In state report cards, 3 districts retain academic crisis ratings

Across the state, pupils met 12 of 22 standards.
& lt;a href=mailto:viviano@vindy.com & gt;By JoANNE VIVIANO & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
COLUMBUS -- Three Mahoning Valley school districts that faced academic crisis on 2002 state Department of Education report cards remain there in 2003.
Warren city schools and Youngstown city schools each remain in academic emergency. East Liverpool city schools, in academic watch in 2002, fell into academic emergency. The districts are among 18 in the state that received the emergency rating this year.
Report card results were released to the press this morning. Districts had details earlier.
Youngstown Superintendent Benjamin L. McGee said during a Monday press conference that, in his district, pupils met four of 22 performance standards on the 2001-2002 proficiency tests mandated by the state.
Last year, the district met five of 27 standards.
"It's something I toil with and think about constantly," McGee said. "I'm determined to move this district up and out of academic emergency."
There is some good news, McGee said. Although many state goals have not been attained, the district is getting "closer and closer." He has seen improvement in a number of areas, including among schools that are in "school improvement" status.
Among all Youngstown schools, 11 met 80 percent of their targets, as opposed to four buildings' meeting 80 percent of targets last year. The state will send building report cards to parents in March.
The proficiency tests evaluated fourth-, sixth-, ninth- and 10th-grade pupils in citizenship, math, reading, writing and science. Districts were also evaluated on attendance and graduation rates.
What's required
Meeting a standard requires that 75 percent of fourth-, sixth- and ninth-graders and 85 percent of 10-graders pass the test. A passing attendance rate is 93; a passing graduation rate is 90.
In Warren, the district met three of 22 standards: ninth-grade reading (78.5 percent) and 10th-grade reading (93.3) and writing (91.5).
On the 2002 report cards, Warren had met five of 27 standards.
Last year, East Liverpool met 10 of 27 standards and was placed in academic watch. This year, the district fell into academic emergency, meeting six of 22 standards.
Those met by East Liverpool pupils on the 2003 report card are sixth-grade writing (75.6); ninth-grade citizenship (81.6) and reading (89.3) and 10th-grade citizenship (87.2), reading (93.3) and writing (88.5).
The standards Youngstown met are ninth-grade reading (75.4) and writing (76.4) and 10th-grade reading (93) and writing (91.2).
A district is in academic emergency if it meets six or fewer standards. Meeting seven to 10 would place it under academic watch.
How other districts fared
Other districts' ratings are as follows:
Receiving "excellent" ratings (21 or 22 standards met) were Boardman, Canfield, Champion, Columbiana, Lowellville, Poland, South Range and Western Reserve.
"Effective" ratings (17 to 20 standards met) went to Brookfield, Crestview, Girard, Howland, Jackson-Milton, LaBrae, Lakeview, Leetonia, Lordstown, Maplewood, McDonald, Sebring, Southington, Springfield, Weathersfield and Wellsville.
Earning "continuous improvement" ratings (11 to 16 standards met) were Austintown, Beaver, Bloomfield-Mesopotamia, Bristol, Campbell, East Palestine, Hubbard, Joseph Badger, Liberty, Lisbon, Mathews, Newton Falls, Niles, Salem, Southern, Struthers, West Branch and United.
Overall, the biggest struggles for Youngstown pupils are in math and science, McGee said. The district is concentrating on staff development and has introduced several new programs aimed at teaching the skills required by the tests. He said teachers have benefited from consultants in the classrooms.
William Bagnola, president of the Youngstown Education Association, said administrators are willing to listen to the needs of educators and provide what is necessary in the classroom to achieve success.
"You can't expect anything to happen overnight," he said. "But we're making strides in the right direction.
The teachers, he added, "are as hard-working, if not harder, and as dedicated as those in other districts."
Favorable attention
On the bright side, McGee said, some of the Youngstown district's programs have been highlighted as "models." Its Corrective Action Plan -- required by the state from schools in academic emergency -- has gained positive attention with many requests by the state for it to be presented to other districts.
The attention has helped the district receive two grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, McGee said.
"We're not touting ourselves as having cracked this nut and solved this issue," McGee said. "But we're not sitting around and scratching our heads."
Looking at Ohio as a whole, the state's pupils met 12 standards, according to Department of Education data.
Statewide, 399 out of 608 districts gained at least one performance indicator, with 165 earning a higher designation than last year.
Eighteen percent, or 109 districts, earned "excellent" ratings, an increase over last year's 71 districts; 191 districts (31.4 percent) were "effective" on the 2003 report cards, compared with 136 last year.