Johnson County’s state-assigned grades slipping

Most Johnson County school districts were given a lower grade by the state this year, compared to the year before.

The same was true across Indiana: About 8 percent of school districts received an A grade under ratings approved Wednesday by the State Board of Education. That’s down from the 46 percent of Indiana’s 289 districts receiving an A rating last year.

The state released A-F grades for school districts across the state, which are based on multiple factors, including scores on the ISTEP exam.

Last month, the state released grades for individual schools, and multiple schools saw their grades fall, compared to the year before. In 2015, schools were allowed to keep their grades from the year before, but this time, they were not allowed to do that. The percentage of students passing the ISTEP’s language arts and math sections dropped by double digits statewide under a revamp of the test.

Across the county, nearly every school district saw a drop in their grade, except Edinburgh schools, which increased from a C to a B, and Greenwood schools, which remained at an A.

All other school districts dropped from an A to a B.

Statewide, the biggest jump was in districts receiving B ratings. Nearly 61 percent got that grade, up from 32 percent last year. Twenty-nine percent of districts received C grades.

The A-F grades have continued to be questioned by local school officials, who say the grades don’t reflect what is actually going on in their schools. They have also raised concerns about comparing the letter grades to past years, since the ISTEP exam — one of the data points — has changed significantly, making it difficult to accurately compare past years, officials have said.

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Here is a look at the grades assigned to local school districts by the state:

District;2015;2016

Center Grove;A;B

Clark-Pleasant;A;B

Edinburgh;C;B

Franklin;A;B

Greenwood;A;A

Nineveh-Hensley-Jackson;A;B

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