By Sherry Larson
People’s Defender
Local school districts recently received their report cards for the 2022-2023 school year last month. In 2021, the grading system was revamped when the Ohio General Assembly amended Ohio’s Accountability Law. The new system is based on stars, with a 5-star rating being the highest.
Schools and districts are rated on five components – achievement, progress, gap closing, early literacy, and graduation. A college, career, workforce, and military readiness component is included for informational purposes but not in the overall score.
The Adams County Ohio Valley School District received an overall score of 3, and Manchester School District an overall score of 3.5. Both met Ohio’s standards in academic achievement.
The report gives information to the public on school and district performance. The components show success and need improvements. The report reflects the standards and expectations of Ohio and shows districts’ progress toward reasonable results for Ohio students.
Manchester Superintendent Nick Roberts said, “I’m elated with the results.” Roberts believes the new five-star rating system is understandable and benefits the community and school personnel. Roberts appreciates the five components of the system. “We’re moving in the right direction. – It’s only a small snapshot of what we do daily,” said Roberts. He commends the teachers, administration, and students.
Roberts emphasized the foundation of literacy. He described Manchester’s elementary after-school program that impacts approximately 40 students. The district will expand the after-school program to students grades 7 – 12 starting next week due to an $800,000.00 grant they received. This program will also serve about 40 students. The after-school program is very structured and runs four days a week.
As Roberts explained, the school report card is only one piece of the district pie. He said, “We must keep up with the educational mandates.” He emphasized that the district sets yearly goals and strives towards those ends. They also work diligently on the social-emotional awareness aspect of students. Roberts believes “the melting pot of everything” continues their progress and success.
Adams County Ohio Valley School District Superintendent Dawn Wallace said, “We are right in the middle, and that’s not a bad place to be.” Even though this is her first year as Superintendent, she said, “What Mr. Seas had put in place and allowed the Curriculum Specialist to do is exactly where I would want it to go.”
Wallace also spoke particularly about early literacy, saying, “They started last year looking at our reading series to get it aligned with the structured literacy of the Dyslexia Law.” She explained that this is the first year of full implementation. She said, “There’s some growing pains with it – some change pains.” She continued that it was a “good problem” because it meant the teachers wanted to implement it effectively. Wallace clarified that even with the focus on literacy, “They are working very hard to implement science and social studies integrated with their language arts.”
Wallace described the last few years of Ohio School report cards as up and down for her district. She notes that COVID had a considerable impact on learning, and teachers continue to work to catch up students from the inconsistency it caused.
“The pendulum is switching statewide to look more at workforce development,” said Wallace. She doesn’t believe local report cards will go away, but she thinks the shift will not focus solely on academic grades. She said, “It’s going to be about how our kids can be productive, contributing citizens to our society.”
For the complete reports, visit https://reportcard.education.ohio.gov.