LORAIN – While the district remains on “academic watch,” city schools Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson said Monday she was happy to see improvement in some areas.

The district’s performance index, which needs to be at 80 percent or higher to get a “continuous improvement” grade, showed improvement.

“It was a little more than 77 percent last year, and it was more than 78 percent this year,” Atkinson said. “I was excited that our district is headed in the right direction.”

Performance index includes test scores, attendance, growth and other areas that give an overall picture of the district, Atkinson said.

“Even though you may not have met indicators, if you show your test scores were higher, your performance index will go up,” she said.

The “adequate yearly progress” is what Atkinson finds fault with – and she’s not alone, she said. The AYP category seeks to make sure subgroups such as special education, economically challenged students and minorities are passing certain tests. One subgroup failing to meet its mark will result in a lower report card score.

“In an urban setting, you’re more likely to have more subgroups and I think it’s an unfair system,” she said. “I think it was set up for the right purpose, but the system is under review because they recognize it doesn’t always tell the true story of a district. It won’t indicate the true achievements of the students in a district.”

One area where scores were down was in the number of performance indicators met. Last year the district met four, this year the district met only three.

Atkinson said she couldn’t remember which indicator fell by the wayside this year.

On a more positive note, the district’s value added – or amount of course work learned by students in one year – was good, Atkinson said.

Reading scores for elementary and middle school students also increased.

“I know for a fact, looking at reading in third through eighth grades, our reading levels were up,” she said. “I think that’s great. I remember our fourth-grade scores were way up.”

Atkinson said the completion of her second year as superintendent has her feeling very positive about the district and its ability to raise scores even in the wake of layoffs from a few years ago.

“After our massive layoffs, I was concerned about being able to stop the downward spiral and I believe we’ve been able to do that and stabilize,” she said. “Now our achievement is on an upward swing.”

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