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Columbus City Schools….Getting Better All The Time?
September 1st, 2009 categories: Columbus News, For Home Buyers, For Home Sellers
I’ve got to admit, many in and around Columbus are simply used to thinking the worst about Columbus City Schools. For no particular reason, other than habit, it’s often assumed that the Columbus City School district has nothing to offer. In many parts of town I know that is simply not true. Columbus City Schools have some great schools and some great programs for young scholars. I was happy to see the following from Cleve Ricksecker, President of the Special Improvement District and downtown Columbus’ Ambassador….
“Once again, the Columbus City School District has more schools rated effective, excellent or excellent with distinction than any other district in central Ohio. Columbus City Schools excel because of generous tax levy support, high-quality staffing, top-rate facilities, and the leadership of Superintendent Gene Harris.
The state grade for the District as a whole, based on standardized tests, is “continuous improvement.” This grade is an average for all schools and reveals nothing about individual schools. Columbus is a huge district with 127 rated schools and a disproportionate number of students who speak limited English, are poor, or have learning disabilities. Schools with concentrations of poverty or high enrollments of students with language or learning barriers tend to struggle to meet testing standards despite excellent instruction.
Columbus also has many schools that are economically and culturally integrated. These schools tend to perform as well or better than their suburban counterparts as shown by standardized test scores.
Given the failure rate of suburban school levies,….” {more}
Click here for the Columbus City Schools elementary district map
EDIT: September 3, 2009 I just ran across this information from Columbus City Schools….
Columbus City School Students Gain More Than a Year’s Worth of Academic Growth on State Report Card
Columbus City Schools has met the Value Added Green measurement, as determined by the Ohio Department of Education. The rating is a critical measure of student success and takes into account a student’s academic starting point. Specifically, it demonstrates marked academic progress from year to year.Traditionally, achievement test scores alone have largely determined district performance levels. While achievement test scores demonstrate a student’s level of proficiency at one point in time, the Value-Added measure takes into account a student’s starting point and reflects how much progress was made since the prior year.
Columbus City Schools also has a graduation rate of 73.9%, which is the highest in its state report card history.
Click here to read more!
Click here to download the ODE’s Report Card for CCS.
Click here to read more about the ODE’s Value Added Measurement tool.
Click here to compare and contrast the Ohio Core Requirements & the current CCS College Prep Requirements.
Michael Jones
September 2nd, 2009
You may want to add Local Matters (www.local-matters.org) to your “very local” links list. We teach a nutrition education program in 10 Columbus City Elementary Schools. This 28 week curriculum focuses on what healthy food is, where it comes from, how it grows and how to cook it…all taught to K-2nd graders…
Thanks!
Michael Jones
Executive Director
Local Matters
Joe Peffer
September 4th, 2009
thanks for that Michael, I love what your organization is doing and firmly believe that local does matter.