Chesterton Tribune

 

 

Duneland School Corporation gets a B in state 2013 accountability grades

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The Indiana Department of Education released accountability grades for school corporations today. Duneland School Corporation received a “B” grade .05 points short of an “A” grade on a 4.0 scale assessment system.

Duneland achieved a 3.45 on the scale which was an improvement over 2012’s figure of 3.15, also a B grade.

Compared with all other school corporations in Porter County, Duneland had the second lowest grade overall. Portage School District received a C and the others scored an A.

Duneland Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Jim Goetz told the Chesterton Tribune that the administration is “willing to accept a B average but obviously is not satisfied.”

“We didn’t get there (to an A). The state has benchmarks they set that schools need to meet and we will keep on moving to reach them,” he said.

The grading system has had its critics and Goetz said the system “does have its flaws” but regardless Duneland will work within it and achieve the highest results it can.

Goetz said what he found most positive is the fact the schools are continuing to improve and teachers and administrators continue to strive for better performance. With the exception of Westchester Intermediate School, which went from an A in 2012 to a C in 2013, all other schools advanced a grade or stayed the same.

“It shows we are on the right track,” Goetz said. He said the administration is currently assessing why WIS showed shortcomings and will do its best to get it resolved.

The DOE said the grades were determined after individual school grades were set during December’s meeting of the State Board of Education.

Six Duneland schools received A grades while Liberty Intermediate received a B and Chesterton Middle School received a C, up from a D grade in 2012.

Grades can be found at http://pod.doe.in.gov/groups/facebookdocuments/wiki/welcome/attachments/23709/Corp%20Grades%202013.xlsx.

Following is a list of grades given to school corporations in Porter County with their 2013 results compared to 2012 in parentheses:

*  Boone Twp. Schools - A (B)

*  Duneland Schools - B (B)

*  East Porter County Schools - A (A)

*  Porter Twp. Schools - A (B)

*  Union Twp. Schools - A (A)

*  Portage Twp. Schools - C (A)

*  Valparaiso Community Schools - A (A)

 

Posted 1/15/2014

 
 

 

 

 

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