More than a year ago teachers and the new principal at Sylvan Elementary School got together and agreed that their most recent proficiency test scores were a disappointment.
The school, serving a tree-shaded community of condominiums and brick dwellings in suburban Sylvania, turned in test scores that were better than the state average.
But compared with other schools that served similarly wealthy and high-achieving communities, Sylvan knew its test scores could be better.
Sylvan's test scores put it in the top half of all schools in the state, but when the school was compared to test scores turned in at similar income schools it dropped to the bottom 25 per cent in an analysis by The Blade of March, 1999, proficiency test scores.
“We knew the standards were low for Sylvan. We looked at what we were teaching and how we were teaching it. It was a conscientious effort by the staff: How do we continue to become not just this good school but an outstanding school,” Mr. Grieser said.
Since then, the school has focused its mission on the curriculum, has turned up the pressure on children to do their homework, and has acquired - along with other schools in the district - a costly reading intervention program for children with average and below-average reading scores.
The program, Soar To Success, has already helped children read better and has improved attendance, Mr. Grieser said.
“The sad thing is not all schools can afford to do this. It's expensive,” Mr. Grieser said.
The first year after the get-tough program went into effect, Sylvan's proficiency scores moved in the right direction - from 58 per cent passing math to 71 per cent passing math, and from 63.8 per cent passing reading to 71 per cent passing reading - at a time when average scores in Ohio went down.
Because of concerns about less-than-expected test scores, the Sylvania board of education earlier this year hired Phi Delta Kappa International, a professional teaching fraternity, to analyze Sylvania's operations.
In addition to numerous management problems, the study, released in August, found:
Mr. Grieser said he was glad to have the report. And he credited the district's recent hiring of a curriculum director in the effort to turn around test scores.
“The Phi Delta Kappa study was very positive to me because it showed us areas of concern,” Mr. Grieser said.
Since then, Sylvan has tightened up its curriculum to focus more on proficiency outcomes.
He said the school has goals of raising its test scores by 4 per cent a year to get up to the state's minimum performance goals of 75 per cent of the class passing every section of the proficiency test.
First Published October 23, 2000, 11:38 a.m.
