MOUNT VERNON — Knox County schools varied in results when statewide report cards were released.
The county’s five public schools ranged from five to one stars with room to grow in their own respective categories. The report card has five categories: achievement, progress, gap closing, graduation, and early literacy.
Fredericktown Local Schools posted two five-star ratings in gap closing and graduation. Fredericktown’s graduation rate is broken into four-year and a five-year graduation ratio.
East Knox Local and Danville Local Schools were the only schools to get a one-star rating — which came in the progress category.
Fredericktown Supt. Gary Chapman came into the district a couple months before the statewide report cards were released. So he has numerous questions about the data and where the district can improve.
“Now the work begins with our district,” Chapman said.
The progress category is based on state testing and if students are meeting state goals. Both Danville and East Knox “need significant improvements” ranging from English, mathematics and science, the state report card reads.
East Knox Supt. Steve Larcomb said he knows the task at hand.
“We have work to do, we always have work to do,” Larcomb said. “Education is a never-ending process.”
Danville Supt. Jason Snively said he’s preparing to look at the data behind the report in a bit more detail alongside the administration. Math and reading are a main focus for Snively in particular.
The highest scoring progress rating was Mount Vernon City Schools with a four-star rating. MVCS also received a four-star rating on achievement and gap closing.
The Achievement category has a “performance index” that measures test results of every student. Each year the maximum possible score is determined by the average of the highest 2% performance index scores in the state, according to the state report card.
Mount Vernon’s performance index was 82.2%. The district’s achievement score was four stars.
“We’re really excited about our progress,” MVCS Supt. Bill Seder said. “A lot of hard work goes into that.
“It’s a credit to our students to our teachers and our family members to exceed the state standards in just about all the categories is really encouraging.”
Moving forward, Seder wants the district to continue to build upon its scores with a focus on increasing student achievement.
“Keep those expectations in the full front of (mind for) our teachers and administrators,” Seder said. “Reassess what we’re doing.”
Seder was proud of the district’s gap-closing score, which was four stars.
“Students who struggle the most, to see five of our eight buildings received five stars which means we were really above,” Seder said. “Our goal is to keep going toward that direction. Really proud of the achievement.”
Centerburg Local Schools had a three four-star categories, one three star rating and one two-star rating.
“The new and improved state report card gives us the opportunity to celebrate our successes and narrow in on some areas that need improvement,” Centerburg Supt. Ryan Gallwitz said.
“I’m proud of our students and staff for their results in the achievement section of the report card especially after what we have experienced the last two years. While everyone across the state took a dip I believe we are now headed back up in the right direction.
“There are always opportunities for improvement and we are working very hard in our teacher-based teams and building leadership teams to improve.
“The progress component is tricky. The state creates a predicted test score based upon previous test scores and data points. If the student scores at or above the predicted score, then progress is made. If the student scores below the predicted test score, then progress was not made. There are a number of factors that can impact a test score on test day.”
Though Gallwitz believes it’s a very important piece of data, it doesn’t always tell the entire story.
“It’s tricky,” he said.
“I’ve always told the staff that the state report card does not define who we are but it is important. We will take a moment to celebrate the successful components of the report card, as every school should, and then get back to work improving the areas that need to be addressed.”
Here are the scores for each of the five public school districts across Knox County:
Fredericktown
Achievement: 4 stars
Progress: 3 stars
Gap Closing: 5 stars
Graduation: 5 stars
Early Literacy: 3 stars
Danville
Achievement: 3 stars
Progress: 1 stars
Gap Closing: 3 stars
Graduation: 4 stars
Early Literacy: 3 stars
Mount Vernon
Achievement: 4 stars
Progress: 4 stars
Gap Closing: 4 stars
Graduation: 3 stars
Early Literacy: 3 stars
Centerburg
Achievement: 4 stars
Progress: 2 stars
Gap Closing: 4 stars
Graduation: 4 stars
Early Literacy: 3 stars
East Knox
Achievement: 3 stars
Progress: 1 star
Gap Closing: 2 stars
Graduation: 4 stars
Early Literacy: 2 stars
Statewide, the results reflected a downturn across the board, no doubt impacted by the pandemic.
According to the Ohio Department of Education, total enrollment in PreK-12 public schools decreased by 53,000 students statewide — or 3% between fall 2019 and fall 2020. Decreases in the previous three years ranged from .03% to .4%.
Participants in the Language and Literacy scored 47.6%, not on track. In 2019, it was 39.7%; 2018 was 39.1%; 2017 was 38.3%.
In Emerging Readiness, a higher percentage scored lower with 23.7% compared to 22.5% in 2019.
In Fall 2020 third grade proficiency rates were 8% points lower than in 2019 — 37.1% in fall 2020 compared to 45.1% in fall 2019.
Fredericktown
Achievement: 4 stars
Progress: 3 stars
Gap Closing: 5 stars
Graduation: 5 stars
Early Literacy: 3 stars
Danville
Achievement: 3 stars
Progress: 1 stars
Gap Closing: 3 stars
Graduation: 4 stars
Early Literacy: 3 stars
Mount Vernon City
Achievement: 4 stars
Progress: 4 stars
Gap Closing: 4 stars
Graduation: 3 stars
Early Literacy: 3 stars
Centerburg
Achievement: 4 stars
Progress: 2 stars
Gap Closing: 4 stars
Graduation: 4 stars
Early Literacy: 3 stars
East Knox
Achievement: 3 stars
Progress: 1 star
Gap Closing: 2 stars
Graduation: 4 stars
Early Literacy: 2 stars
