Preliminary state report card results look "Excellent" for the Worthington City School District.

The district passed all 26 state indicators and definitely will receive an Excellent rating this year, said Jennifer Wene, director of academic achievement and staff development.

"We are awaiting the finalization of the growth measures to determine our success with our AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) subgroups, and if we will retain our current rating of 'Excellent With Distinction,' " Wene said.

The district's Excellent rating in preliminary results last year was bumped up to Excellent with Distinction -- the state's highest rating -- after value-added measures were applied.

Value-added data measures growth in student achievement from one year to the next, Wene said.

"The 'distinction' rating comes from exceeding the growth measure for two years in a row," Wene said. "When we look at the achievement scores, we look over a period of at least three years to identify trends.

"The tests vary from year to year, as does the population of students who are taking the test," she said. "Because of that, it is inappropriate to make curricular adjustments based on one year's data."

Wene said the trend data over the past three years shows district students increasing achievement in reading across the grade levels and within the at-risk subgroups.

"Our focus on fifth-grade math also seems to have been productive, as those scores have increased for the third year in a row," she said.

The district has been rated Excellent on the state report card since the 2000-01 school year, except on the 2006-07 report card, when it was rated "Effective" due to not meeting AYP benchmarks, and before the state began to consider value-added measures.

The AYP benchmarks go up each year and measure the progress of student subgroups, such as students with disabilities and those with limited English proficiency.

Scott Blake, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Education, said the official state report card data, based on the 2009-10 school year achievement tests, will be released at 10 a.m. Aug. 27.

The PDF versions of the report cards will be posted on the ODE website, ode.state.oh.us/.

Information about the state's accountability system and details about state indicators, the Performance Index, Adequate Yearly Progress and value-added data can be found at reportcard.ohio.gov.