“The district’s performance this year was comparable to previous years, though some previous items are no longer used in determining ratings or were used in different ways. The district scores continue to show our strong focus on achievement, growth for all students, and developing empowered graduates,” said Superintendent Danielle Prohaska.
Ohio K-12 schools did not receive an overall grade for 2021-22, but they did receive ratings on individual components of the report card. The Ohio legislature also changed the previous system of A-F grades to a 1-5 stars system.
Schools were still evaluated on how well their students did on state tests, reading proficiency in kindergarten through third grade, graduation rates, how students are progressing year over year, how well schools are able to close gaps between student subgroups, and how ready a student is to enter the workforce, college or the military after graduation. The new equation puts increased weight on year-over-year progress and gap closing.
The district had a performance index rate of 87.2%, which is an increase from last year’s 76%. As far as gap closing, the district had a rate of 62.9%.
According to ODE data, of Ohio’s 607 graded school districts, 581 saw their Performance Index rise in 2021-22, and only 26 saw a decline. That’s because scores dropped in 2020-21 due largely to COVID disruptions, then they bounced back some in 21-22.
The ratings show that the district continues to work to make sure all students meet achievement and growth standards, Prohaska said.
“Even during a difficult time period of time when learning loss was a concern, teachers and students showed steady improvement and/or achievement. We feel those ratings are important, but they are just one of the many measures we use to ensure a well-rounded learning experience for all students,” she said.
When it comes to graduation rate, Mechanicsburg had an overall rate of 97.9%. The four-year rate slightly decreased this year at 97.6% compared to last year’s 98.4%.
“It is too soon to tell how the star ratings will resonate with our families, but we use local measures to be sure we are accurately measuring our achievement and growth as a district,” Prohaska said.
Last year, school report cards did not include letter grades for all individual metrics and only listed some of the raw data including academic, graduation and attendance measures.
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