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The schools scored Fs on indicators met, overall value-added, and gap closing. Indicators met measures how well students score on the test compared to state standards. The value-added and gap closing measure the progress students are making from year to year.
Springfield Prep and Fitness scored a D in achievement this year, which grades how well students did on the test overall. Clark County Prep scored an F.
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This is not the first time the schools did not perform well on their state test scores. Last year, the schools scored many Fs including in the achievement category last year.
President and Founder of Performance Academies Myrha Satow, which operates Springfield Preparatory and Fitness Academy, said the report cards do not reflect the type of education inside the school.
“Transparency is important, however, the current report card resulted in the overwhelming majority of districts having at least one F. Nearly 80 percent of districts have an F on the indicator component,” she said. “There is a lot of conversation going on about that topic, as many believe it is not an entirely accurate measure of education.”
One of the reasons for the poor grades is a new system of testing the schools did this year, Satow said.
“We are all adjusting to the new report card, and this was the first year our students took the computerized tests,” she said. “Performance on the state report cards is always a concern, for every public school.”
She said parents should still consider charter schools when deciding where to place their child.
“Parents know which schools are best for their children,” Satow said. “Parents need to choose a public school that they believe is best for their children across multiple measures, strong academics, safety, small class sizes, individual attention, character education, opportunities for parent involvement, good home/school communication, fitness, and so much more.”
No one from Clark County Preparatory was available to comment this week.
Krystal Crin, whose grandchild attends Clark County Preparatory, said she likes the education provided.
She said she is happy with how her grandchild is being taught at the school.
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“They are trying to help with the kids and are trying to work with them,” she said.
Crin said she has been impressed with how the school handles students that face challenges.
“My grandchild has attention problems and he can be off the hook,” she said. “They try to work with him before they call.”
Crin said she would like to see more one-on-one time spent with her grandchild, but overall she is happy with the education.
Aaron Churchill works for the Columbus-based Fordham Institute which is an advocate for charter schools.
“I think there are exceptional charter schools,” he said. ” I think we are starting to see the charter school starting to turn the corner in terms of the quality of education.”
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He said test scores, in general, are not a fair measurement to grade schools.
“I think you see a lot of As and Bs scores largely going to schools that are more affluent,” Churchill said. “That is kind of a perverse way to hold schools accountable. We want to see a system that gives credit to schools that give kids growth. There is not a lot of emphasis on the value-added measure.”
13: Number of Fs scored by Clark County charter schools.
6: Number of Ds scored by Clark County charter schools.
0: Number of grades higher than D scored by Clark County charter schools.
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