Mantua – At the last meeting, Superintendent David Toth shared that the district did not fare as well as he had hoped on the State Report Card, which was recently published by the Department of Education.
The district received an A in the Graduation Rate, a category that measures the percentage of students who successfully complete high school in four or five years. The district received poor component grades in most other categories, ranging from a ‘C’ in K – 3 Literacy, which measures how successful the school is at getting struggling readers on track to proficiency; to D’s in Achievement, which measures how well students performed on State tests; Progress, which measures growth made by students based on past performance; and Prepared for Success, which measures how well students are prepared for college, work, or a technical field. Crestwood received an F in Gap Closing, which shows how well schools meet performance expectations of the most vulnerable students in English, language arts, math, and graduation.
In general, scores around the state were lower this year than in previous years. This has been attributed to higher expectations and shifting common core standards in the new state tests that were given in the 2015-2016 academic year, on which the latest Report Cards are based. In addition, Mr. Toth noted that this was the first year Crestwood students completed the tests online, versus completing tests on paper. Complete report cards can be viewed by District at reportcard.education.ohio.gov.
In a release distributed from the Alliance for High Quality Education in Columbus, the organization notes that more than 80 school districts throughout Ohio are releasing a more comprehensive, community-oriented companion to the State’s School District Report Card. Called a “Quality Profile,” the report includes additional accountability measures that define a high quality education that are not included in the State’s report. The Quality Profile is a tool to help stakeholders evaluate the effectiveness of a school district beyond standardized testing, and highlights: academics, arts, student leadership and activities, fiscal stewardship, parent and community involvement, and student services. For the second year in a row, Crestwood has created a Quality Profile, which is now available at crestwoodschools.org.
The next meeting of the Crestwood School Board will take place in the High School library on Monday, October 10th at 7 pm.
