By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
One month after getting a respectable state report card, Bowling Green City Schools is already making plans to bring home an even better report next year.
On Wednesday evening, the board of education heard from Rachel Newell, the district’s executive director of teaching and learning, about strategies already underway to get the district to the pinnacle of the state test scores.
The plan for moving forward focuses on improvements that are incremental, sustainable, strategic, strategic, consistent and with fidelity, Newell said.
The latest batch of state report cards for public schools ranked Bowling Green City Schools in the top 15% of districts in Ohio. In Wood County, only Perrysburg schools ranked higher with the top score of 5. Bowling Green and Eastwood both earned scores of 4.5.
Other local districts came in lower, with Northwood and Otsego ranked at 4; Lake, Elmwood and Rossford receiving scores of 3.5; and North Baltimore ranking lowest in the county at 3.
“The 4.5 stars is an indication we are providing a great education to the students of Bowling Green City Schools,” Superintendent Ted Haselman said when the scores were released in September.
“We’re in the top 15% of all the schools in the state of Ohio. I’m very proud of that,” Haselman said.
This is the second year in a row for BG Schools to score 4.5 overall on the state report card.
“This isn’t something that just happens,” he said. “This is a culmination of many staff, parents’ and students’ efforts.”
Such continued high marks reassure the community that their children are getting a quality education, Haselman said.
“Community members do look at that to see if they are getting a good value.”
But to achieve the top score of 5, Newell presented new ideas for the district – such as ongoing training for staff, data dives at each school building, creation of intervention plans by teachers, further collaboration, and established district math committees.
The one 5 scored on the BGCS report card was in the area of “progress.”
“This is saying we are able to move the needle with students,” Newell said. “We have areas to celebrate.”
But to reach a 5 star overall, requires “a lot of data and a lot of moving parts,” she said.
Like other districts, BGCS is seeing some chronic absenteeism.
“We want to make sure kids are in school, so they are growing,” Newell said.
And early literacy remains a toughie, with the district again earning 3 stars.
“We met the state standard,” she said. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I like to exceed standards.”
Newell is also looking at ways to improve the graduation portion of the report card from 4 stars to 5.
“We want to see all our students walking across that stage in May,” she said.
Below is a breakdown of each report card component for Bowling Green City Schools.
● An area in which the district’s report card was strong was in the area of Progress. This component measures year-to-year academic growth of students and is measured by looking at the current achievement of a group of students compared to prior achievement results on Ohio’s State Tests. The state expects each student to “grow” or show one year’s worth of growth in a tested subject. For example, if a student’s reading level is 4.5, a year’s worth of growth would show an ending reading level of 5.5 and would equate to a component score of a 3-star rating. In Progress, for the second consecutive year, the district earned a 5-star rating. This high rating indicates students are achieving more than expected growth and is described by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce as “significant evidence the district exceeded student growth expectations by a larger magnitude.”
● The Achievement component represents whether student performance on state tests met established thresholds and how well students performed on tests overall. BGCS earned a 4-star rating for this report card component for the second consecutive year. The district’s Performance Index score, a score within the overall calculation of the Achievement component rating, increased from last year’s reporting. According to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce this rating indicates “the district is exceeding state standards in academic achievement.”
● The report card area of Gap Closing was another strong area for BGCS. Ensuring success for every child means that schools must close gaps that exist in the achievement between groups of students based on factors such as income, race, ethnicity, or disability. The district’s student demographic determines the district’s subgroups once thresholds have been met (a specific number of students in the population demographic). In Gap Closing BGCS received a 4-star rating. It is important to close these gaps ensuring all students show achievement, and this component rating is proof that the district is doing just that. The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce describes the 4-star rating as “exceeds state standards in closing educational gaps.”
● In the Graduation component the district earned a 4-star rating with 95.3% of Bobcats graduating in four years. This high rating indicates BGCS supports students until the end of their K-12 educational career. The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce describes the 4-star rating as “exceeds state standards in graduation rates.”
● The College, Career, Workforce, and Military Readiness (CCWMR) measure shows how well schools are preparing students for life after graduation. This is a new component of the state report card. The CCWMR looks beyond test scores to see whether students are ready for the next step—whether that’s earning college credit, earning qualifying scores in Advanced Placement courses, completing an apprenticeship, gaining industry credentials, entering the workforce, or enlisting in the military. This measure highlights a commitment to giving every student multiple pathways to success after high school. The district earned a 4-star rating for the CCWMR component and the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce describes this rating as “the district is exceeding state standards in post-secondary readiness.”
● The Early Literacy component shows how school districts are working to support struggling readers in kindergarten through grade 3. The district earned a 3-star rating on this component. BGCS has worked extensively over the last few years to increase K-3 Literacy Achievement, but acknowledges this remains an area for improvement. The district’s rating meets the state’s expectation, however district officials are committed to improving literacy of the youngest learners.
