The Ohio Department of Education has once again released its annual school report cards, this year with a 5-star ranking system in place of the letter grades featured in earlier reports.
The Ohio Department of Education has once again released its annual school report cards, this year with a 5-star ranking system in place of the letter grades featured in earlier reports.
Out of Ohio’s 607 public school districts, only a dozen achieved a full 25-star ranking. Geauga County schools, however, earned the second-highest average number of stars — 20.8 per district — when averaged across the county’s five school districts.
Cleveland.com reports only Delaware County Schools achieved higher overall rankings, with an average of 21.5 stars per district.
The Geauga County Maple Leaf asked leaders of each district to weigh in on their rankings. District Quality Profiles, if available, can be found at www.geaugamapleleaf.com.
Berkshire Schools
Achievement ★★★☆☆
Progress ★★☆☆☆
Gap Closing ★★★★★
Graduation ★★★★☆
Early Literacy ★★★☆☆
Performance Index Score 77.2%
Performance Index Ranking* 368th
Berkshire Schools Superintendent John Stoddard said one of the district’s greatest strengths indicated on the ODE report card was gap closing — meaning improved outcomes for subgroups identified by the state.
“Hitting all of the achievement marks in English language arts and only missing one in math by less than one point has shown the district’s dedication to returning students back to pre-pandemic levels of education,” Stoddard said. “The district was also able to hit all four subgroups in the graduation rate (score), as well.”
Focusing on individual student growth is an area of improvement, he said.
With access to high-quality data on students, teachers can see which specific skills are needed and which can be improved upon.
“As the district continues to progress with standards-based grading, it will open up the communication line from the school to the community about where students are succeeding and where students will need improvement,” Stoddard said.
Berkshire started a diesel mechanic class this year to address the second-highest needed job in the state of Ohio, he said.
“Making sure we prepare students for the world after graduation is one of the key focal points of the district. Being able to show the community that the district is creating an environment where students are set up to succeed as they walk across the stage with a diploma is something our work on our own Benefits Based Accountability System will bring,” Stoddard said. “Our students are more than just test scores and we are working to develop our accountability system to display their real-world skills. We want our students to embody the characteristics of Creativity, Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking and Civic Responsibility to truly succeed in an ever-changing world.”
Cardinal Schools
Achievement ★★★☆☆
Progress ★★☆☆☆
Gap Closing ★★★★★
Graduation ★★★★☆
Early Literacy ★★★★★
Performance Index Score 77.6%
Performance Index Ranking* 362nd
A five-star rating in gap-closing — meaning students in at-risk subgroups in the district continue to show progress — is no surprise for Cardinal Schools Superintendent Jack Cunningham. Although new to the job this year, Cunningham said Cardinal has traditionally been strong in that area.
Other high points, like the district’s over-95% graduation rate, were also to be expected.
“Kids from cardinal usually graduate, but to stay up in the mid-90s to do that, it’s a testament to what happens here, for sure, with kids and families and the community,” Cunningham said. “We’re proud that it’s continued even through the pandemic.”
The district has made significant improvements in early literacy, after struggling in that area in the past, he said.
However, Cunningham said even with the five-star ranking, there is still room for improvement, especially in making sure children who struggle with literacy are identified early on and given appropriate interventions.
After having adopted a new literacy curriculum two years ago, the district is turning to new evidence-based professional development to address what Cunningham said is a national issue with elementary literacy.
“We want to be experts in the content of teaching reading, especially in our elementary grades. We want kids to leave first- and second-grades (as) proficient readers,” he said.
The district is planning to reach out to local businesses and industry to see how they can help not only Cardinal students, but the community, build a local workforce, he added.
Cardinal’s overall ranking is pretty solid, with some lower scores in math. A new curriculum, adopted last spring, could help with that score, the superintendent said.
Chardon Schools
Achievement ★★★★★
Progress ★☆☆☆☆
Gap Closing ★★★★★
Graduation ★★★★★
Early Literacy ★★★★★
Performance Index Score 91.5%
Performance Index Ranking* 68th
Chardon Schools Assistant Superintendent Ed Klein said the district’s performance index score has gone up, putting Chardon in the top 10% of the state’s 607 public school districts.
In a presentation to the Chardon Schools Board of Education Sept. 19, Klein said 93% of districts in the state have seen a decrease of, on average, 4.4% on their test scores due to the pandemic. However, Chardon’s scores slipped only about 3.5 % during that time.
The greatest growth the district has seen over the past year is in the middle school, where data shows students in grades fourth through seventh met benchmarks in English language arts, math and science classes.
“That great amount of growth is what we want to see system-wide because that will get us back to and beyond where our performance has been and keep us in that top 10% of schools,” Klein said.
He said testing data shows progress closing literacy gaps from kindergarten through third grade.
“Over the last four years, we’ve put a comprehensive systematic approach to phonics and systematic approach to early literacy across the board in these four grade levels that carries through into grades four, five, six and seven,” he said.
The district’s 97.8% graduation rate exceeds the state average, as well as averages across similar districts, Klein said.
He added teachers and administration are working with data from the ODE report card to inform instruction for students across the district.
“We’re already moving forward with – what do we need to be doing this year with our students right here, right now,” he told the board.
Kenston Schools
Achievement ★★★★★
Progress ★★★★☆
Gap Closing ★★★★★
Graduation ★★★★★
Early Literacy ★★★★☆
Performance Index Score 96.1%
Performance Index Ranking* 28th
Kenston Schools achieved high marks, with 23 out of 25 stars in all five ODE report card indicators, and is committed to educating the whole child, Superintendent Steve Sayers said.
“The district incorporates citizenship, health and wellness, and innovation in academic programs. Our teachers and staff work with students to create relationships, develop and achieve their individual academic, career and personal goals,” Sayers said.
The district’s achievement scores were high across all buildings, which Sayers said was a highlight of the report. The district was scored four out of five stars for progress, an area Sayers said could use improvement.
“We continue refining our teaching practices, updating our math curriculum, and providing professional development in research to practice implementing early literacy skills in English language arts to improve instruction and make students better readers,” he said. “We have a lot to be positive about, but we must never become complacent. We always operate in a mode of continuous improvement as we pursue excellence.”
West Geauga Schools
Achievement ★★★★★
Progress ★★★★★
Gap Closing ★★★★★
Graduation ★★★★☆
Early Literacy ★★★★★
Performance Index Score 99.5%
Performance Index Ranking* 10th
This year’s ODE report card graded West Geauga with the 10th highest performance index in Ohio.
“Being in the top 10 was a goal I set back in 2015 when I joined the staff here,” Superintendent Richard Markwardt said. “This accomplishment is the product of a team effort that reflects the direction of the West Geauga (Schools) Board of Education, the support of our families, the quality of our students, and the skills and hard work of teachers and staff.”
Although West Geauga High School scored high in performance overall, Markwardt said the district needs to focus on raising scores on advanced placement exams in certain subjects, which he said are weaker than they should be in some subjects.
“We need to make sure that we have the right students enrolled in our AP classes and the right teachers leading them,” he said. “AP is not for everyone.”
The district’s progress is the result of a multi-year emphasis on meaningful classroom instruction that yields tangible learning results, Markwardt said.
“As superintendent, I establish ‘what’ needs to be accomplished, but Assistant Superintendent, Dr. Nancy Benincasa, and our curriculum team design ‘how’ to get us there. Together, the administrators and teachers translate theory into practice and our students demonstrate daily the effectiveness of what we’re doing,” he said.
