ABOUT THE RATINGS

By Denise Dick

ABOUT THE RATINGS

The Ohio Department of Education released the 2009-10 report cards Friday, showing the performance for all school districts and buildings. The designations of excellent with distinction, excellent, effective, continuous improvement, academic watch and academic emergency are determined using four measures.

Under one measure, state indicators, districts and schools earn credit for performance indicators, meeting or exceeding proficiency in various subject areas.

Performance index rewards the achievement of every student, not just those who score proficient. Districts, buildings and community schools earn points based on how well each student does on all tested subjects in grades three through eight and the 10th grade Ohio Graduation Tests.

The value-added measure indicates how much progress was made since the previous year.

Adequate yearly progress determinations for districts and schools are based on test participation and proficiency test goals. The goals are evaluated for 10 student subgroups. Under Ohio law, a district or school that meets AYP can be designated no lower than continuous improvement. A district that doesn’t meet AYP for three consecutive years and doesn’t meet it for more than one student group in the most recent year can be rated no higher than continuous improvement.