School report card: Tecumseh scores second-highest on progress

Credit: Marshall Gorby

Credit: Marshall Gorby

Tecumseh Local Schools received the second-highest rating on progress on the state report card.

Ohio K-12 schools did not receive an overall grade for 2021-22, but they did receive ratings on individual components of the report card. The Ohio legislature also changed the previous system of A-F grades to a 1-5 stars system.

Schools were still evaluated on how well their students did on state tests, reading proficiency in kindergarten through third grade, graduation rates, how students are progressing year over year, how well schools are able to close gaps between student subgroups, and how ready a student is to enter the workforce, college or the military after graduation. The new equation puts increased weight on year-over-year progress and gap closing.

On the new 1-5 star system, Tecumseh received the second-highest rating on year-over-year progress with a 4. The district also had a 4 in gap closing, 3 in achievement, and a 2 in early literacy and graduation rate.

Superintendent Paula Crew said she is pleased that achievement, progress and gap closing have improved this year “as a result of the diligent efforts” of the teachers, staff and students.

“Students are meeting expectations set by the state in achievement and growth as evidence by the four stars. We feel we are heading in the right direction but expect a 5-star rating next year,” she said. “We are ecstatic about the elevated percentages in most of the areas (as well).”

The district had a performance index rate of 71.6%, which is an increase from last year’s 58.9%. As far as gap closing, the district had a rate of 51.9%.

According to ODE data, of Ohio’s 607 graded school districts, 581 saw their Performance Index rise in 2021-22, and only 26 saw a decline. That’s because scores dropped in 2020-21 due largely to COVID disruptions, then they bounced back some in 21-22.

When it comes to graduation rate, Tecumseh had an overall rate of 88.9%. The four-year rate decreased this year at 85.8% compared to last year’s 90.7%.

Crew said she believes the percentages are fair and reflect the growth and achievement of the students.

“We are seeing the efforts of our Learning Recovery Plan come to fruition. The last two years, we have offered a comprehensive Summer Learning Program for grades K-12. We’ve increased the availability of research-based interventions with the use of the COVID funding, as well as offered after-school tutoring,” she said. “Teachers have implemented additional strategies gleaned from the professional development offered by the district. This professional development is planned from the needs identified in our strategic plan.”

Last year, school report cards did not include letter grades for all individual metrics and only listed some of the raw data including academic, graduation and attendance measures.

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