The state report card is just “one of several tools to measure student academic achievement and progress.”

That was the word from Jack Fette, chief academic officer of the Olentangy Local School District, after the Ohio Department of Education released the 2017 report cards last week.

Districts and schools received letter grades — A through F — in six component areas from the 2016-2017 academic year. The components are Achievement, Progress, Gap Closing, Graduation Rate, K-3 Literacy and Prepared for Success. ODE did not include any new measures on the 2016-2017 report card.

“There are numerous other measures available that show Olentangy is among the premier school districts in the state,” Fette said Friday via email. “One example would be ACT scores. Olentangy’s 2017 graduating class earned a composite ACT score of 25.1, which compares to the state average of 22.0. That said, we also have very good student achievement data coming from the state report cards. There are some confusing aspects with the state’s methodology, so we continue to work with them to better understand their data.”

Olentangy Local Schools recorded the following grades in each category: Achievement, B; Progress, F; Gap Closing, B; Graduation Rate, A; K-3 Literacy, C; and Prepared for Success, B.

“We are particularly pleased by our Performance Index score, which is among the best in the state and second best in central Ohio,” Fette said. “We’re also proud we are the only district in both Franklin and Delaware counties to earn an A in Indicators Met.”

The district received a B (86.4 percent score) for its Performance Index and met 22 of the 24 indicators. Both of those measures are within the Achievement component of the report card.

“Most notably, our performance index is higher than last year which is a sign of higher achievement across the district,” Fette said. Olentangy Local’s Performance Index score in 2016 was 85.1 percent.

Olentangy Local’s graduation rates earned top marks thanks to 98.3 percent of students graduating in four years and 99 percent of students graduating within five years.

Fette noted that Olentangy Local officials “do not believe in teaching to the test.”

“Instead, we take a holistic approach by providing students with personalized attention whenever possible,” he said. “In addition to the state’s report card, Olentangy holds itself up to eight additional Continuous Improvement Plan benchmarks and 22 indicators within those benchmarks.”