UDPATE: State Board of Education releases accountability grades

The Indiana State Board of Education this week released the much-anticipated school accountability grades for 2014-15.

Cloverdale Community School Corporation received A's throughout, followed closely by South Putnam Community Schools Corporation with just one B for Central Elementary School. North Putnam Community School Corporation also received three A's for its middle school, high school and Roachdale Elementary, with Bainbridge Elementary receiving a C. Greencastle Community School Corporation posted an A for its high school; a B for its middle school; and C's for Ridpath and Deer Meadow primary schools and Tzouanakis Intermediate School.

Overall, the 2014-15 A-F accountability grades showed an increase in A-rated schools across the state from the previous year, but it's hard to say how accurate they are since the grades reflect the changes enacted by Senate Enrolled Act 200, which stated that no school could earn a lower accountability grade during the 2014-15 academic year than it did the previous year. The House Enrolled Act 1003 also prevented teachers from being negatively affected by the grades.

"You could move up," South Putnam Superintendent Bruce Bernhardt said, "but not down. They approved letter grades that were either the same or higher. Almost everybody would have gone down because of the way they devised the test this past year; it was much more difficult. It tells you a lot, that this was the first thing (the legislature) jumped on."

The legislation provides a grace period for Indiana schools as the state transitions to its new Student-centered Accountability system, which has more rigorous college- and career-ready standards and "more accurately reflects the great work happening in our schools and communities every day," Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz said.

"I applaud (State Sen.) Pete Miller and (State Rep.) Jim Baird for stepping up to the plate," North Putnam Superintendent Dan Noel said. "Baird called me and said, 'Mr. Noel, I want you to know we're taking care of this.' He didn't have to take time out of his busy day to do that."

Under the old system, school corporations and their individual schools received a letter grade based on several different factors. For corporations, items like student enrollment and total spending per student were considered, while individual schools were graded on student performance and attendance, with graduation rates added for high schools.

Since 2005, the percentage of A-ratings have increased from 36 to 45 percent in 2013, while F-ratings increased from 4.7 percent to 5.2 percent. D-ratings have seen the most change, changing from 32 to just 10 percent. Hoping for continued progress, the board has approved a resolution that would continue turnaround efforts at public traditional and charter schools eligible for additional state intervention.

Under the new system, schools will still receive letter grades, but they will now be based on three different factors at the grade-levels rather than the school type (i.e. elementary, middle, etc.).

Grades three to 10 will be graded on student performance in math and language arts; grades four to 10 and grade 12 on growth in math and language arts; and grade 12 on graduation rate and college- and career-readiness. But schools will only receive an A if they improve the performance of students who are disabled, "economically disadvantaged," or are not fluent in English.

According to the state Board of Education, what the new system can't tell you is how students are performing and improving in other subjects (like science, art, etc.), school safety, or program and extracurricular offerings, which the old system was able to do. Ritz did not respond to an email about whether these factors would be reported via another system.

The new system is currently in use, with the results of a demo being released some time this spring. The final new system results are to be released this fall or winter.

For traditional public schools, the new scoring system may change whether a school requires federal monitoring. Choice and charter schools also will be affected.

For more information, visit the Indiana State Board of Education at www.doe.in.gov.

UPDATE: The Indiana Department of Education Press Secretary Samantha Hart responded that the new system will not measure school safety, but that school systems are already required to report data on bullying, suspensions and expulsions.