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State test results show the good and bad of Valley school performance
YOUNGSTOWN
Data released Friday by the Ohio Department of Education show that many Mahoning Valley school districts performed much better than the statewide performance levels in four testing categories.
Preliminary Tests Results
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Performance data released Friday by the Ohio Department of Education showing preliminary results from testing conducted in the spring shows that many Mahoning Valley school districts performed much better than the statewide averages for four testing subjects. A few school districts, including Youngstown City Schools, however, performed well below the state average in every subject.
A few school districts, including Youngstown City Schools, however, performed well below the statewide level in every subject.
The data show the preliminary results from new standardized testing that began last spring.
The 2014-15 school year marked the first in which Ohio students took the standardized testing of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, as required by the Common Core curriculum. PARCC sets the bar higher than previous standardized tests such as the Ohio Achievement Assessments and Ohio Graduation Tests.
Students’ performance on PARCC tests in English language arts (ELA), mathematics, science and social studies are scored as limited, basic, proficient, accelerated or advanced. The data released Friday show, among other results, the percentage of students that scored proficient or above.
School districts will have the chance to review and update the data before they submit it to the state for Ohio School Report Card calculations.
The data encompasses third-grade to high-school students for public school districts in Ohio. For the full local list, visit vindy.com.
STRUGGLING
The vast majority of Youngstown City School students scored below the statewide performance levels for each testing category. Only 15.5 percent of students who took the eighth-grade mathematics test, for example, scored “proficient or above,” compared with 54.7 percent of students statewide. On the ELA test, only 26.1 percent of the 352 sixth-grade students who were tested were proficient or better, as compared with 66.9 percent in the state.
One high point, however, was that 71.3 percent of 10th-grade students scored proficient or above on an ELA test, which is close to the statewide figure of 75.7 percent.
Interim Superintendent Stephen Stohla said he believes that non-school factors play a role in the low test scores.
“There are a lot of issues that impact our test scores that are not school-related, and we’re trying to do everything we can to make some of those issues less of a barrier,” he said.
He said the school district is focusing on increasing parental involvement and on incorporating wraparound services such as dental care, into its attempts to improve educational outcomes.
“I know that none of the test scores are where I would like them, or where most of the community or parents or staff would like them to be, but to me it’s a starting point, and we’ll get better,” he said.
Among the other districts that did not fare well on the PARCC tests are Campbell City Schools in Mahoning County, and Warren City Schools in Trumbull County.
DOING WELL
In Mahoning County, several school districts performed well above the statewide averages in every subject and grade level. Boardman, Canfield, Poland, South Range and Springfield districts performed especially well.
The percentage of Boardman students who scored proficient or above in English language arts, for example, ranges from 85.4 percent for seventh-grade ELA, to 91.2 percent for fourth-grade. By comparison, the statewide performance levels for seventh-grade and fourth-grade ELA, respectively, is 69.8 percent and 73.3 percent.
Jared Cardillo, director of instruction for the district, credits “a good combination of great parents, great teachers and great students” with the district’s strong preliminary results.
“That’s the secret formula right there,” he said. “We’re pretty happy – but not satisfied. We always want to get better.”
Poland students also performed exceptionally well, with, for example, 93.2 percent of students who took the sixth-grade mathematics test scoring proficient or above.
Superintendent David Janofa said that the students and staff did a good job of managing the changes in state standards.
“I’m very proud of the students and staff, and to be a part of the Poland School District,” he said. “We want all students to achieve at a high level, so we’ll look at some of the scores that were not where we wanted them; but we’re also looking at the high end, so that all students get to the advanced and accelerated levels.”
In Trumbull County, some of the school districts with the best results include Howland, Lakeview, Lordstown and Maplewood.
Lordstown is one of the few districts in which 100 percent of students achieved ‘proficient or above’ in some categories.
“We are very happy. We have a very, very hard-working staff,” Superintendent Terry Armstrong said. “The students are awesome. They work really hard. They take direction really well. Their families are very supportive. ... It’s just wonderful to see it represented in test scores.”
The state data also include results from testing at charter schools. Statewide, charter school students performed at lower levels than public school students.