Alva Review-Courier -

The new Oklahoma school report cards have been released. Unlike the overly simplified single letter grade in the old A-F report cards, the new system measures up to four metrics for elementary and middle schools and up to five indicators for high schools.

Students are counted only once, and there is less emphasis on spring tests. Academic growth measures individual student performance from one year to the next in math or English language proficiency. Academic growth and academic achievement have the highest number of points available at 30. English language proficiency has 15 points available, and the remaining criteria carry ten points each.

"The new system incorporates significantly more contextual information than its predecessor," said Joy Hofmeister, state superintendent. "The Oklahoma School Report Cards provide valid, reliable, meaningful and actionable data that schools and communities can use to provide outcomes for kids."

The state education department will add contextual information as it becomes available. Among the additions are per-pupil expenditures, educator qualifications and statewide Programs of Excellence that, beginning next school year, will emphasize the importance of a well-rounded education and recognize schools making progress in the fine arts, STEM, social studies/civics, safe and healthy schools and world language.

The 2018 report cards cover the 2017-2018 school year. They are available at http://oklaschools.com. The Alva Board of Education had an extensive discussion of the new report cards at the March 4 meeting. A video of that meeting may be seen at http://www.AlvaReviewCourier.com.

Alva High School

Alva High School received an overall grade of B for the 2017-2018 school year with 265 students enrolled. The school was given individual grades in five metrics.

In Academic Achievement, AHS received a grade of C with 15.1 of 30 possible points or 50.4 percent. For comparison, the state as a whole had 51.6 percent.

Graduation rate tracks a "cohort" of students who begin ninth grade together. If they drop out of school or move away, they are still tracked as part of this cohort for a school's grade. AHS Principal Les Potter told the school board that AHS was not doing a good job of tracking students who transfer to another school. Although they received requests for transcripts from other schools, these were transfers were not put into their cohort records. So it looked like Alva had a larger number of dropouts than they really did. This is why AHS received a grade of F in this metric. AHS received 4.4 of 10 points for a rank of 79.7 percent. This compares to the state percentage of 85.6.

AHS received a B grade in English Language Proficiency (ELP). The school earned 12.5 of 15 points for 33.3 percent, early equal to the state's 33.4 percent. Sherrye Lovelace gave extensive information about the ELP program during the school board meeting.

In chronic Absenteeism, AHS received 7.91 of 10 points, earning a B grade. The 91.87 percent for AHS is higher than the state's 85.51 percent.

Postsecondary Opportunities tracks the number of students taking advantage of other education opportunities while still in high school. Concurrent enrollment, in college classes or in career tech classes, earns points. AHS received a B with 7.9 of 10 points or 61.2 percent in this category compared to 42.6 percent for the state.

Alva Middle School

The state looked at four metrics for Alva Middle School for the 183 students. No grade was given in ELP because the school did not have the minimum of ten students enrolled in English language learning programs. AMS received an overall grade of C.

In Academic Achievement, AMS received a C grade. They earned 18.8 of 35 points for 53.8 percent. This compares to 51.6 percent for the entire state.

AMS received a D in Academic Growth. The school earned 8.1 of 30 points for 26.8 percent comparted to 49.5 percent for the state.

In Chronic Absenteeism, AMS received a B grade with 7.87 points out of ten possible for 94.19 percent, compared to 86.51 percent for the state.

Lincoln Elementary School

With 170 students in grades 4 and 5, Lincoln Elementary School also received an overall grade of C. The school did not have enough English learners to be graded in the ELP category.

Lincoln received a C grade in Academic Achievement, earning 20.5 of 35 possible points for 58.4 percent. The state average is 51.6 percent.

In Academic Growth, Lincoln also received a C grade. The school received 15.6 of 30 points for 52.1 percent compared to 49.5 percent for the state.

Like the other schools, Lincoln was given a B in Chronic Absenteeism. The school had 6.61 of ten points for 91.98 percent compared to 86.51 percent for the state.

Longfellow Elementary School

Longfellow School did not receive an overall grade with only two metrics being graded. The 170 students at Longfellow are in first through third grade.

In Academic Achievement, Longfellow received an A, earning 29.9 out of 30 points for 100 percent. That compares to 52 percent for the state.

In Chronic Absenteeism, the school received a B with 7.58 out of a possible 10 points and 94.27 percent. The state percentage is 86.51.

Washington Elementary School

Washington Elementary did not receive an overall grade. Serving grades PK through first, the school had 261 students.

The only metric with a grade was Chronic Absenteeism. The school received 6.75 points out of ten for 92.31 percent compared to 86.51 percent for the state.