“I am extremely happy with the results of our 2010-11 district report card! The credit truly goes to our students and staff who have worked together focusing on making every instructional moment count in the classroom,” said Susie Riegle, Superintendent of Greenville Schools. Over the past four years, the District’s State Report Card reflects positive growth in all areas. Riegle added, “We have consistently demonstrated positive academic growth in the district over the past several years. The emphasis on solid instructional practices being used in all of the district’s classrooms has been and will continue to be the standard. We are working to sustain and increase with each year the positive academic growth we have been experiencing.”
The Ohio Department of Education’s State and Local Report Cards rate the performance of districts and schools using four measures, including the state indicators drawn from academic tests. Other measures include:
- Value-Added results, which show whether students meet the expected one year of growth for students in grades 3-8 in reading and math. In 2010-2011, 79.5 percent of Ohio public school districts and 81.4 percent of its schools met or exceeded expected Value-Added gains.
- The Performance Index looks at the performance of every student, not just those who score proficient or higher. In 2010-11, 89.3 percent of Ohio’s districts and 71 percent of its schools improved their Performance Index scores.
- Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is a federally required component that measures achievement of each student subgroup, including racial and ethnic components. Half of the public school districts (50.6 percent) and nearly 60 percent of its schools met AYP in 2010-2011.
While Greenville City Schools continued to show positive gains again this year in all areas, the district qualified for its Excellent rating through the Value-Added growth measure. In short, the Value Added measure is focused on how well students are progressing in the present. The Value Added measure helps to answer the question: "Despite how well or how poorly a student did in the past, how much growth did the student achieve in the current school year?" The Value Added measure was put in place to ensure that a) schools continue to push students who scored well on past state tests to higher levels and, b) to give schools credit for gains students make even if they did not earn a passing score on a state test. Overall, the state sets a target that each school district must have their students demonstrate one year worth of academic growth in each school year.
For the 2010-2011 school year, Greenville City Schools exceeded the state's value added target. Guy Parmigian, Greenville City Schools Director of Curriculum, commented, “Overall, our students achieved MORE than one year's worth of academic growth during the 2010-11 school year. This outstanding accomplishment demonstrates that our district is making positive strides by making more effective use of instructional time, and providing more effective interventions and supports for our students. This accomplishment reflects our district's commitment to use a variety of quality assessment strategies and cutting-edge educational technology so that each minute of instructional time is more focused on raising levels of student achievement for all of the students we serve. Earning "Above Expected Growth" on the report card value added measure shows our district stakeholders that the resources we are directing toward professional development, educational technology, and other key initiatives are resulting in real academic gains for our students--gains that exceed targets set for our district by the state. Earning "Above Expected Growth" tells us as a community that our district is focused on high expectations for all students and is targeting resources in the right places to help make it happen.”
Each building played a major role in helping Greenville City Schools attain the Excellent rating. Woodland Primary, while not rated since Ohio Achievement Assessments do not begin until grade 3, established a foundation for their students to experience success. East Intermediate was rated Excellent by meeting all of their indicators on the State Report Card. They achieved the Excellent rating on the 2008-09 Report Card, were Effective last year, and have again achieved the Excellent status. Greenville Middle School and Greenville Junior High attained the Excellent rating as well, while Greenville Senior High was rated Effective.
The Greenville Junior High has experienced a substantial amount of growth over the two years going from Continuous Improvement to Effective and now to Excellent. They earned “Above Expected Growth” for the second consecutive year at the Junior High improving their building rating to Excellent. In addition, South Middle School earned “Above Expected Growth” in improving from Effective to Excellent. Former South Middle School and Junior High Principal, David Peltz, who has assumed the role as one of the district’s Directors of Curriculum added, “It is tremendous to receive tangible evidence that we are working hard to provide an "Excellent" educational environment for our students. The teachers and students have been fantastic at working together to improve student learning. We have increased professional development opportunities and provided time for teachers to collaborate more than ever before. We have also worked hard to unify our curriculum efforts in creating a formative learning environment. I could not be more excited for all of our students and staff. They are to be credited with this success.”
Seven Years of GCS District Report Card Ratings:
|
2010-2011 |
Excellent |
|
2009-2010 |
Effective |
|
2008-2009 |
Effective |
|
2007-2008 |
Effective |
|
2006-2007 |
Continuous Improvement |
|
2005-2006 |
Continuous Improvement |
|
2004-2005 |
Continuous Improvement |