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State report: Youngstown's 3rd-grade reading results up 7%
YOUNGSTOWN
The Ohio Department of Education reports Youngstown City Schools had a 7-percent increase in third-grade reading results.
Preliminary data in the report show a 10-percent reduction of the achievement gap and a 26-percent increase on the scaled score.
A scaled score is the total number of correct answers that have been converted onto a consistent and standardized scale. The purpose of scaling the scores is to be able to compare districts to one another.
“The scores on the state assessment in third-grade reading jumped from 27 percent to 34 percent in overall proficiency,” according to a district news release.
“It shows that what we’ve been doing is working,” said district CEO Krish Mohip. “This demonstrates what our children can accomplish when supported with quality, targeted instruction led by skilled and committed teachers and principals and informed by data.”
Brian Benyo, chairman of the Youngstown City School District Academic Distress Commission, agreed.
“It is a testament to combined contribution of the teaching staff, administration and district as a whole,” he said. “That kind of improvement doesn’t come easy.”
Mohip mirrored Benyo’s sentiment and said district wide, Youngstown City Schools has a lot to be proud of.
Benyo added that overall, the preliminary data shows a “meaningful improvement in scores and sets the stage for further expectations.”
Brenda Kimble, board of education president, said she is wary of the report’s preliminary results.
“Everything I’ve come across has shown our district’s grades are totally down from even last year,” she said. “I would want to know what data is being used, where this growth is being measured from and where it ended.”
Although Kimble hopes for the best for the district, the school board president said she is doubtful of the report’s results.
The report, however, confirms the district’s news release and Mohip’s sentiment on the district’s progress.
Out of 395 students who took the state assessment in spring 2016, the average scaled score was 667 with 27 percent of the students scoring proficient.
Out of the 382 students tested in spring 2017, the average scaled score was 684 with 34 percent of the students scoring proficient.