New tests lead to declines in Ohio

The number of schools in the top category fell more than
25 percent.

COLUMBUS (AP) — New science and social studies tests brought down the otherwise improving proficiency scores of Ohio’s K-12 pupils last year and contributed to a decline in the number of districts and schools receiving the highest “excellent” rating, figures released Tuesday show.

Measured against the same reading, writing and math tests offered during the 2005-06 school year, scores continued their upward trend in 2006-07, according to the State Report Card issued by the Ohio Department of Education. But the addition of proficiency tests for fifth- and eighth-graders in science and social studies made the long upward trend in student performance turn slightly south.

State Superintendent Susan Tave Zelman emphasized the positives in the assessment, including improvements to long-flat statewide reading scores, 8 in 10 districts still rated in the two top categories of “excellent” or “effective”, and no districts in the lowest “academic emergency” achievement category for the second year in a row.

But T.J. Wallace, interim president of School Choice Ohio, called it a sad day for the parents his group represents, who are seeking an array of quality public and private educational options.

Excellent ratings

“The number of schools in the top category fell more than 25 percent,” he said. “I wonder how Ohioans would feel if one in four of our hospitals fell from an excellent rating in one year. I kind of think they’d find that alarming, and this should be, too.”

In all, 53 fewer districts and 147 fewer buildings were rated “excellent” during the 2006-07 school year, with most of those moving into the second-place “effective” category. Still, more schools and districts earned the highest ranking than two years earlier.

Just 182 buildings ranked at “academic emergency” level, down 26 buildings from the previous year and down 156 buildings from 2002-03.

Zelman said one of the most pressing issues remains the achievement gap between students of different races and abilities, including a gap of more than 25 points between whites and blacks. The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires achievement goals to be met in the aggregate and also within specific subsets of students based on race, ethnicity, income, disability and English proficiency. More districts met those targets last year, state figures show, though fewer buildings did.

“More attention must be paid to strategies for these children,” Zelman said. “If a child is three to four years behind, we shouldn’t be satisfied with them making one to two years of progress. We have a sense of urgency about this.”

Statewide scores

Overall, the state met 19 of 30 performance indicators, which include test scores in various subjects at different grade levels as well as attendance and graduation rates. The statewide attendance rate of 94.1 percent exceeded the goal of 93 percent, but the graduation rate of 86.1 percent still lagged behind the 90 percent target.

Though overall math scores showed their second year of gains, the subject area remained one of students’ biggest challenges through the middle grades. The state aims to have 75 percent of students test proficient in math and, last year, that target was not met in any grade between fifth and eighth. But more than 81 percent of high school sophomores and nearly 89 percent of high school juniors scored proficient in math.

The state, meanwhile, failed to hit the 75 percent target for science proficiency in any grade tested, with the percentage of proficient students ranging from 62.7 percent in eighth grade to 74 percent in sixth grade. A higher target of 85 percent set for 11th-graders was missed by just 1.4 percent.

Zelman emphasized that test scores are just a snapshot of the activity that goes on in classrooms, commending teachers’ efforts in encouraging creativity, inspiring curiosity and building empathy.

Urban districts

All eight of Ohio’s large urban districts have now been out of academic emergency for at least two years, education officials said, a finding Wallace found questionable. Only students in buildings rated in academic emergency or academic watch, the lowest two categories, are eligible for state-funded vouchers to attend school elsewhere.

“The Columbus Public Schools passed five of the 30 standards and was given the middle rating,” he said. “People statewide might wonder whether the positive assumption that we have no districts in academic emergency is being overstated.”

Zelman said schools in Ohio and the nation are challenged to raise student achievement levels in an environment of global competition for jobs, a reality that prompted the addition of the science and social studies testing and a set of beefed up graduation requirements.

Nearly 91 percent of Ohio public school students passed the new Ohio Graduation Test last year, and the number may yet be higher based on re-testing taking place this summer, said Mitch Chester, senior associate superintendent of policy and accountability.

Since 1997, the state’s graduation rate has risen from below 80 percent to more than 86 percent, he said.