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Fairborn, Kettering, Lebanon schools drop on state report card

Staff graphic by Ted Pitts A quick look at report card results for area schools.

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By Anthony Gottschlich and Kelli Wynn, Staff Writers Updated 2:32 PM Tuesday, August 25, 2009

In 70 school districts across the Miami Valley, 12 raised their state ranking on the state report cards released Tuesday, Aug. 25, while seven dropped at least one level, including Fairborn, Kettering, Lebanon and Jefferson Twp. schools.

The biggest drop in academic performance in the 2008-09 school year came in Lebanon in Warren County, which fell three places from excellent with distinction to continuous improvement, the equivalent of a C on a student’s report card.

Kevin Wright, Lebanon’s director of pupil personnel and student services, said Hispanic and other students whose native language isn’t English contributed to the decline. The students failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress in state reading tests administered in grades three through eight and to high schoolers on the Ohio Graduation Test, he said.

“We obviously recognize that we have a need to meet the academic needs of all of our students, and we also understand we have a subgroup of students where we need to do a better job,” Wright said. “We have in place a district academic plan, and we also have individual intervention plans we’re going to be implementing from the get go.”

The district’s Hispanic population tripled since 2003 to 154 last year, Wright said. Another subgroup, those with “limited English proficiency,” nearly tripled over those same years to 109.

The district otherwise scored well on most measures across the board, meeting 29 of 30 state indicators. But no district can score above continuous improvement if it fails to meet federally required Adequate Yearly Progress in two or more subgroups of students for three years in a row, Wright said.

The state uses a variety of performance measures, including attendance, graduation rates and state test scores, to place districts and schools into one of six categories for academic achievement: excellent with distinction, excellent, effective, continuous improvement, academic watch and academic emergency.

Kettering and Fairborn schools dropped from effective to continuous improvement this year, and Jefferson Twp. schools fell one spot to academic watch.

Dr. James Schoenlein, interim superintendent of Kettering City Schools, called the state’s ranking “unfair”.

Schoenlein pointed out that the district had 29 out of the 30 test markers, had 100.2 in performance index score and two years of value-added score.

“Those three achievements, in combination, qualified Kettering for the highest (state) ranking,” Schoenlein said.

Schoenlein also noted that the performance index score is the best the district has ever done.

“We had two years in a row of a plus rating in value-added (which measures students’ performance over time). That’s qualifies us for a bump up of one level in the state report card ranking,” Schoenlein said. “Which means we actually qualified for an excellent with distinction. That’s the highest state ranking.”

Kettering did not meet Adequate Yearly Progress in the subgroups of ESOL (English as a Second Language) students and special education students.

“The state guidelines say that if you miss AYP two years in a row, you can be ranked no higher than continuous improvement,” Schoenlein said. “(The state ranking) seems unfair.”

“Our issue is not with the concept of AYP. We’re not saying that the subgroups can’t learn. Our issue is with a bizarre ranking system,” Schoenlein said.

“The students of Kettering performed better than they ever have and we’re proud of them. I am proud of them and of our teachers,” Schoenlein said. “I hope the Kettering community focuses on the positives of our state report card and the impressive progress we have made.”

Elsewhere in the Dayton region, Beavercreek, Centerville, Northmont and Springboro all earned excellent with distinction ratings for 2008-09. Each repeated the previous year’s ranking except for Northmont, which climbed one spot.

Dayton earned an academic watch ranking, as it did in 2006-07 and 2007-08. Huber Heights earned an effective rating, also repeating the previous two years’ scores.

Statewide, more than 85 percent of Ohio’s 610 school districts and almost 72 percent of school buildings received ratings of effective or higher on this year’s report cards, surpassing last year’s results. That include 116 districts and 215 schools that earned the excellent with distinction designation, up from 74 and 158 respectively last year.

Youngstown was the only district this year to score an academic emergency ranking, the first since 2004-05 to earn that distinction. The state’s graduation rate, based on 2007-08 numbers, slipped 2 percent to 84.2, just the second time in a decade the rate has declined. The state requirement is 90 percent.

Also, fifth- and eighth-graders statewide failed to meet a single state indicator on reading, math, science and social studies tests. The state requirement is a passing rate of 75 percent.

“We continue to see our students achieving at higher levels,” state Superintendent Deborah S. Delisle said Tuesday morning. “There are a few areas where we have seen some slip in performance, but overall trends are positive.”

View a district-by-district breakdown of the reports.

View a school-by-school breakdown of the reports.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7408 or agottschlich@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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