State Accountability Grades For Local Schools Released
The Indiana Department of Education has released the 2013-2014 A-F accountability grades after embargoing the scores last month. The data was released publicly after approval by the Indiana State Board of Education.
Corporation-wide A-F accountability grades and grade point averages (GPA) for area school corporations are as follows: Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation, C grade (no change from 2012-2013 score) 2.47/4.0 GPA; Wawasee Community School Corporation, B grade (up from C grade last year), 3.09/4.0 GPA; Warsaw Community Schools, B grade (down from A grade prior two years), 3.19/4.0 GPA; and Whitko Community School Corporation, B grade (up from D grade last year), 3.19/4.0 GPA.
At Warsaw Community School Corporation, a total of six schools reported A grades. A grade schools at WCS include: Claypool Elementary, Eisenhower Elementary, Harrison Elementary, Washington Elementary, Lincoln Elementary and Jefferson Elementary. All A graded schools in the school corporation were rated a 4.0 school on the A-F accountability report card.
Though the school corporation did see an improvement at Harrison (moving from a B grade to an A grade) the corporation also saw some setbacks. Leesburg Elementary and Warsaw Community High School both declined slightly from an A graded school to a B graded school. Leesburg Elementary received a 3.25 score with WCHS receiving a 3.48, just short of the 3.60 needed to receive an A grade.
Both middle schools also saw a decline with Edgewood Middle School moving from a B grade to a C grade (a 2.75 score) and Lakeview Middle School dropping from a B grade to a D grade (a 1.5 score). Both schools will undergo changes in scheduling for students, allowing for a “success time” to be built into their schedules. School officials note that though students are partaking in advanced classes, such as high school algebra, with a 100 percent pass rate on the ECA (end of course assessments), lower growth rates in grade level standards were reported.
In 2012, WCS reported straight A grades at all of its 11 schools. Last year, the school corporation reported a total of seven A grades and four B grades (see related).
The following statement was released by the school corporation in regards to the 2013-2014 A-F accountability scores, “Warsaw Community Schools is proud of its long standing academic record. We are fortunate to have hardworking students, dedicated staff, a high level of parent involvement and generous community partners. The recently released accountability data gives us much to celebrate but also reveals areas of improvement and opportunities for growth.”
Wawasee School Corporation saw both improving grades and declining grades this year. Three of the five schools in the corporation moved up a letter grade with two school declining a letter grade.
Wawasee Middle School, given an F in 2012-13 and placed in school improvement status by the state, showed significant improvement and was granted a B grade for 2013-14. Several improvement steps taken by the school including focusing more on reading skills among other things paid dividends (see related).
Milford School improved from a D to a B and Syracuse Elementary improved from D to C. The Wawasee corporation’s grade improved from C to B.
Wawasee High School, an A school the last two years, was given a B for 2013-14 but narrowly missed qualifying for an A (see related). North Webster Elementary was given a B in 2012-13, but dropped to a C in 2013-14.
Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation saw an equal amount of improvements and declines on this year’s report card. Tippecanoe Valley High School declined from a B grade last year to a C grade this year. The high school received a 2.43 score.
Tippecanoe Middle School, which was given an F grade in 2012-2013 and also placed in the school improvement status by the state, received a D grade this year. The middle school received a 1.5 score.
Akron Elementary saw no change in last year’s score, reporting a C grade. Mentone Elementary also saw no change, reporting a B grade again this year.
Whitko Community School Corporation reported both one improvement and one decrease. Whitko Middle School, which received a B grade last year, received a score of 2.5 — equal to a C grade this year.
South Whitley Elementary improved from last year’s C grade to a B grade this year. The school received a 3.0 score. Pierceton Elementary remained at an A grade this year as did Whitko High School.
Lakeland Christian Academy received a C grade, a 2.9 grade point average (GPA) score. Warsaw Christian School received a A grade, a 3.75 GPA score.
To view full results for all Indiana schools and corporations click here.