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Legislation would change
school districts' grades
Thursday, October 25, 2007 CANDACE PRESTON-COY An amendment to an Ohio House of Representatives bill making its way through the state Senate could keep high-performing school districts at the top of the state ratings, even as they struggle to get all students proficient in reading and math. School and district ratings are based on the percentage of students who test proficient on state assessments for reading, math, writing, science and social studies. Under No Child Left Behind federal regulations, districts also must show "adequate yearly progress" (AYP) on math and reading for students in third through eighth grade, as well as for students in each of 10 subgroups, such as low-income, special education and minorities. The federal government allows states to set their own passing scores. In Ohio, districts failing to meet AYP in at least two subgroups for three years cannot earn better than "C" on their state report card. That happened to several central Ohio school districts this year, including Worthington, Hilliard, New Albany, Canal Winchester and Pickerington, despite meeting the standards to qualify the districts as a whole to earn an "excellent" or "effective" rating. Other districts are at risk of facing the same penalties next year, including Dublin, Olentangy, Johnstown-Monroe and Licking Heights. After reading a story about Hilliard City Schools in The Columbus Dispatch, Sen. Gary Cates from West Chester, who represents the 4th Senate District, began questioning why the "overall grade" for high-performing districts was in jeopardy when only small groups of children were struggling to meet the state standards. Cates' amendment to House Bill 190 would still hold school districts accountable for bringing all students up to state standards in math and reading, but would not penalize those districts that still have subgroups of students under those scores. Among other things, House Bill 190 spells out the provisions of the state report card and the standards that make up that report card. "We've worked out a compromise with the (Ohio) Department of Education that will protect a district from dropping more than one classification at a time," he said, instead of two, such as falling from A to C, or from "excellent" to "continuous improvement," skipping "effective." "The key thing is a district would need to fail the same portions of AYP for three years running" to drop a category, Cates said. The way the law reads now, a district could miss the passing score of any two or more subgroups over the three-year time span to drop in the category. The amendment will go to the Senate Education Committee next week, Cates said, and then to the full Senate for a vote. If it passes it would then go to the House for a vote and the governor for his signature. State legislation introduced this year by Rep. Larry Wolpert, a Hilliard Republican, appears to be dead, primarily, he said, because the department of education does not support it. Wolpert said he would not support Cates' amendment if it comes to the House because it "doesn't solve the problem." Cates said Wolpert's bill "bifurcated the rating system with no impact on the report card. ... The compromise doesn't overly penalize school districts and encourages them to continually do better." If it passes, all school districts, including those that dropped in categories this year, would fall under the new requirements next year, Cates said. |