NEWS

IPS among 4 school districts receiving F grade

By Eric Weddle
eric.weddle@indystar.com

Indianapolis Public Schools and three other districts received a failing grade in the state’s annual A-F school corporation accountability ratings released today.

The State Board of Education approved the grades for 289 school corporations during a regular board meeting in Indianapolis. In December, the board released A-F grades for individual public and charter schools.

IPS received an F based on a score of 0.96 out of 4. Last year the district’s numeric score for F was 0.24. Superintendent Lewis Ferebee said the corporation is on the cusp of moving up.

“We might not be at the bar for proficiency, but we have done a really good job with growth and that needs to be noted,” he said. “I am excited about that progress but obviously we have a lot more work to do. I am looking to get us out of that F category.”

Ferebee is hopeful the grade could rise to a D yet this year. IPS recently filed a request with state education officials to recalculate the A-F grades for a handful of its schools because they were not calculated under the correct performance category of a small high school, he said.

Although the school grades were finalized by the board in December, a provision allows the board to make changes if mistakes are discovered.

Corporation grades are based on a combination of ISTEP scores for elementary school students, high school graduation rates within a district and other metrics of student growth.

Forty-two of IPS’ 69 schools are rated in the D or F category by the state because of low test scores. Eighteen schools are graded as A or B.

The other corporations with F’s are: Medora Community Schools in Jackson County and Lake County’s School City of East Chicago and Gary Community Schools.

Debbie Goodblood-Dailey, of the Department of Education, told board members today that the grades showed improvements from the previous year, but the changes were not as significant as those for individual school grades.

Among public school districts, there were 94 A’s, 82 B’s, 91 C’s and 18 D’s. The four public school districts that received failing grades was a drop from six F’s issued last year. In all, there were 25 more B’s and 27 fewer C, D and F grades.

“The corporations tend to stay a little more static,” she said.

Thirty-seven corporations received the highest numeric score of 4, the same number as last year.

Eastern Greene Schools in Bloomfield saw the biggest improvement from the previous year. The district of 1,300 students went from a C to an A, with a rise of 1.56 points.

Lake Station Community Schools had the largest drop, 1.25 points, which caused a slide from a B to a C.

Board member Daniel Elsener said the grades are an indicator of the quality of education in the state. But Elsener wants some action to come out of the accountability scores.

Unlike individual schools, which can be taken over by the state after six consecutive F’s, corporations don’t face such repercussions from these grades.

Elsener said he would like to see deep analysis that can point to why some districts are high achievers and others struggle.

Only board member Andrea Neal voted no on approving the A-F grades. She also voted against the individual school accountability grades.

“A-F as currently constituted imposes a one-size-fits-all straitjacket on schools that I think unfairly penalizes some schools that are doing really good stuff,” she said. “I would be comfortable voting for an A-F model that rewarded schools for more of the quality instruction that is occurring than they are currently being awarded for.”

The state board is setting new standards for A-F grades to be used in the 2014-15 school year. The grading system has come under increasing fire since reports last year showed the former superintendent of public instruction, Republican Tony Bennett, changed the rules to raise the grade of a political donor’s charter school from a C to an A in 2012.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Call Star reporter Eric Weddle at (317) 444-6222. Follow him on Twitter: @ericweddle.