“This review is designed for districts that are struggling and are potentially at risk for an Academic Distress Commission, which is our most intense intervention,” said Chris Woolard, senior executive director of ODE. “We’re really interested in preventing that from happening.”
Four other area school districts — Northridge, Mad River, Graham and New Miami — were among the 31 identified as needing the highest support, but they will not get site visits this year. ODE officials said those districts will get some help from the state support team, and could be subject to site visits next year.
Woolard said ODE’s support team includes veteran superintendents, principals, teachers and treasurers who will interview administrators, teachers and others in Dayton and Trotwood. They will compare district operations to established best practices, then make recommendations this spring.
“This is based on report card results, so we’re looking at student performance, graduation rate, student growth, and determining which districts are in the highest level of (academic need),” Woolard said. “Dayton is the first district in the state that we’ve done, other than the two that already have Academic Distress Commissions.”
Youngstown and Lorain schools received site reviews last year.
Dayton Public Schools ranked second lowest in Ohio in performance index when state report cards were issued in September. Dayton met two of 24 state testing standards, while Trotwood met three.
Trotwood Superintendent Kevin Bell said he looks forward to seeing the state’s recommendations but hopes they take his district’s full picture into account. Bell said about 75 percent of Trotwood students aren’t academically ready when they start kindergarten, poverty rates are high, and students move frequently, interrupting the learning process.
“The state has a one-size-fits-all approach to measuring progress, but it misses the fact there are human beings, children with varying degrees of need, on which those crunched numbers are based,” Bell said. “So I look forward to the recommendations, if they are situationally relevant and not based on a one-size-fits-all mentality.”
Robert C. Walker, president of Dayton’s board of education, called the review an opportunity to get feedback on what is working in the district, “but also to “help us to strengthen our shortcomings.”
State officials said the review team’s goal is to improve student achievement across the board. The team focuses on six areas — leadership/governance/communication, curriculum/instruction, assessment/effective use of data, human resources/professional development, student support, and fiscal management.
“We know in districts that are struggling, change doesn’t necessarily happen overnight, but we want to get things moving in the right direction,” Woolard said.
Walker acknowledged that there is much room for improvement in Dayton Public Schools but said he is not worried about the threat of Academic Distress.
“We’re not threatened by it,” he said, adding that the demographics of the district are “an additional load that we have to carry.” He said the district is committed to making whatever changes are necessary.
Hashim Jabar, who works with 17- to 21-year-olds at Dayton’s Job Center, called the state of Dayton’s schools “nothing short of an emergency.” He said far too few students can pass the ninth-grade assessment he gives, which is a stepping-stone to a job or apprenticeship. Jabar said he hopes to hold a community meeting next week to get people involved.
“These are the future citizens of Dayton,” Jabar said. “The last Census said one-third of Dayton residents are below the poverty line. And I believe it’s reflective of how well educated they are.”
Trotwood’s Bell said success takes a mix of educational best practices and community involvement.
“Our families need to know that we’ve put strategies in place to raise achievement, and we all have a part to play — schools, families, and community,” he said.
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