Berea City Schools Get Mixed Grades From the State

BEREA, OH - The school district has received low marks on report cards issued by the Ohio Department of Education. Superintendent Michael Sheppard said in a statement on Sept. 14 that these results do not define the school district.

The Department of Education grades districts on six categories: Achievement, Progress, Gap Closing, Graduation Rate, Prepared for Success, and K-3 Literacy.

The Achievement category measures the number of students who passed the state's tests and how well they performed on those tests. Progress is based on how students have developed based on their past performance. Gap Closing is based off a school district's ability to help groups of students the state has deemed to be the "most vulnerable." Graduation Rate is based on the percentage of students successfully graduating after four or five years. Prepared for Success is graded on how well students are prepared for college or a technical career. Finally, K-3 Literacy Rate is based on how successful the schools are at getting struggling readers up to speed.

Berea's grades were:

• Achievement - D
• Progress - F
• Gap Closing - F
• Graduation Rate - B
• Prepared for Success - C
• K-3 Literacy - D

The K-3 Literacy component was only applicable to school districts that had 5% or more of their K-3 students reading below their grade level last year.

The state's test scores came under criticism from Solon School District's Superintendent Joseph Regano. He cautioned that the state accountability system has serious flaws when so few districts and students statewide are showing improving results. Due to the continuing changes in the assessment system and dramatic ramping up of cut scores on those assessments each year, the results are losing important context, he said.

“Rigor is important to ensure students are prepared for college and the workforce,” he says. “The standards focus on the most important concepts, issues and ideas as well as ways of communicating, reasoning and investigating within each subject area. We just need the assessment system to appropriately measure this learning for all students.”

Photo from the Ohio Department of Education