Message From Valley School Superintendents:

State Report Card Grades Can Be Misleading

Canfield, OH-- The results of the State Report Card are expected to be released Thursday, September 15 by the Ohio Department of Education.  Valley School Superintendents want to caution parents and community leaders not to jump to conclusions based on the “letter grades” given.  It is a complex number of factors that contribute to the state report card and districts overall are expected to see their grades go down this year.

We are making no excuses, but do want to take note that the tests have changed three times in the past three years, and the standards have been raised considerably.  School districts are working hard to meet the new measures and often it takes time for the gains in the classroom to show up on the tests.

A speaker from ODE addressed a group of school leaders and legislators in Salem last week, and noted that in the areas of science and social studies, the test had remained the same for two years, and they saw gains in success rates for most schools.   That’s encouraging.  Ohio Districts are determined to meet all the changing standards, even though both nationally and in the state of Ohio, there have been continual modifications.