Schools to begin evaluation process

Lorain City Schools will move forward on developing a district improvement plan following the results of statewide school district report cards, according to a Sept. 14 news release.

The district received C’s in K-3 literacy and K-3 literacy improvement, a D in performance index scores and a F in all remaining areas, the release said.

“We’re pleased with our performance in K-3 literacy, as are many schools across the state,” said Lorain City Schools Superintendent Dr. Jeff Graham. “This is great news. At the same time there are many areas we need to look at more deeply to understand how the data was calculated this year.”

Graham stressed the value added component of the statewide evaluation measures each failing test score for end of course (EOC) exams equally regardless of how many a student takes an exam making it necessary for a deep evaluation of the district report cards and to find a way improve student outcomes.

“The good news is that our students have multiple opportunities to pass the EOCs to meet their graduation requirements, the bad news is now our measurements are off balance because of it,” Graham said. “If I’m a student who underperforms on the test and takes multiple times to pass, each failing score counts against the district score.”

Districts and schools were graded on six components for the 2016-17 school year consisting of achievement, progress, gap closing, graduation rate, K-3 literacy and prepared for success and were assigned a letter grade of A-F, the release said.

“It takes two data points to initiate a trend line and right now our trend line indicates that we are not meeting the needs of our students,” said CEO David Hardy Jr. “However, there are bright spots and tons of opportunity for us to grow. The context surrounding these results will really help us to evaluate where we are.

“We’re a district with many challenges but from what I’ve seen in my short time here, there is an opportunity to turn things around in a big way if we put our students first.”

Hardy added the district will work with the city of Lorain to unlock the potential of area students.

On Sept. 7, Hardy presented an update on the 90-Day Entry Plan at the Lorain Academic Distress Commission meeting. In alignment with House Bill 70, Lorain City Schools has completed its initial community engagement process within the 30-day deadline of the law by conducting an initial listening tour and review of existing processes, practices and student data, according to the release.

The district will engage staff and the community in the development of a draft improvement plan deeply grounded in student and teacher experience as well as data on school quality, instruction and equity to be released by Oct. 22 to be followed by a community town hall meeting. A revised plan will be presented to the distress commission by Nov. 6.

Find the grades and other data for all schools and districts, including community and other schools, at reportcard. education.ohio.gov.