Indiana Department of Education released the 2013-14 Accountability Grades Wednesday after the Indiana State Board of Education approved the placement of schools into their respective categories, according to an IDOE press release. The board approved the grades Wednesday for nearly 2,100 schools and 300 school corporations following a three-week delay so that legislative staff could verify some data, according to an Associated Press story. Locally, Wawasee School Corp. earned a “B” for 2014, up from a “C” in 2013 and 2012. Wawasee earned an “A” in 2011 and “C” in 2010. Warsaw Community Schools dropped to a “B” in 2014 from an “A” in 2013 and 2012. It received a “C” in 2011 and “D” in 2010. For the third straight year, Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. earned a “C.” It earned an “F” in 2011 and “D” in 2010. Whitko was given a “B” in 2014, as in 2013. It earned a “D,” “C” and “A” in 2012, 2011 and 2010 respectively. Triton dropped from an “A” in 2013 to a “B” in 2014, but it was still above the “C” grade it earned in 2012, 2011 and 2010. Manchester Community Schools earned a “C” in 2014, down from a “B” in 2013 and 2011 and an “A” in 2012. In 2010, it earned a “D.” Individually, for 2014, 11 area schools received an “A,” 11 received a “B,” eight earned a “C,” two were given a “D” and no school earned an “F.” The biggest changes – a change in grade of more than one letter grade – from 2013 to 2014 included Lakeview Middle School dropping from a “B” to a “D” and Wawasee Middle School rising from an “F” to a “B.” (See accompanying chart for school grades.) The schools are from the six area school corporations as well as private schools Lakeland Christian Academy, Warsaw Christian and Sacred Heart. Beginning with the 2010-11 academic year, the State Board of Education changed the labels for school categories based on student performance from the terms “Exemplary,” “Commendable,” “Academic Progress,” “Academic Watch” and “Academic Probation” to easy-to-understand letter grades, according to the IDOE website. Starting with the 2011-12 academic year, the State Board of Education adopted the use of a new methodology for determining a school or corporation’s grade. The grades are crucial for schools and school systems because they are the primary factors used in determining teacher pay and school funding, as well as helping decide whether a school is taken over by private operators, the AP reports. The 2013-14 grades show that about 1,100 schools in Indiana received an ‘‘A,’’ up from about 940 schools the previous school year, an Associated Press story states. Schools with the top grade also have increased 31 percent from about 850 in the 2011-12 school year. Meanwhile, significantly fewer schools were assigned an ‘‘F’’ or ‘‘D’’ in the new data, while those earning either a ‘‘B’’ or ‘‘C’’ declined slightly. Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz is quoted as saying in a press release, “I want to thank Indiana’s educators, administrators, parents, and most importantly, students for their countless hours of work over the last academic year. This data shows significantly increased performance for our schools, particularly in schools that have been lower performing in prior years. I want to thank the Indiana Department of Education’s Outreach Division for its efforts in working with our Focus and Priority Schools.” Indiana State Teachers Association President Teresa Meredith released the following statement in reaction to the grades: “Despite a flawed system that relies heavily on high stakes standardized testing, ISTA is not surprised by how well Indiana’s traditional public schools have been graded for 2014. We're pleased to see that nearly three-quarters of traditional public schools received a grade of either an ‘A’ or ‘B.’ It acknowledges the hard work of our students and teachers.” She continued, “The students attending the 10 percent of the traditional public schools that have received a grade of ‘D’ or ‘F’ need additional supports to meet the unique challenges these particular schools face. We hope that the governor and legislature see that the Department of Education receives additional resources to carry out this additional assistance. “The accountability grades clearly show that silver bullet solutions to ‘reform’ public education through the establishment of charter schools is not working. Six in 10 charter schools have earned a grade of ‘D’ or ‘F.’ The poor performance of charter schools leads us to believe that further siphoning of resources from our community traditional public schools should be stopped. Since charter schools do not fall under the same accountability consequences as traditional public schools, a moratorium should be considered on approving additional charter schools.”
