Area schools have been graded under the state’s accountability metrics outlined within Public Law 221 and the results are mixed.
The state released the results Monday to the public.
This year brings a change to the category rankings of the schools. Previously, the five category rankings included exemplary, commendable, academic progress and academic watch and probation. The Indiana Department of Education changed those rankings to letter grades of A, B, C, D and F.
For 2011, Wawasee Community Schools received the best grade, an “A” for “exemplary”. That’s up from academic progress in 2010 and watch in 2005 to 2008.
North Webster Elementary School, Milford School and Syracuse Elementary all received “A’s”. The middle school received a “D”, while the high school received a “C”.
Manchester Community Schools received a “B” for “commendable” in 2011. In 2005, 2007-10, they were under “watch”, and academic progress in 2006.
Manchester Junior-Senior High School received a “C”, while the elementary received a “B” and the intermediate school earned a “D”.
Three school corporations in the area earned “C’s”, meaning “academic progress”, including Triton, Warsaw and Whitko.
Triton was under academic progress in 2007 and 2010, and commendable in 2005, 2006 and 2008.
Triton Elementary earned a “D” in 2011, while Triton Junior-Senior High School earned a “C”.
In 2005, 2007-10, Warsaw was labeled under “watch”. In 2006, the school corporation had made academic progress.
Earning “A’s” for Warsaw were Eisenhower, Lincoln and Washington. Claypool Elementary earned a “B”. Receiving “C’s” were Harrison, Leesburg, Warsaw Community High School and Madison. The lowest grade given to any Warsaw school was a “D”, given to Lakeview and Edgewood middle schools and Jefferson Elementary School.
Whitko was “exemplary” in 2010, but had been under “watch” in 2006 and 2008 and “commendable” in 2007. In 2005, the corporation was under “academic progress.”
Pierceton Elementary earned a “D”, while South Whitley Elementary and Whitko High School earned “C’s”. A “B” was given to Whitko Middle School.
As for Tippecanoe Valley, the school corporation received an “F”, probation. Valley had been under “watch” in 2005, 2007 and 2010; academic progress in 2008; and commendable in 2006.
Akron Elementary School was the highest rated Valley school with an “A”. Tippecanoe Valley High School and Mentone Elementary both earned “D’s”, while the middle school earned an “F”.
According to a press release from the Indiana Department of Education, a record number of schools, 775, received an “A” ranking this year based on student performance and improvement data from the state’s ISTEP+ test and End of Course Assessments.
Overall, the press release said, more than 50 percent of Indiana’s schools reside in the two highest school ranking categories: 43 percent earned the highest ranking available, “A”, and another 9 percent were designated as “B” schools.
"The number of schools receiving an “F” ranking decreased by 50 percent from 2011 to 2010 and is at its lowest point in state history," according to the Department of Education press release.
For more information on the rankings, visit the DOE website at www.doe.in.gov/news/2011/08-August/highmarks.html
