“Students really struggled:” Test scores drop in BG | Community

Statewide, language and literacy scores for kindergarten readiness showed that 47.6% of students who participated were not on track, significantly more than the 39.7% recorded. in 2019.

Statewide in fall 2020, third-grade proficiency rates were about 9% lower than in 2019.

“Obviously, this pandemic has really had an impact on education and the education process as we know it,” Schaal said. “It’s not unique to Bowling Green. It’s prevalent in the state.

This spring’s test results at Bowling Green were, unsurprisingly, lower than in previous years, she said.

“The students really struggled. They did not perform as well on assessments during this pandemic, ”Schaal said.

From grades three to five, proficiency rates in English and language arts declined by about 10% (except in grade five where they increased by 1%) and math proficiency rates declined. fell about 20%, according to the scores Schaal presented on Tuesday.

Comparisons are based on 2018-19 and 2020-21 scores.

No tests were carried out in 2019-2020 due to the pandemic, she said.

“We are not happy with these scores,” Schaal said. “We obviously want them to be higher.”

She pointed out that 87% of districts in Ohio also experienced a drop in skill scores.

Kenwood Elementary showed the highest proficiency, at 53.5%, of all elementary elements in phonemic awareness skills after completing two years of a new Foundations program.

“It’s not where we want to be, but we can see from this data that the educational materials we use are working,” she said.

Schaal pointed out that Kenwood was an Ed-Choice school in 2019 and had been implementing foundations for two years. It has only been used in Crim and Conneaut elementary schools for a year.

“Our other two buildings are going to get there,” she said.

Proficiency in this area is 41% in Conneaut and 31.3% in Crim.

In college, there was a significant drop in math scores: about 38% in each class.

“The math has definitely taken a hit. There’s no question about it, ”Schaal said.

There was also a decline in English / Language Arts, ranging from 7% to 15%.

In high school, scores for the U.S. government rose nearly 2% while all other fields of study fell an average of 15%, except for geometry which fell 25% and American history of the United States which fell almost 30%.

“Definitely hard numbers to look at,” Schaal said.

Special education students have been very successful in showing growth, she said.

To address learning loss, the district will focus this year on its District Leadership Team and develop a solid foundation for a tiered support system that will help meet the needs of every student who is not receiving school. instruction needed in the classroom.

Their work will trickle down to building leadership and teaching teams, Schaal said.

The district invited Margaret Searle, an education consultant, to provide training on school improvement plans, diagnose and prescribe interventions for students with behavioral and academic problems, and train teachers on how to deliver a research-based teaching.

It will provide several one-day trainings.

A new curriculum has also been adopted, including math for K-12 students and English / language arts for K-2.

A math discussion will be offered quarterly in each building where teachers can talk about lessons and what is going or not going well.

The district introduces two probation facilitators to help coach existing teachers and train new teachers so that there is sustainability in a curriculum.

A new assessment will be used this year that will allow the district to break down the data in more detail, which will help teachers target places where intervention is needed.

“We really need an assessment system in this district that anyone can use, where we’re all looking at the same data, we’re all talking about the same thing,” Schaal said.

Board member Tracy Hovest asked what the long-term plan was for the new math programs.

New math programs were needed because what they were using no longer met state standards, Schaal said.

The duration of their use will be determined based on future changes in state standards as well as their effectiveness in the classroom, she said. She hopes to keep them for six years.

“We are in the process of rocking. Our teachers are amazing and our kids are going to grow tremendously this year, ”Schaal said. “I think we are on the right track.