DCS receives ‘B’ on state report card

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The 2018-19 Ohio School Report Cards were released Thursday by the Ohio Department of Education, and Delaware City Schools received a “B” overall.

The district received a “C” in Achievement, an “A” in Progress, an “A” in Gap Closing, a “B” in Graduation Rate, a “D” in Improving At-Risk K-3 Readers, and a “D” in Prepared for Success.

Delaware Superintendent Heidi Kegley said Friday the “B” grade is an improvement over the “C” grade the district received last year. While she’s pleased with the results, she added the district is focused on further improvement.

“We are very pleased as a district to see the improvement of our overall grade,” Kegley said. “Everyone has worked extremely hard to identify areas of growth that we needed. Of course, we still have continued areas of growth, but we are very pleased overall and very proud of our staff and students.”

In particular, Kegley made note of the district’s performance index and value-added subcategories, which showed Delaware students made more progress last year than the average student in Ohio.

“What we continue to be most proud of is our performance index and our value added,” she said. “Growing our students is something we are always proud of. In addition, Gap Closing is something that is important as we look at closing the gap for students. Value added and the performance index tells us truly about a child from one year to the next. Are they making the growth that we want them to make and that shows they are making that year’s growth.”

Kegley said the ever-changing metrics used to calculate the school report card can be a challenge, but the district uses feedback from the report card to pinpoint what has worked so far.

“Any time we see improvement in an area it’s a chance to say, ‘What did we do differently this year?’” Kegley said. “What’s next is really digging down deep into the other data to see what we can learn from that and how we can continue to achieve at those high levels. There are many components that make up the school report card just as there are many components that make up our individual students, and that’s what’s going to make the difference for them long term.”

Kegley credits more deliberate and intentional professional development as a positive for the district, adding DCS is going to continue to focus on the individual needs of teachers and students.

“It’s very important for a curriculum team to look at our individual grade levels and our curriculum and how we are supporting our teachers and how we are growing are students, because all of those individual components are what go together for the overall grade,” Kegley said.

She added the state report card is only a “snapshot” of the bigger picture of Delaware City Schools. Kegley said a more comprehensive view of the district can be seen in its annual report, which is available on the DCS website at https://www.dcs.k12.oh.us/domain/21 and is linked by the department of education on the state report card website.

“Our school profile shows that the state recognizes that there is a bigger picture to creating a positive and engaging school experience for our children than just an individual measure,” Kegley said. “I appreciate that the state has done that, because it allows us to tell the whole story for a child and what they are going to experience at Delaware City Schools and not just one individual snapshot.”

Kegley said the district also owes part of its success in improving to the community of Delaware.

“We continue to grow stronger as a school district because of our partnerships with our families and our community, and everyone working together,” she said.

The state report card can be found at https://reportcard.education.ohio.gov/district/overview/043877.

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By Glenn Battishill

[email protected]

Editor’s note: The Gazette will be publishing state report card stories in the coming week on each school district in Delaware County.

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