Revision in state report cards likely to boost academic standings

By DENISE DICK

denise_dick@vindy.com

Youngstown

A change in one factor of the state report card could be good news for some Mahoning Valley school districts.

Value added is the measure that tracks students’ academic progress from one year to the next.

“Changing the standard means that we have made the system more rigorous,” Scott Gallaway, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Education, said in an email. “Fewer schools and districts will be indicated as having exceeded the growth standard and also fewer schools and districts will be indicated as not having met the standard.”

Instead, more schools and districts will be in the category of meeting the standard, he said. “This is important for accountability since the only way ratings of schools and districts can be affected by value-added is if the school or district either exceeds or does not meet the standard,” Gallaway said.

For the last two report cards, failing to meet value added kept the Youngstown city school district at an academic emergency rating, the lowest rank on the state report card. The district is researching to determine how the change may affect it on the new report cards that will be released late next month.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com