Superintendents Message

Patrick Dubbs



Superintendent

Wayne Local Schools

2010/2011

August 26, 2010
The official report card data for Ohio school districts will be released this week on Friday. Because of media pressure, preliminary data has been released and the news media has started to comment on the ratings for school districts. Unfortunately this has led to at least one key mistake by the media. The Dayton Daily News reported on Wednesday, August 25th that Waynesville dropped four (4) indicators on the report card (scoring 26 instead of 30) when in fact there were only 26 indicators to be met - so we met 100% of the indicators in 2010 just like we did in 2009. The paper replicated this same mistake for several other area school districts and reported a score of 26 out of 30 indicators as a decline, when in fact it was a perfect report card score.
At this time we do not have total access to our data in order to analyze our results. From the preliminary data release it appears Wayne Local Schools will be rated "excellent" for the 2009/10 school year, however we will not receive the additional "distinction" tag because our value-added scores did not exceed the state's "expected yearly growth". Each year the Ohio Department of Education establishes the "expected yearly growth" for students in reading and math in grades 4-8 based upon the students' scores from the prior year. The theory is students should grow at least "one year" just to maintain their "value added" position. If students exceed the state's expectations then the district is poised to receive the "distinction" tag along with an excellent rating. This system makes it easier for lower performing schools to achieve the "bump" to a higher rating. This fact is supported by the schools in Warren County - every district ranked-excellent "with distinction" in 2009 fell to "excellent" this year. Let's look at a classroom testing example to illustrate how this system works.
Suppose a student takes a test and scores a 95%, or a solid "A". On the next test an outside entity decides the student must receive a 96% as the "expected" rate of growth. If the student receives a 97% or better he or she will receive "distinction" because he or she "exceeded" the expected rate of growth. If the student receives a 96% he/she has met the "expected" rate of growth, however if the student scores a 95% he/she will have performed "below" the expected rate of growth. Whether the student received a 95, 96 or 97% the student is still performing at an "A" level; however only with a 97% on this particular test will the student receive "distinction." This scenario also illustrates the advantages of not performing "too good" on testing from the beginning, thus allowing lower performing schools and districts more room for growth.
So, what has changed in Waynesville with the latest report card? We achieved 26 out of 26 indicators (100%) and scored virtually the same performance index (104.7 in 2010) as we did last year (104.9 in 2009), which indicates the quality of instruction and achievement has not declined in any manner from one year to the next. Students are still achieving at the same high rate, but they did not grow enough according to the value added system established by the state of Ohio. Within the southwest Ohio region, school districts like Mason, Madeira, and Indian Hill are in the same position as Waynesville. These high performing districts also did not meet the value added growth established by the state and will not be rated as excellent "with distinction". Yet, their performance indexes, as a district, remain among the very best in the state of Ohio.
It has been our goal to break the 105 barrier on the performance index and we continue to "knock on that door." We have identified strategies that we believe will allow us to perform above the 105 level in the future. Additionally, I encourage the community, school board members, district administration and teachers to not use any single measure as the determining factor of our excellence. We are not only excellent, we are an extremely well balanced school district that continues to excel, and we remain committed to looking for the very best ways to improve the instructional programs at all levels. Contrary to negative news reporting I want to congratulate our students, teachers, and administrators for another outstanding performance during 2009/10 and we are looking forward to an even better year in 2010/11.

Pat Dubbs, Superintendent