MIDDLETOWN, Ohio -- Middletown City School District has the lowest proficiency rate in Butler County. The Middletown Journal says that fewer than half of sophomores passed all five sections of the Ohio Graduation Test.
Superintendent Greg Rasmussen says the 47.1% passing rate is still good news, because it is an improvement over last year's 44.8%. The state-mandated tests were given during the two weeks beginning March 14th. Tenth graders were tested in reading, writing, mathematics, science and social studies. Rasmussen realizes that the district has some work to do.
Ross Local Schools had the highest passage rate in Butler, at 86.7%.
District-by-district highlights include:
• Edgewood: 76.1 percent of Edgewood's students taking all five sections of the test passed all five, up from 64.9 percent in 2010. Edgewood's strongest subjects were writing (89.8 percent passing) and reading (88.3 percent passing). However, the subjects showing the most advanced students were social studies (37.9 percent) and mathematics (34.8 percent). Writing scores show a slight decline, from 90 percent passing in 2010 to 89.8 percent in 2011.
• Fairfield: 72.2 percent of Fairfield's sophomores passed all five sections of the test, up from 70.4 percent last year, with all areas showing improvement. Strongest subjects are writing (93.2 percent passing) and reading (92 percent passing). The district's most proficient students were in social studies (34.6 percent) and mathematics (41.9 percent).
• Hamilton: 59.6 percent of Hamilton's students who took all five sections of the test passed all of them, up from 52 percent in 2010. Mathematics showed a slight decline in students passing from 80.1 percent in 2010 to 79.4 percent, as did social studies, from 75.5 to 75.4 percent. There was a nearly 10 point jump in writing scores from 76.1 percent passing last year to 86 percent in 2011.
• Lakota: 86.5 percent of Lakota's sophomores passed all five sections, up from 82.2 percent in 2010. More than 90 percent of students taking individual sections passed, the highest percentage in writing (96.9 passing). The percentage of students passing were up in all subject areas.
• Madison: Students passing all five sections of the test jumped from 69.5 percent in 2010 to 83.2 percent this year. Biggest improvements were in mathematics (from 89 percent passing to 98.3 percent) and social studies (from 81.4 percent passing to 91.7).
About the Author
