No. 41 Piqua 94.2
No. 42 Mad River 94.1
No. 43 Carlisle 94.1
No. 44 Sidney 94
No. 45 Twin Valley 93.7
No. 46 National Trail 92.4
No. 47 Franklin 92
No. 48 West Carrollton 91.7
No. 49 Preble Shawnee 91.7
No. 50 Fairborn 91.4
No. 51 Greenville 91.3
No. 52 Xenia 91.2
No. 53 Mississinawa Valley 90.6
No. 54 Jackson Center 90
No. 55 Tri-Village 89.9
No. 56 Northridge 87.7
No. 57 Bradford 86.2
No. 58 Trotwood-Madison 82.7
No. 59 Jefferson Township 75.5
No. 60 Dayton 73.2
For more highlights of today’s district report card data release, go here. To see each district’s state rating, go here.
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What’s your district’s rating? Find it here
Her’s how the Miami Valley’s school districts fall into the state’s five rating categories:
Excellent
Oakwood, Mason, Centerville, Botkins, Russia, Sugarcreek, Kings, Vandalia-Butler, Springboro, Anna, Fort Loramie, Tipp City, Beavercreek, Northmont, Versailles, Cedar Cliff, Wayne, Yellow Springs, Newton, Kettering, Little Miami, Miamisburg, Franklin Monroe, Lebanon, Milton-Union
Effective
Brookville, Troy, Arcanum, Covington, Valley View, Tri-County North, Miami East, Bethel, Greeneview, New Lebanon, Huber Heights, Hardin-Houston, Fairlawn, Eaton, Ansonia, Piqua, Mad River, Carlisle, Sidney, Franklin, West Carrollton, Mississinawa Valley, Jackson Center
Continuous Improvement
Twin Valley South, National Trail, Preble Shawnee, Fairborn, Greenville, Xenia, Tri-Village, Northridge, Bradford, Trotwood-Madison, Jefferson Township, Dayton
Academic Watch
None
Academic Emergency
None
For more highlights of today’s district report card data release, go here. To see Miami Valley school districts ranked by performance index score, go here.
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Lots of report card improvement
(Beach Haven, New Jersey)
I have to say, I love technology on days like today. I planned a beach vacation in New Jersey this week months before the state picked today to release state report cards. But no worries. I’ve spent the morning parked in front of a “chocolate bar” that offers a free wireless Internet connection, downloading report card data, crunching it for tomorrow’s paper and analyzing the results.
Overall I can tell you that it’s going to be a happy day in many school districts. The new state rating system, which now rewards test score growth, has pushed a lot of district’s ratings up.
Here is some of what has jumped out at me:
State rating categories
There are five rating categories — Excellent, effective, continuous improvement, academic watch and academic emergency.
For the first time since the ratings began eight years ago, there are no districts still rated in academic emergency in Ohio this year. In the Miami Valley, 20 of 60 districts improved their rating designation. None saw a decline.
Of the 75 worst ranked districts by “performance index score,” 68 were ranked in “continuous improvement” because of test score gains.
And how about this for an interesting ratings quirk? Hilliard in Frankin County meets all 25 state standards but ranked in “continuous improvement” and labeled “at risk” for not making “adequate yearly progress” for test score gain under No Child Left Behind. Otherwise, it would have been rated “excellent.” Meanwhile, Dayton met 1 of 25 state standards and is sitting right next to Hilliard in “continuous improvement” because of its test score gains.
AYP
(NOTE: These next two lists for AYP were mistakenly reversed when I first put up this post. They are now correct)
Local districts who didn’t meet AYP last year but did this year include Tipp City and Tri-Village.
Districts who met AYP last year but not this year include Little Miami, Kings, Carlisle, Sidney, Jackson Center, Eaton, Northridge, Northmont, New Lebanon, Miamisburg, Brookville, Miami East, Greenview, Mississinawa Valley, Ansonia.
Trotwood, Xenia, Dayton and Fairborn are in “year 3” improvement status for consistently failing to meet AYP.
Dayton
Despite Dayton’s test gains, it still ranks second worst in Ohio for performance index score, a measure of student test performance across all grades. Cleveland ranks last in the state but was just 2 points behind Dayton and met no indicators while Dayton met 1.
Dayton’s test score gain, which propelled it up two rungs on the state’s rating scale to continuous improvement, was just the sixth best gain the Miami Valley. It also looked less spectacular when compared to other gains around the state. A total of 68 school districts in Ohio saw better “performance index score” improvement than Dayton.
Five of eight largest Ohio urban school districts now are in continuous improvement, all but Youngstown, Cleveland and Columbus
Jefferson Twp
Jefferson Twp, which ranked last in the state in 2005 for performance index score, moved up to the fourth worst rated district in Ohio. Jefferson had the biggest improvement of test performance index score in the Miami Valley, a gain of 12 points. That was also the second biggest gain in the state.
Oakwood
Oakwood ranked No. 1 in Miami Valley and 4th in state for performance index score. Last year, Oakwood ranked first locally and second in the state.
Mason
Mason ranks No. 2 in the Miami Valley and 9th in state for performance index score.
Lebanon
Lebanon was the only local district that saw a slight performance index score decline, but it still met 24 state standards and earned the top “excellent” rating.
Miami County
Four of eight districts improved their state rating designation, including economically challenged Milton-Union and Piqua, now rated “excellent” and “effective” respectively. Piqua is an interesting story. They’ve been on a long upward climb for test results and state ratings.
Montgomery County
Six of 16 districts moved up a rating category, including West Carrollton, now rated “effective,” which a few years ago took a lot of criticism for its low scores.
Warren County
All eight districts are now rated at least effective.
Want to take a look at all the state data for yourself? You can download it here.
To see each district’s state rating, go here. To see Miami Valley school districts ranked by performance index score, go here.
(Image credit: vacationhomerentals.com)
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