Tt post sep 16 2016

"Not defending TPS, I didn't look at their scores, I would just caution everyone to take this study with huge grain of salt"

The report cards have changed nearly every year for about 15 years. I know that 6th_Floor mentioned WLS, but this comment focuses on TPS.

From the Sep 16, 2016 Blade story

In the six new graded areas, TPS received five Fs and one A.

TPS is one of 30 Ohio districts to get an F in achievement, which reflects how many students passed state tests and how well they performed. Most districts that fail in that category are in urban areas.

Ottawa Hills received an A in achievement. Perrysburg and Anthony Wayne received Bs, Maumee and Sylvania received Cs, and Northwood and Washington Local received Ds.

The other A-rated districts are, like Ottawa Hills, suburbs of larger Ohio cities. Cleveland suburban districts Beachwood City, Brecksville-Broadview Heights City, Rocky River City, and Solon City School Districts; Cincinnati suburban districts Indian Hill Exempted Village and Madeira City School Districts, and Dayton suburb Oakwood City School District all received A grades in achievement.

Kevin Miller, Ottawa Hills superintendent, said he is proud of his students, but he acknowledged the advantages the community provides his district. “We do not have a poverty rate in our community,” Mr. Miller said. “They can focus on education.”

Allegedly, in some parts of Toledo, such as the Old South End, over 40 percent of the residents live below the poverty line. And allegedly, children from low-income households start kindergarten well behind in learning development, compared to other kids . Some families don't have books to read to their pre-school children. Allegedly, reading to kids for at least 15 minutes a day helps children be more successful in school. But some parents struggle to read. Generational poverty.

Some past TPS report card info:

August 2013 post about TPS's report card for the 2012-2013 school year:

• Reading F
• Math: F
• Graduate Rate 4 year: F
• Graduation Rate 5 year: F
• Students in the Lowest 20% of Achievement and Students with Disabilities: A

2011 post

Toledo Public School system report cards are released in August, and they cover the previous school year:

• 2002 : report card showed TPS met 5 of 27 academic standards (18%) during the 2001-2002 school year
• 2003 : 6 of 22 (27%)
• 2004 : 7 of 18 (39%)
• 2005 : 4 of 23 (17%)
• 2006 : 6 of 25 (24%)
• 2007 : 5 of 30 (17%)
• 2008 : 5 of 30 (17%)
• 2009 : 6 of 30 (20%)
• 2010 : 4 of 26 (15%)
• 2011 : 5 of 26 (19%)

All of those percentages were below 40 percent. For the above 10-year stretch, six years were below 20 percent. Even though the state did not assign letter grades back then, those seem like F-grades to me.

The Ohio Department of Education's website also provides report card information for each individual school building within a district.

For the 2015-2016, nearby Elmhurst Elementary received a C-grade for achievement. In past years under the old grading system, Elmhurst normally received the highest grade available, which was "Excellent."

From the Sep 16, 2016 Blade story:

Many school districts’ grades fell on the 2015 report card, reflecting the state’s move to more rigorous exams.

More rigorous. Good.

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another comment

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I don't know about for the 2015-2016 school year, but one stat that is interesting is the cost to educate one student for year in a district, especially when compared to the number of performance indicators met (old measure).

In past years, Ottawa Hills generally spent more per student for a year than any other school district in our immediate area. Generally, number two was TPS.

TPS spent more per student than Anthony Wayne, Perrysburg, Sylvania, Maumee, etc.

The info below is from my October 2014 comment

I said "generally" above because for the FY12 year, which I think was for 2011-2012, Rossford spent more than anyone, and yet for the amount of money that Rossford spent, that district did not score well.

In our area for FY12, Eastwood spent the least per student, but it met all performance indicators two years later in the 2013-2014 school year.

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Total Expenditures - per TPS student for one school year:

• FY08 : $11,979
• FY09 : $13,269
• FY10 : $13,543
• FY11 : $13,859
• FY12 : $12,470

Total Expenditures FY12 - per student - area school districts - cost displayed lowest to highest - along with the percentage of performance indicators met for the 2013-2014 school year.

Eastwood Local SD	Wood	$7,907	100%
Lake Local SD	Wood	$8,526	83.3%
Otsego Local SD	Wood	$8,529	83.3%
Perrysburg Ex Vill SD	Wood	$8,581	100%
Elmwood Local SD	Wood	$8,600	75.0%
Anthony Wayne Local SD	Lucas	$8,960	100%
Springfield Local SD	Lucas	$9,118	70.8%
North Baltimore Local SD	Wood	$9,147	66.7%
Northwood Local SD	Wood	$9,239	79.2%
Oregon City SD	Lucas	$9,874	70.8%
Bowling Green City SD	Wood	$10,319	79.2%
Sylvania City SD	Lucas	$10,660	100%
Washington Local SD	Lucas	$11,225	66.7%
Maumee City SD	Lucas	$11,232	91.7%
Toledo City SD	Lucas	$12,470	8.3%
Ottawa Hills Local SD	Lucas	$13,501	100%
Rossford Ex Vill SD	Wood	$15,589	75.0%

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In that October 2014 thread, Anniecski suggested

I'd like to see another column that shows the poverty rate for each community, which I believe may be a larger contributing factor than the amount spent per pupil.

Good idea. That data exists somewhere.

In October 2014, Nolan suggested

As an inexact proxy for poverty levels, you can use economic hardship levels for each schools using the Advanced Reports. Economic hardship levels are the free and reduced lunch levels.

In that thread, sflagg wrote

Poverty is an issue for many schools still it's also about how teachers are assigned - seniority only - and the inability to match teaching resources to need.

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It might be interesting to see this data updated.

September 2004 Toledo Talk thread that excerpted from a Toledo Blade story about teacher's pay. That Blade story included detailed, tabular data that existed in the print version but not on its website. Again, this is from 12 years ago.

Nationally, the average salary for a teacher was $45,771. Ohio ranked 15th in the nation in average salary at $45,515. But the state ranked 27th for its average beginning teacher salary of $28,866.

Michigan teachers on average took home nearly $10,000 more than their Ohio counterparts. The average teacher salary in that state was $54,020, which was the second-highest in the nation behind California.

Toledo Public Schools pays $32,697 annually to a teacher straight out of college.

Catholic high schools in the metro Toledo area paid an average starting salary of $24,506 last year.

On the elementary-school level, the average starting pay was $20,925.

The affluent Ottawa Hills school district offers a starting salary of $31,602 a year.

My September 2004 comments based upon the data from that September 2004 Blade story:

TPS pays a higher starting salary than Ottawa Hills for teachers with a Bachelors degree.

But OH has a much higher average salary at $60,621 versus TPS's $45,968.

With a Master's degree, the starting salaries between the two [school districts] are about the same.

With just a Bachelors degree and 27 years experience, TPS pays $55,577 and OH pays $53,091.

With a Masters degree and 27 years experience, OH pays $70,788 and TPS pays $60,595.

The average salary for Ottawa Hills is tops in northwest Ohio and ninth highest in Ohio.

Catholic school teachers are paid considerably less than public school teachers.

I don't have the time nor the interest to track down the latest data for all of the above, but I would be interested in viewing it even if no positive actions occur from it. People will interpret the data and draw conclusions in many ways.