SOUTH MADISON COUNTY — Most public schools in South Madison County maintained or improved their academic performance, according to the Indiana Department of Education’s recently released 2017-18 School Accountability Grades.
Accountability grades are important because they allow district leaders to see how well their schools are performing relative to state standards.
Grades for elementary and middle schools are based on performance and growth (ISTEP), while school grades for high school use ISTEP plus other factors, including Advanced Placement scores and graduation rates.
In South Madison Community School Corp., Pendleton Heights High School earned an “A” from the state, the same as last year. Pendleton Heights Middle School maintained its “A” grade as well.
East Elementary earned a “B,” the same as last year, as did Pendleton Elementary and Maple Ridge Elementary.
The corporation received a state grade of “B,” missing an “A” rating by a third of a percentage point.
“Overall, we are pleased with our corporation and individual school grades,” Assistant Superintendent Mark Hall said. “Our goal is to be an ‘A’ district, and we will continue to work toward that goal by looking for areas where we can improve.”
The district includes two of the there schools in Madison County to earn “A” grades.
Administrators use the state grades as a measuring stick to see where they’re having success and where they can improve based on the state accountability model, Hall said.
State grades at the three Lapel schools in the Frankton-Lapel Community Schools either improved or stayed the same. Lapel High School earned an “A” up from a “B” previously, while Lapel middle and elementary schools each earned a “B,” the same as the previous year.
The district, which includes Frankton schools, earned a “B” overall.
“We are happy to see all three of our schools in Lapel performing well,” Superintendent Bobby Fields said. “We would obviously love to see all of our schools receive an ‘A’ and are always striving to make that happen.”
Although Lapel Middle School maintained a “B,” its score was up 5 percentage points, which was an accomplishment, Fields said.
About 22 percent of schools in the state improved one or more letter grades, with nearly 9 percent improving their grade to an “A,” according to state officials.
Overall, close to 64 percent of schools received an “A” or “B” grade.
“Our current accountability grades are an indication of the great education Indiana students are receiving,” Jennifer McCormick, Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction said in the release.“Our work is paying off and as a Department we will continue to partner with dedicated stakeholders to ensure every school and every student is successful.”
The state released federal grades as well because of differences in federal and state accountability equations and standards.
According to the IDOE, about two thirds of public schools received the same letter grade from in the state and federal measures; 31 percent of schools received a higher letter grade on the state accountability system.
All South Madison and Lapel schools earn federal scores of “B.”
Officials in South Madison said take issue with the federal grades because of the way the federal score calculates graduation rates.
In Indiana, the goal is for students to earn a Core 40 diploma, but there is also the option of earning a general diploma with less math, Hall said. Students who earn the general diploma are still considered high school graduates in Indiana. The federal grade only counts students who earn the most common type of diploma.
“Since the majority of students in Indiana earn the Core 40 diploma, the general diploma graduates did not count as graduates in the federal school grade, even though they did in fact graduate,” Hall said.
For this year, only the graduation rate calculation lowered the school grade. To fix this problem, Indiana changed the name of the diploma to the Indiana High School Diploma so everyone who graduates earns the same diploma. They added distinctions to the diploma such as general, Core 40 and Academic Honors.
“Next year, the graduation rates will match and our grades should be the same,” Hall said.
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ACCOUNTABILITY GRADES
Frankton-Lapel Community Schools, Lapel Sr High School 2017-18 A, 2016-17 B
Frankton-Lapel Community Schools Lapel Middle School 2017-18 B, 2016-17 B
Frankton-Lapel Community Schools Lapel Elementary School 2017-18 B, 2016-17 B
South Madison Com Sch Corp, East Elementary School 2017-18 B, 2016-17 B
South Madison Com Sch Corp ,Pendleton Heights High School 2017-18 A, 2016-17 A
South Madison Com Sch Corp, Pendleton Heights Middle School 2017-18 A, 2016-17 A
South Madison Com Sch Corp, Pendleton Elementary School 2017-18 B, 2016-17 B
South Madison Com Sch Corp, Maple Ridge Elementary School 2017-18 B, 2016-17 B
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