YOUNGSTOWN Schools get glimpse of report card

The actual report card will be released in mid-August.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- City school officials say the 2002-03 annual state report card for the district likely will show fewer met standards than last year, but a change in the scoring process may be the reason.
Schools Superintendent Benjamin L. McGee said preliminary figures show the district likely will meet two of the 22 performance standards on the 2002-03 proficiency tests. Pupils in the district met four of the 22 standards in 2001-02 and five standards in the previous academic year.
The numbers are based on preliminary figures. The actual proficiency tests results will be released in mid-August.
According to McGee, the likely drop in met requirements is because of new state guidelines that include special-needs pupils' proficiency test scores in the district's overall test scores. Without the special-needs scores included, the district would have likely met six or seven of the 22 standards, he said.
False impression
McGee said, with the change in scoring, it is unfair to compare the district's performance in previous years with the preliminary findings for 2002-03.
"What this means is that you are not going to have an apple-to-apple comparison between years," he said. "I don't have a problem including special-education students in the future. ... Having this hoisted upon districts in one year doesn't give you the apples-to-apples comparison you would have had in previous years."
According to McGee, including the special-needs scores will have a greater effect on the Youngstown district's results because it has a higher percentage of special-needs pupils -- about 19 percent, compared with the state average of about 11 percent.
Another area McGee feels will adversely affect the district's score is the earlier release of the proficiency test results. He said the results are normally released in January, but, in an effort to get the information to parents before the start of another school year, the results are being released in August. That means summer school data -- which could help the district meet an additional standard -- cannot be included.
Changing levels
Without the early release date and special-needs pupils inclusion, the district could have moved from academic emergency to academic watch, the superintendent said. The district has been in academic emergency for five years.
McGee said other districts across the state likely will face similar situations with the inclusion of the special-needs scores.
J.C. Benton, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Education, would not comment on Youngstown's preliminary scores directly, saying the scores had not been confirmed. He did say, however, that lowered scores cannot be directly attributed to special-needs scores inclusion in the overall scoring.
"I don't think that schools can use the explanation that because special-needs students are included scores are going down," he said. "Some districts are improving."
Benton could not say what districts have shown improvement.
McGee said he is in no way blaming those pupils with special needs for the district's report card scores. He said many areas of the report card still show some improvement with the inclusion of the special-needs scores.
McGee said the inclusion of the special-needs scores shows that schools must see that those pupils' needs are being met. To that end, he said, the district has implemented additional programs for those pupils, such as reading and math programs, and additional after-school programming.
jgoodwin@vindy.com