ELYRIA, Ohio — Elyria City Schools is celebrating academic progress. This month, three schools in the district showed enough improvement to no longer need targeted state support.
“It’s kind of settling as a parent knowing that the school districts are heading in the right direction,” Elba Santana told News 5.
The Elyria mom was pleased to hear her daughter’s school, Hamilton Elementary, was recently removed from a list of schools requiring targeted support and improvement.
“Obviously, no one wants to be on this list,” said Elyria City Schools Superintendent Ann Schloss.
The federal government requires schools to submit performance data based on standardized testing. Schools in the bottom 5% of the state land are classified as Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) schools.
The state also considers data on certain subgroups of students, including different racial demographics, English learners, economically disadvantaged students, and students with disabilities. If one or more of the subgroups are under-performing, they’re classified into one of two additional lists.
Hamilton Elementary was considered a Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) school, which is the least severe designation. Westwood and Ely Elementary Schools, along with Elyria High School, were all on the Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI) list, which means they were performing a step lower.
The Ohio Department of Education found all three elementary schools demonstrated enough improvement to be removed from the lists.
“I’m biased. It’s encouraging, but it’s expected. What I see happening every single day in our buildings is unbelievable,” said Schloss.
She believes the improved testing scores are a credit to all teachers, parents and support staff. She pointed to an increased focus on early literacy and personalized attention to students who need extra support.
Santana said her son, a middle school student at Westwood, has benefited from an individualized education program (IEP) developed by Elyria staff.
“His grades have improved so much. He’s on the honor roll list, merit roll list. So he’s done amazing,” the mom of two said.
The TSI and ATSI schools have been listed for additional support for three years. Schloss said the timing of the underperformance lines up with pandemic-related learning loss.
“I like to call it the ‘opportunity gap’ because they just didn’t have the same opportunities for learning that they did before that,” she said.
According to research from Education Recovery Scorecard, chronic absenteeism has been a growing problem in Ohio since the COVID-19 pandemic. Statewide, both math and reading are still lagging by a half to full grade level.
Elyria’s Ohio Department of Education (ODE) school improvement consultant said the district is recovering more quickly than some of its counterparts.
“Their students are growing at a faster rate than would be expected for students at that age. That’s a huge achievement,” said ODE Region 2 school improvement consultant Colleen Szesze.
Ely Elementary earned the state’s “Momentum Award” for a dramatic jump in its performance index and value added.
Elyria High School remains designated as an ATSI school, but Schloss pointed out it was also recently recognized for notable improvements in student behavior and academics. She expects more growth on the horizon.
“We always knew we were making the growth. I’m so proud of the work we’re doing,” said Schloss.
The CSI, ATSI and TSI designations qualify school districts for certain resources and grant opportunities, but the superintendent said any funding lost was minimal and she does not expect it to negatively affect students.
