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Two Valley districts in top 20 in state for performance index
By Denise Dick
CANFIELD
The Canfield School District is closing in on its goal of cracking the state’s top 10 in Performance Index score.
The district ranked No. 16 on the list released last week for the 2014-15 school year as part of the Ohio school report cards with 104.555. Performance Index shows how many students passed the test.
“Our goal by 2017 is to be in the top 10 in the state using PI as our index,” said Superintendent Alex Geordan. “That’s addressing each individual student’s needs and driving them at their ability level.”
Only Maplewood schools outranked Canfield among Mahoning Valley school districts. Maplewood ranked No. 15 with 104.754.
The Ohio Department of Education didn’t rank districts by PI this year because of Safe Harbor provisions. Those provisions prevent consequences on districts, teachers or students tied to results of state tests through the 2016-17 school years.
The Canfield and Maplewood superintendents confirmed their district’s respective rankings.
Both districts earned B’s in the Performance Index measure. They were the only Valley districts ranked among the state’s top 20.
Only six school districts earned A’s in Performance Index.
Maplewood Superintendent Perry Nicholas said the district has been fortunate to be among the Valley’s top-ranked districts in Performance Index for the past several years.
“Our principals and teachers really focus on it; by focusing on the Performance Index, we believe the other indices can take care of themselves,” he said. “They’re dedicated. Our students and teachers and even parents buy into what we’re doing.”
Nicholas said the success is in the delivery method of district teachers.
“Our teachers have high expectations for our students and they push them,” he said.
Geordan said Canfield wants to view itself against other districts across the state rather than focusing on just the Valley.
He said that when he came to the district four years ago, Canfield ranked in the mid-50s in PI.
It creeped into the mid-30s, mid-20s and then No. 16 this year.
“We think that top 10 is an attainable goal,” Geordan said.
He stressed that the district has focused on individual student needs.
“We make sure we are differentiating instruction,” Geordan said. “Our entire staff has taken ownership of this.”
Gifted students, for example, once identified, are driven harder than other students.
“We’re not teaching to the box,” he said. “We’re really understanding where students are when they come to us. We benchmark them early in the year and make sure we’re meeting their needs at their ability level.”
Gifted, students in the middle and those with special needs may all be together in the same class. It’s the instruction that differs based on a student’s individual level.
“Our teachers have to be very good at what they do,” Geordan said.
Grouping different students together in one case allows modeling as well. Students who may not achieve at the highest level can see the work completed by those who are. It benefits students on a social-emotional level, the superintendent said.
Geordan also is proud that the district’s per-pupil cost is $8,043, and 71 percent of it is spent on classroom instruction, according to data released from the Ohio Department of Education.
Canfield’s per-pupil cost is below the state average of $9,228 per pupil.
Youngstown schools is at the high end in per-pupil cost at $13,664.