Dear London Families,
The Ohio Department of Education recently released its 2022 report cards for each district and school in the state. This year’s report card reflects recent changes from House Bill 82. Gone are letter grades for components of the report card, which have been replaced by a 5-star rating system. As has been the case with the numerous changes to Ohio’s Report Card system, several parts of the new report card will be phased in over time.
Like many districts, London is still rebounding from the effects of the pandemic. The district, which had made sustained academic progress over a period of several years, took a step back in performance during the last two years. This year’s district report card demonstrates a significant improvement in student performance during the pandemic years. That stated, the district continues to identify specific areas in need of improvement.
The highlight of London’s Report Card remains our ability to graduate students, which not surprisingly is the district’s top priority. Like the state report card, Ohio’s requirements for its graduates have changed significantly over the last several years. Graduates now must not only successfully pass 21 credits and the required state assessments, but must also demonstrate readiness for their post-high school plans by earning two graduation “seals.” London has improved by over 6% over the last three years in terms of graduation rate and is graduating more students now (94.2%) under the newer, more stringent guidelines than it ever has.
The district also showed significant improvement in the Performance Index (PI). PI is a key indicator on the State Report Card because it measures the scores of every student on every state assessment. The district jumped almost 10% from 70.2 to 76.9 on the performance index this year compared to last. Besides the Achievement Component, the district also showed moderate success in the Gap Closing Component, which measures the performance of students in a variety of different sub-groups compared to the student body as a whole.
Despite the overall positive improvement, London continues to be challenged with performance in the Early Literacy Component, which measures reading improvement and proficiency for students in grades Kindergarten through third grade. Unfortunately, this is a systematic problem as only 23% of incoming London Kindergarten students demonstrated readiness for Ohio’s learning standards on the Ohio Kindergarten Readiness Assessment taken as they entered school. To meet this need, the district has established a goal of researching and revising its current literacy program to a more balanced literacy approach.
In addition, the district also needs to improve its performance on the Progress Component. While London students performed well in social studies on this measure, student performance needs to improve in Math and Science, especially among students with disabilities. In order to help meet this need, the district added an instructional coaching position this year.
While the District Report Card is an important measure of district performance, it is not the only measure. LCS uses a variety of factors to measure success including but not limited to district enrollment, student and staff attendance, responses of stakeholders on various surveys, fiscal benchmarks, and the like. You can learn more about all aspects of the district’s performance and improvement process by viewing the District’s Quality Profile.
Overall, we can be proud of the progress made on this year’s report card, but not satisfied. As a district, we will continue our improvement process in earnest to demonstrate to our families and community we are working to become a premier district in our county and beyond.
If you have any questions about our district's performance or the performance of your child, please feel free to contact your child’s teacher, the school principal, or our central office.
Kind Regards,
Dr. Lou Kramer
District Superintendent