By Cindy Kranz
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Cameron Cochrum, 13, of College Hill, checks out the company in his ninth-grade biology class at Walnut Hills High School. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

Only three of 608 school districts in the state rate worse than Cincinnati Public Schools, according to the Ohio Department of Education, which released its annual Local Report Cards Tuesday.

The 40,347-student district remains in Academic Emergency - one of 16 in the state - for the second year in a row. The district met just four performance indicators out of a possible 22, one less than last year.

Elsewhere in Greater Cincinnati, the results were mostly positive. Fifteen school districts - the highest number since report cards were initiated five years ago - obtained the top rating of Excellent.

Ross in Butler County and Lebanon and Little Miami in Warren County are new to the list.

Only three Ohio school districts fared worse than Cincinnati. Dayton met no indicators, and Federal Hocking and Springfield each met three. Portsmouth and Trimble also met four.

Three urban counterparts - Cleveland, Columbus and Youngstown - moved up from the bottom category, to Academic Watch.

"We didn't hit the targets we needed to hit. Period," said superintendent Alton Frailey. "(Other urban districts) did, and we didn't. We're going to re-evaluate our game plan. I'm also going to talk to (other urban districts) and find out what they did."

Fourth-grade teacher Elaine Georgostathis takes attendance on the first day of school Tuesday at Williams Avenue Elementary in Norwood. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

Frailey, who was clearly unhappy with the rating, said, "I'm not angry at our staff or system. We have to look at our system and better equip our staff."

In Clermont County, Milford dropped from Excellent to Effective.

For the third consecutive year, Kings Local Schools in Warren County earned a top rating.

Kings parent Jean Zito of Landen said the winning streak "is great for the district."

"What they are doing is obviously working, but we can't let up," said Zito, who has a child in the schools and another who graduated last spring. "The education that children get here is very good, and they come out of the school district prepared."

On Tuesday, the ODE released the school, district and state results for the 2002-'03 school year. It marked the first time that test scores from all students were included.

State officials cautioned schools and parents not to compare this year's results with last year's, because Ohio has a new system of rating schools and districts.

Some students with disabilities and students with limited English proficiency were previously exempted from taking proficiency tests or their test scores were not reported. Now their scores are included.

REPORT CARDS

• Area school ratings (PDF file) • Academic rankings (PDF file)

Ohio's report cards also include the results of students from the major racial and ethnic groups and those who are economically disadvantaged. There are consequences for districts that consistently do no make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), a measurement that rewards districts for efforts toward the achievement of all demographic groups.

However, department of education spokesman J.C. Benton said, "No district is in jeopardy of state takeover because of the system being so new."

Even some districts that performed well or stayed in the same category did not meet Adequate Yearly Progress. For example, Norwood, a 2,700-student district, kept its Continuous Improvement rating but did not meet its AYP with special education students.

"We need to individualize our instruction more to reach these kids," Superintendent Steve Collier said. "Our special needs teachers probably need to make more modifications in their teaching styles."

Norwood's first day of school was Tuesday, earlier than usual, to get in additional days of instruction before proficiency tests. It also has a new-teacher professional development program in place, a new superintendent and new principals in all six buildings.

The district's Performance Index Score of 83.4 is a positive sign that the district is on the right track, Collier said. With the index, schools and districts earn points based on how well each student does on each proficiency test.

"We may not be meeting every performance indicator, but we're improving," Collier said. "For the first time, the state is recognizing improving of test scores and not just meeting indicators."

Tuesday's report card release was cause to celebrate in several Greater Cincinnati districts that jumped categories. It was especially notable for Reading and Williamsburg, both districts that have weathered turmoil in recent years.

Reading Superintendent Scott Inskeep, in his second year overseeing the 1,450-pupil Hamilton County school system, said the state's latest rankings, which have Reading gaining from Continuous Improvement to Effective, "has us all excited."

"It's been a team effort," Inskeep said. "We've worked hard at aligning our district goals to the state goals."

Reading school parent Kim Blair saw the improved state ranking coming.

"I saw programs being put into place that helped students with the state proficiency test, and through the last year, there was more being done in the classroom," said Blair, a Reading native and graduate.

Williamsburg Local Schools climbed from Academic Watch to Effective status, while overcoming deficits, budget cuts and administration changes in the last three years.

Since December 2000, the 1,029-student district contended with a $788,000 deficit due to an accounting error that led to a loss of 12 teachers. The superintendent resigned after conflicts with the school board, and then-high school principal Thomas Durbin took over.

"We've surpassed our expectations. We paid off our solvency loan June 30," said School Board President Don Burroughs. "We have accomplished (the Effective rating) despite the deficit and the staff cuts. I have to give credit to the administration and faculty for a job well done."

With a gain of six performance indicators, the Talawanda Schools made the most improvement among Butler County's 10 school districts. It moved the district from Continuous Improvement to Effective, the second-highest rating.

Some districts were disappointed with their ratings, leaving superintendents determined to climb back.

Winton Woods City School District fell from Continuous Improvement to Academic Watch. The district missed the AYP for special education students.

The district is expanding its focused instruction - looking at where kids are, assessing them and re-teaching concepts that aren't learned before moving on - said Superintendent Camille Nasbe.

"Our No. 1 focus is going to be this report card and what everyone can do to improve our rating, because we're not going be here next year," Nasbe said.

Amy Murrell and her husband, Fred, have lived in the Winton Woods community of Greenhills for 13 years. They have three children in the district.

Murrell said the district's drop in state rankings concerns her.

"It makes me worry that people will see that and not want to be part of our community," she said.

"We have to be patient. We have a new superintendent who is making some big changes so we have to stay positive. I would tell people thinking about moving here to not give up on us."

In Clermont County, Milford Exempted Village School District slipped from Excellent to Effective. Some subject areas, such as fourth- and sixth-grade math and fourth grade citizenship, in particular, dropped.

"We knew we had some holes in our math curriculum and worked last year to patch them," Superintendent John Frye said.

"We are going to work to get back to Excellent," he said.

Even with the inclusion of all students this year, Ohio continues to show improvement over time, said superintendent of public instruction Susan Tave Zelman.

Statewide results over the past three years on a performance index show that the averages of all students' scores increased on the proficiency tests from 73.7 points to 83.1 points.

"While I'm gratified for the improvement we are seeing, the results show that not all of our children are achieving at high levels," Zelman said.

Michael D. Clark, Jennifer Mrozowski, Sue Kiesewetter and Karen Vance contributed to this report.

E-mail ckranz@enquirer.com