How Did Westlake Schools Do On Controversial State Report Cards?

WESTLAKE, OH — The Ohio Department of Education released its controversial school district report cards last week. The Westlake City School District improved upon nearly all of the graded areas versus its performance in 2016.

Last year, the school district took aim at the state's testing standards. Kim Bonvissuto, the district's communications coordinator, joined a chorus of other school districts lambasting the state report card systems. She noted that the "state's measurement system is not reflective of our expectations as a district." This year, the report cards have been met with less criticism statewide.

Partly that is because of the consistency from last year to 2017. Much of the criticism around the report cards in 2016 centered on the state's shifting standards on standardized tests. This year, the tests remained largely the same. (To stay up to date on local stories, subscribe to the Patch Westlake newsletter. As news breaks and the story develops, you will be the first to receive updates from Patch.)

The results for Westlake were a stronger performance in nearly every category. The district's progress grade improved from an F to a D and the district was not graded in K-3 literacy because of the lack of off-track readers. The district did regress in the category of gap closing, moving from a C last year to a D this year.

The full Westlake 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: D
  • 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: Not graded
  • 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: D
  • 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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