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By Jim Uphoff, Ed. D.
 When the Sunday newspaper arrived featuring a front page headline that read, “Oakwood High is Ohio’s best for test scores” I was elated since I have had the honor to be on our local Board of Education since August, 1989. Seeing such a headline as this and the data-base which followed was especially significant to me since I will leave the Board at the end of 2007.
Achieving this very high distinction has been due to the extraordinary efforts of hundreds of people. Certainly, we can look to the leadership and work of our secondary principals and the teachers at the junior and senior high. But our search for the sources of this success must go all the way to our district Pre-School where children with special needs are given a crucial, strong early foundation.
Those children stay right there in Lange School for their Kindergarten year with all other kindergarteners and teachers who are constantly seeking to grow in their own professionalism and skill. The elementary schools leadership and staff at both buildings have for years been on a constant hunt for ways to make their program of instruction better and better. Not just hours, but days and days of personal time have been devoted by these professionals to making our students more and more successful.
Central office leadership in curriculum and instruction has been a key element as our district has not only welcomed hard data, it has even sought out such data and then worked with our PK-12 staff to analyze it and to plan improvements that were seen to be needed. This has often resulted in meetings that were multi-grade level, multi-discipline, and/or multi-building in nature so that our program could truly be a “district” plan.
But such cudos as being called “Best in the State” also were made possible by the very committed nature of the citizens of Oakwood. These residents, many of whom no longer have children in the schools, have supported the district financially through their gifts and votes which has enabled the Board to provide small class sizes, quality professional development opportunities, and special services for both - the gifted and special needs children.
The parents of Oakwood’s students have expected a rigorous curriculum and have made certain that when homework was assigned, it was done! Our students have attended school regularly which is so vital to high achievement.
I am so very proud to have been honored by Oakwood voters to be elected to serve as one of five members of the Board of Education. I am now in my 19th year in this role and as 2007 and my years of service in this way come to an end, I must say that it has been a TEAM effort on the part of ALL of us INCLUDING our students. Thanks so much for being a part of this TEAM! Give yourself a “pat on the back” for a job well-done!
The Junior Assembly of Oakwood has announced its schedule of dances for the 07-08 school year. Dances will be held on the following Saturdays: Sept. 29, a the Greek Orthodox Church; Feb. 3 at the Moraine Country Club and April 19 at the Dayton Country Club. The Junior Assembly committee invites all high school freshman girls and boys living in Oakwood to attend these dances. Invitations will be sent in the mail to all Oakwood High School freshmen. If you live in Oakwood but attend another school, contact Terri Jones at 298-2699 or Camille Morris at 299-6882 for an invitation. RSVP date is Sept. 8.
By Kimberly Kappler
Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
Each August the state of Ohio releases a Local Report Card (LRC) for each of the more than 600 school districts across the state. The LRC has become increasingly complex over the last few years, and the aim of this article is to familiarize readers with the LRC in general and with Oakwood’s LRC data specifically.
A summary data box on the front page of the LRC (see the area marked A in the graphic) shows a district’s designation (the 5 designations, from lowest to highest are Academic Emergency, Academic Watch, Continuous Improvement, Effective, and Excellent). This year, 139 districts across the state, including Oakwood, achieved the designation of Excellent. In fact, Oakwood’s designation has been Excellent since the inception of this system.
The summary data box also displays performance on the state’s three key measures of progress: Indicators, Performance Index, and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).
This article will provide an overview of each and report Oakwood’s data.
This year, there are 30 state Indicators—one for graduation rate (for the Class of 2006), one for district-wide attendance, and one based on pass rate for each of the state tests that our students take in grades 3-8 and 10 (and grade 11 for students who are not entirely successful on the grade 10 Ohio Graduation Test). Oakwood City School District met all 30 indicators, as did only 29 other school districts across the state. Also, Oakwood High School’s pass rate (on all five tests) on the Ohio Graduation Test was the highest in the state this year. Additionally, Oakwood’s pass rate on each test was about as high or higher than our “similar districts’”, which is a state-identified cohort of 13 districts, including Indian Hill, Wyoming, Upper Arlington, Springboro, and Granville.
While meeting Indicators is all about having enough students attend school, graduate, and pass the state tests, Performance Index illustrates how well a district is not only meeting proficiency but exceeding it. On state tests, there are 5 achievement levels, which are (from lowest to highest) Limited, Basic, Proficient, Accelerated, and Advanced.
A district’s Performance Index (PI) score is calculated by multiplying the percentage of our test scores across the district that are Advanced by a weight of 1.2, multiplying the percentage of our scores that are Accelerated by 1.1, the percentage of our scores that are Proficient by 1.0, the percentage of our scores that are Basic by 0.6, and the percentage of our scores that are Limited by 0.3. A perfect PI score for a district would be 120: 100 (percent of student scores) x 1.2 (weight for advanced) = 120. Of course, having all students score Advanced on all state tests would be quite an accomplishment. This year, Oakwood’s district PI score is 108.1, which is 6th highest in the state, and the PI score for Oakwood High School specifically is the highest of all high schools in the state this year.
The third key measure of progress noted in the summary box on the LRC is Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). While the Indicators and Performance Index look at how whole populations of students are doing in a school or district, AYP looks specifically at how subgroups of students are doing. AYP focuses on subgroups based on race, economic disadvantage, limited English proficiency (students for whom English is not their first language), and disability. For all subgroups except disability, a school or district has to have at least 30 students in tested grades that fit that subgroup to count as an AYP subgroup; for disability, the minimum is 45 students in tested grades. In Oakwood, we only have enough students to count for a white subgroup and a Students with Disabilities subgroup.
For a district to meet AYP, its subgroups must meet the year’s AYP goals, which go up over time. The 2006-2007 school year AYP goals are displayed in Box B. Oakwood met AYP for both its subgroups (white students and Students with Disabilities). Only 29.7 percent of districts in Ohio met AYP this year, and only 57.6 percent of “Excellent” districts met AYP this year. The AYP goals for the 2007-2008 school year are in Box C. As you can see, the goals are jumping up quite a bit this upcoming year from this past year’s, which will make meeting AYP even more challenging for districts. By the 2013-2014 school year, all students in all subgroups must pass all state tests in order for a district to meet AYP. Many educators predict that AYP will either be revised or discarded before 2013; otherwise, it is likely that no districts will be able to meet AYP, regardless of growth or other measures of success.
It is important to note that all three measures of progress on the LRC -I ndicators, Performance Index, and Adequate Yearly Progress - are all based on the same 2.5 hour tests that students take in grades 3-8 and 10/11. Each of the three measures essentially slices the same data set in three different ways. Next year a 4th measure - value added - will be added to the LRC. Value added will focus on student growth from one year to the next - again using the same test data.
New to this year’s LRC is a section on the back page that attempts to reflect the degree to which districts are providing rigorous curricula. Students who take rigorous high school curricula are more likely to be successful in and complete college. The LRC chart reflects data from the Class of 2006 and includes such measures as graduation rate (98.3%), mean SAT score (1117.8), mean ACT score (24.8, which is the highest in the region), etc.
The chart also includes the percentage of graduates earning a 3 or higher on an Advanced Placement (AP) exam (79.8%). AP courses are college-level courses that culminate in a written exam. Scores on AP exams range from 1-5. Many universities offer students college credit for AP exam scores of 3 or higher.
Also displayed in the chart is the percent of graduates completing the requirements for Honors Diploma, which include completing a certain number of units in various content areas, attaining at least a 3.5 grade point average (on a 4.0 scale), and earning either an SAT score of 1210 or higher OR an ACT score of 27 or higher.
Although Oakwood’s LRC reported that 0% of our students from the Class of 2006 earned an Honors Diploma, actually 48% of the Class of 2006 earned an Honors Diploma, which, according to the state data (which appears incomplete) would put us 6th highest in the state. (The state also reported 0% for 54 other districts, including Granville, Springboro, and Olentangy; for at least some of those 54 districts, what the state reported is likely incorrect, as in Oakwood’s case.) I will be looking to see how this error was made to ensure that it is not repeated.
Even this lengthy article has not exhausted all of the data reported on the LRC, but it does cover the main appendages of the anatomy of the Local Report Card. If you have questions or would like additional information, please contact me at 297-7801 or kappler.kim@oakwood .k12.oh.us.
A Denison University first-year student from Oakwood is among those named as winners of an Alumni Scholarship. Grace Sherk, daughter of Arik and Debbie Sherk of Oakwood, is a 2007 graduate of Oakwood High School.
Denison Alumni awards, $7,000 and $11,000 respectively, provide recognition and encouragement to students who have achieved in a particular endeavor. These scholarships will be given on the basis of a student’s academic record; special talent in the creative or performing arts; or demonstrated leadership and service in school, community or religious organizations. Candidates must rank in the top quarter of their graduating class, have a successful record in a college prep. course of study, have a 3.0 or higher grade point average and show evidence of leadership, special talent or commitment to service.
OHS ’07 graduate Bobby Fecher is a freshman at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois this year. He has been recruited for the men’s soccer team and will be playing first string on the squad as a middle forward. Fecher is the son of Bill and Kitty Fecher of Wisteria Drive in Oakwood.
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