MARION - Pleasant High School continued its trend of hitting benchmarks on all five subject areas on the Ohio Graduation Tests, according to preliminary results released this week by the Ohio Department of Education.
More than 75 percent of Pleasant's sophomores were proficient or above on the reading, mathematics, writing, science and social studies tests, making Pleasant the only Marion County high school to do so.
"Our district is very pleased and very humbled to be recognized for the fine academic achievement that our students attain year after year," Pleasant Local Schools Superintendent Stephen Larcomb said.
Pleasant High School Principal Brian Sparling said the high school has never failed to gain more than 75 percent proficiency in each of the five subjects on the tests. Incorrect information in Thursday's Marion Star stated that Pleasant was not proficient in one of the subject areas. An incorrect number appeared in a chart that is being reprinted with today's story.
River Valley High School reached the benchmark in all but science. Elgin High School reached it in reading, mathematics and writing while Ridgedale High School did in reading. Marion Harding High School reached the benchmark in none.
Sparling said the high school does nothing special as far as preparing for the tests. He said teachers know the academic standards and make sure to follow them in their everyday teaching.
"My philosophy is if you teach what you are supposed to teach the test will take care of itself," he said.
The Pleasant Parent Teacher Organization serves breakfast to the students prior to the test. Sparling said while the school board no longer can supply the funds to continue this, an anonymous donor has vowed to cover the costs for serving the OGT test takers.
There are also after-school classes held for those who fail sections, but Sparling said otherwise the school does not have any special courses or professional development geared solely to the tests.
School officials are looking over the data, which will be followed up by the 3rd-8th grade Ohio Achievement Tests results and eventually the Ohio School Report Cards later in the summer.
Interim Elgin Superintendent Jim Craycraft said that Elgin High School had slightly lower scores in four of the five areas.
"Based on what went on in this district over the last two years, I can understand why this may have happened," he stated in an e-mail. "The district went through RIFS (reductions-in-force of staff), many teachers were shifted into new positions, and we had new administration in three of the four buildings."
He also said that he was new to the district, filling in as interim after Doug Ute resigned as superintendent in 2009. Bruce Gast will become the new superintendent in August.
"Basically I feel the district went through a bump in the road and have already re-focused and will be on track next year," Craycraft stated.
Ridgedale Superintendent Robert Britton said that school officials have some disappointment concerning the results.
"We have been working hard on the improvement of these scores over the course of the past two years," he stated in an e-mail.
The district is taking part in the Ohio Improvement Process, which lets staff see current teaching methods and adjust the methods to meet their students. Britton stated that the district will continue to look at research-based best teaching practices in order to improve student achievement.
the other schools
How local school districts fared in preliminary results of 2009-10 Ohio Graduation tests versus the year before:
Elgin Local Schools
09-10 08-09
Reading 77.4 79.9
Mathematics 78.1 74.6
Writing 82.1 88.8
Science 69.8 73.9
Social studies 72.6 74.6
Marion City Schools
09-10 08-09
Reading 66.7 66.1
Mathematics 68.8 66.9
Writing 62.9 71.3
Science 56.1 52.4
Social studies 62.9 63.4
Pleasant Local Schools
09-10 08-09
Reading 92.1 91.4
Mathematics 85.1 87.6
Writing 89.5 97.1
Science 78.1 83.8
Social studies 89.4 85.3
Ridgedale Local Schools
09-10 08-09
Reading 83.3 75.3
Mathematics 69.1 65.4
Writing 70.9 82.3
Science 74.5 62.0
Social studies 62.3 73.8
River Valley Local Schools
09-10 08-09
Reading 81.2 86.3
Mathematics 81.2 84.2
Writing 79.1 92.4
Science 70.5 77.2
Social studies 79.2 77.8
No comments:
Post a Comment