State Report Card Data Released on Kent Schools

Early data show Kent City Schools are performing well academically, according to the state.

Traditional state report cards for local school districts have been delayed, but the Ohio Department of Education Wednesday released some preliminary data to give the public an idea of how their local school district performed last year.

The information does not include an overall rating, such as “excellent” or “effective,” that the public is accustomed to seeing. The state is investigating whether some districts manipulated attendance data and is holding off on releasing final report cards until that investigation is complete.

Kent City Schools Superintendent Joseph Giancola said he's confident, based on Wednesday's information and preliminary data released in July, Kent will earn an "excellent" or "excellent with distinction" rating once the final data is released later this year.

"Most of the buildings are excellent, including the high school," he said. "And we were excellent on the preliminary results and we’ve been on hold ever since."

Giancola added that Kent is not among the districts being investigated for attendance data.

Here’s a look at how Kent City Schools performed:

• 90 percent of students graduated within four years.
• Kent scored a 90 percent or higher on every state graduation test in grades 10 and 11 except for math and science in grade 10, which scored 89.7 and 88.2 percent, respectively.
• The district did not meet adequate yearly progress.
• The district has a value-added score of “above,” which means that, overall, students in grades 3 to 8 learn more than expected in a year.

The available information released Wednesday includes the percentage of students who scored proficient or higher on state tests and the graduation rates for the 2011-2012 school year. It also includes the value-added measure — which tracks whether students make a year’s worth of growth in grades 3 to 8 for reading and math — and adequate yearly progress, which measures achievement for students by subgroup.

On its website, the department stresses that this information is preliminary and could change.

You can download all of the available data on the Ohio Department of Education’s website.