The growth is reflected in the district’s “value added” score, a new measure in recent years that shows students are learning, even if they are not meeting state goals.
“Our schools are improving every single day and we have a lot to be proud of in Middletown City Schools,” said Betsy Carter, senior director of learning. “We know we have work to do.”
Students at seven schools made more than a year’s growth last year, and students at the other four schools made a year’s gains, according to the report.
Carter said students at urban schools come in with greater challenges, so “value added” is an important indicator of student achievement.
“We really can look at this year as a solid year of progress,” Carter said. “That shows us our kids are on an upswing.”
Middletown met the same number of indicators, 5 out of 30, on the 2008-09 state report card.
The district had a performance index score of 81.7 out of 120, up from 80 the previous year. That score is a point system based on student achievement in all tested subjects.
The number of indicators and performance index score fall below the goal set by the Board of Education of achieving eight indicators and attaining a performance index score of 83.
“We’re certainly moving in the right direction. We just didn’t make the progress we had hoped,” Carter said.
The school board will hear a presentation about report card results at its meeting Monday.
Board President Greg Tyus said the results show “we’ve made some progress” but said no board member is “satisfied with the progress that we have made.”
“It certainly outlines that we as a district have much work to do,” Tyus said. “We’ve got to find ways to raise the test scores to close the achievement gap.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2551 or mengle@coxohio.com.
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