Canal Winchester Local Schools dropped from an "Effective" district to one of "Continuous Improvement" on the state report card.
Five new indicators were added to the 2006-07 report-grading achievements on 5th and 8th grade science and social studies, and 7th grade writing.
The district met or exceeded the state requirement for all five portions of the 10th and 11th grade Ohio Graduation test, attendance rate for all grades, and graduation rate for the previous school year. However, test scores at the lower levels were not what administrators had hoped.
Third graders were well above the 75 percent minimum for reading and math. Fourth graders did well on reading and writing, but missed the cutoff in math by less than three percent. Fifth graders achieved 81 percent in reading, but only scored 47.5 percent in math, 70 percent in science, and 59.5 percent in social studies.
However, the percentage of students at or above the proficient level statewide in 5th grade math, science, and social studies were also well below the minimum requirement.
In 6th grade reading, nearly 80 percent of Canal Winchester students passed, but missed the proficient level in math by only 1.6 percent. Seventh graders met the state requirement in reading and writing, but were also below the minimum in math. Eighth graders were proficient in reading, but below the 75 percentile in math, science, and social studies-two of which were new testing areas.
"The state assesses on an individual year basis, but in science and social studies, they’re reaching back two years prior," said Canal Winchester Curriculum Director Janine Taylor. "Students at the high school level do much better at reaching back for information they’ve learned previously and we need to better address that skill at the lower levels."
"How do we get better at that, especially when a subject like social studies is so broad?" continued Taylor. "We have four waiver days we devote to data and we will be taking the time to go over everything. Our teachers do a nice job of teaching the standards, but we need to better prepare students in thinking skills.
"These are new tests and we need to educate ourselves about what to anticipate, if you are teaching kids to be thinkers. We were really close in math and we should be able to get over the hump. We missed nine indicators, but four were new. The high school is hitting the indicators, but it’s so high stakes when they get to the high school level. They get more serious about testing and we need to have that happen in the lower grades as well."
The attendance rate for all Canal Winchester students was 95.1 percent, the same as reported in 2005-06 and above the required 93 percent. The graduation rate jumped nearly three points to 96.1 percent for the 2006-07 school year.
In meeting federal Average Yearly Progress requirements, all student groups-including ethnic, economically disadvantaged, limited English proficient, and disabled-must be at or above annual goals or make improvements over the previous year. Canal Winchester students met AYP requirements in reading and math participation, attendance, and graduation, but did not meet federal standards in reading and math proficiency.
For more information on the district’s state report card, visit ww.ode.state/oh.us
