How Did Avon Schools Do On Controversial State Report Cards?

AVON, OH — The Ohio Department of Education released its controversial school district report cards last week. The report cards award grades to a district in six categories. This year, the Avon Local Schools improved slightly on their 2016 performance.

The district received very similar grades compared to last year's performance. Two major differences distinguish the 2017 Avon report card versus the 2016 iteration.

First, the district received a K-3 Literacy grade, a metric the district was not scored on last year. The D received in the K-3 Literacy area was easily the district's lowest grade. (To stay up to date on local stories, subscribe to the Patch Avon-Avon Lake newsletter. As news breaks and the story develops, you will be the first to receive updates from Patch.)

However, the district improved its Progress grade over last year, when the school system received a C. This year the district can celebrate a B mark.

The full Avon Local Schools report card is below:

• Achievement: B
  • The Achievement component represents the number of students who passed the state tests and how well they performed on these tests.
• Gap Closing: C
  • The Gap Closing component shows how well schools are meeting the performance expectations for our most vulnerable populations of students in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and graduation.
• K-3 Literacy: D
  • The K-3 Literacy component looks at how successful a school district is at getting readers identified as not on-track, per the Third Grade Reading Guarantee, on-track to proficiency in third grade and beyond.
• Progress: B
  • The Progress component looks closely at the growth that all students are making based on their past performances.
• Graduation Rate: A
  • The Graduation Rate component looks at the percent of students who are successfully finishing high school with a diploma in four or five years.
• Prepared for Success: B
  • Whether training in a technical field or preparing for work or college, the Prepared for Success component looks at how well prepared students are for all future opportunities.

While there has been less criticism of the state report cards in 2017, there have been critiques from some Northeast Ohio superintendents. For instance, Shaker Heights Superintendent Gregory Hutchings said they did a "disservice" to his students. Cleveland Heights-University Heights Superintendent Talisa Dixon said the reports are only one measure of a district, and ignore the unique qualities of each school system.

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