Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2006 > August > 21 > Entry
The valley’s top 50 elementary schools
(Then 5-year-old Jesse Albritton arranges flowers at Gorman Elementary School in 2002)
There’s a heck of a story hidden in the news today about how Dayton’s charter schools compared with the city school district this year.
It just so happens that a small school in the city that exclusively serves handicapped students (some of them with severe handicaps) was rated the top school in the area on state reports that came out last week.
THE top school!
Gorman Elementary School’s “performance index score,” which judges test performance across all tested grades, was higher than any school in Oakwood, Centerville, Springboro, Mason or any of the other traditionally top rated school districts. In fact, the Gorman kids darn near recorded a perfect score.
There are 275 elementary and middle schools in the Miami Valley, too many to list them all here. But I did pull the top 50, for those who are interested. (Go here to see the rankings for Miami Valley HighSchools.)
Here they are with their index scores (top score is 120):
Gorman (Dayton) 117.3
Broadway (Tipp City) 112.9
Whittier (Sidney) 111.4
Western Row (Mason) 110.4
Prass (Kettering) 109
J.F. Burns (Kings) 108.8
Sugarcreek (Sugarcreek) 108.5
Englewood (Northmont) 107.9
Phillipsburg (Northmont) 107.8
Mason Intermediate (Mason) 107.7
Harman (Oakwood) 107.6
Demmitt (Vandalia-Butler) 107.6
Nevin Coppock (TIpp City) 107.2
Helke (Vandalia-Butler) 107.2
Driscoll (Centerville) 107.1
Hamilton-Maineville (Little Miami) 107.1
Weller (Centerville) 107
Smith (Oakwood) 106.7
Mason Middle (Mason) 106.3
Valley (Beavercreek) 106.2
Magsig (Centerville) 106.2
Botkins (Botkins) 106.1
Oakwood Junior High (Oakwood) 105.8
Murlin Heights (Vandalia-Butler) 105.6
Emerson (Sidney) 105.5
Englewood Hills (Northmont) 105.2
Columbia (Kings) 105
Clearcreek (Springboro) 104.8
Main (Beavercreek) 104.6
Fort Loramie (Fort Loramie) 104.6
Beverly Gardens (Mad River) 104.6
Newton (Newton) 104.5
Concord (Troy) 104.5
Russia (Russia) 104.4
Shaw (Beavercreek) 104.3
Parkwood (Sidney) 104.1
Kyle (Troy) 104.1
Hadley E. Watts (Centerville) 103.7
Menlo Park (Huber Heights) 103.7
Westbrook Elementary School (Brookville) 103.5
Normandy (Centerville) 103.5
Tower Heights (Centerville) 103.4
Kings Mills (Kings) 103.3
Northmoor (Northmont) 103.3
Ferguson (Beavercreek) 103.1
Morrow (Little Miami) 103.1
Bellbrook Junior High (Sugarcreek) 103.1
Greenview (Greenview) 102.6
High Street (Piqua) 102.6
If there is a school you’re interested in that’s not on the list and you REALLY want to know how it ranks, send me an email at selliott@daytondailynews.com and I’ll look it up for you.
To see how school districts ranked, and other data from the state’s report card release, go here.
Coming tomorrow: The Miami Valley’s high schools ranked from top to bottom.
(Image credit: Skip Peterson, DDN)
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: Dayton Public Schools, Testing
Comments
By Paula
August 24, 2006 3:04 PM | Link to this
Congratulations to Broadway Elementary. They deserve to be at the top. I have never met a more caring group of teachers and the principal is out of this world. He can call every child by name on the first day and once he knows you he cares for you even when you have moved on. We also must thank the many volunteers who go in and help in the classroom. Parents and teachers working together have made sure every child is given the same chance to succeed. Good Job to all of you.By Thespis
August 22, 2006 1:44 PM | Link to this
The endless barrage of coverage for the entire topic of school comparisons continues today. The winners and losers mentality overides any other theme. The sheer volume and extent of the coverages speaks for itself.By Rachael
August 22, 2006 6:30 AM | Link to this
Thespis, Mr. Elliott hasn’t been dwelling on the test scores; in fact, he’s focused most on Performance Index and AYP, measures that reward schools and districts for the progress they have made. He’s also provided links that lead to more comprehensive reports. While I agree that there are other methods of evaluating schools, to simply dismiss the “high stakes testing” is naive.By John
August 21, 2006 11:31 PM | Link to this
I have recently read all the hype about the fact that the Dayton Public Schools have finally climbed out of the cess pool they were in educationally and climbed two postions. What I really want to know though is where they would be if the state law was not changed to allow them to come up those two categories. I think that would reveal the fraud that Ms. Littlejon and Mr. Mack have perpetrated upon the good citzens of Dayton. That being. They haven’t improved one bit!!By Thespis
August 21, 2006 11:09 PM | Link to this
Simply operating by cliché (“A classic case of blaming the messenger�) ignores and misses the point of the negligent choices that Mr. Elliot is making to dwell inordinately upon this issue. He also avoids responsibility for his unwavering effort to make the entire scheme about winning and losing. This narrow view of the situation is suitable for tabloid, sensationalist reporting that does not require the detail, nuance, and diligence of in-depth reporting. There is little attempt to acknowledge or report facts which impact upon success in the high stakes testing scheme. I suppose that a comprehensive report is too much work, and, “the public doesn’t want it.� It is shallow and short-sighted to blithely, even naively, state that this is how “we� judge schools as a state and as a nation. There are other methods of evaluating and assessing the effectiveness of schools. The erroneous impression given by Mr. Elliot in his profuse blogging on this topic is that schools systems should be compared and discussed using the same parameters as any athletic event. By dwelling on the test scores, Mr. Elliot only furthers misconceptions about public education. While simplifying the topic for the mass public, Elliot makes it appear that there are not any other apposite measurements by which to judge public schools. Elliot fosters the drive-by approach of viewing education through the same prism as a sporting event. When called on for this obvious deficiency, he cowers behind the cloak of “providing a service for the public� when reality demonstrates that he is doing the precise opposite.By Scott Elliott
August 21, 2006 10:22 PM | Link to this
Thespis’ comment is a classic case of blaming the messenger. We’re in the information business in the MSM. The simple fact is people want this information. The blog is a useful venue to make it available to them. It’s really not up to me to decide on behalf of readers whether or not they SHOULD want this information, or if this is an appropriate way to judge schools. The fact is, this IS how we judge schools as a state and nation. In other reporting, the DDN has established a track record of asking very tough questions about our state’s testing program and NCLB in a pair of award-winning series, just as Thespis urges the MSM should do.By Thespis
August 21, 2006 9:36 PM | Link to this
Scott Elliot, education reporter for the Dayton Daily Democrat, is a reputable reporter who maintains a fine blog on the Daily News site. In his blog, Get on the Bus, Mr. Elliot covers a variety of topics spanning the scope of current trends in education. Lately, however, he has been exercised about test scores, and on the premise that “if it bleeds it leads,� Elliot has produced a series of posts that inflate the importance of the high stakes testing scheme imposed by the state and federal government. Elliot has also permitted these rankings and scores to dominate much of his reporting in the newspaper, and he has become an inadvertent cheerleader for the slimy politician’s defective paradigm that these tests actually reveal the worthiness of individual schools and school districts. These willing mainstream media types have allowed themselves to be duped by all those in the anti public school alliance into thinking that these inconsistent, one day, high stakes assessments are reliable and worthy of so much commentary and attention. The excessive emphasis on these tests in now more widely exaggerated as the media have sung their same tired song as if reporting a drive-by shooting. The media hype fostered by Mr. Elliot and the Dayton Daily News has placed school districts in the Miami Valley and throughout the state of Ohio at greater risk. Education professionals are now facing a stage that has been reprehensively and defectively set for the voters of Ohio. While Scott Elliot has no doubt attempted to focus his readers on the critical issues facing public schools, his blog has become a something of a propaganda tool for artificial thinking and twisted logic. http://thespisjournal.blogspot.com/2006/08/dwelling-on-faulty-report-card.htmlBy Scott Elliott
August 21, 2006 8:31 PM | Link to this
Has Kettering slipped? I pulled the PI ranking for all the district’s elementary schools and for the elementaries in a few similar districts. Here they are: Kettering: Prass (5), Orchard Park (65), Southdale (69), Kennedy (86), Beavertown (106), Moraine Meadows (107), Oakview (135), Greenmont (137), Indian Ripple (138) Centerville: Driscoll (15), Weller (17), Magsig (22), Hadley Watts (39), Normandy (41), Tower Heights (42), John Hole (50), W.O. Cline (63), Stingley (76), Vandalia-Butler: Demmitt (12), Helke (14), Murlin Heights (24), Smith (74), Morton (85) Beavercreek: Valley (20), Main (30), Shaw (35), Fairbrook (52), Ankeney (63), Parkwood (93)By aj
August 21, 2006 7:05 PM | Link to this
My child attended Driscoll for grades 1 through 4. She loved Driscoll and she received a top-notch education. Congratulations to all of the teachers and staff who work so hard to create an excellent learning environment.By Julie
August 21, 2006 2:46 PM | Link to this
I live in Kettering and am curious why one Kettering elementary school made it in the top 5 but no other Kettering elementary school made it into the top 50? I don’t have kids in school but I think if I were a parent, I would really want to know what’s going on at Prass and why no other school is listed. I don’t know that these lists are real important or even accurate but I am curious why there are no other Kettering schools. My opine - I feel Kettering schools have slipped so, so much in the past handful of years…