Cordell Schools’ Grades Take Significant Drop

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  • Cordell Schools’ Grades Take Significant Drop
    Cordell Schools’ Grades Take Significant Drop
  • Cordell superintendent Brad Overton Beacon File Photo
    Cordell superintendent Brad Overton Beacon File Photo
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Oklahoma’s 2018-2019 school report cards are out, and the results are mixed for Cordell Public Schools. Cordell Junior High earned the same “B” grade as last year with an overall score of 68 percent, while the elementary and high schools saw significant declines in their overall scores. Cordell Elementary School’s overall score fell by 15 percentage points to end at 56 percent and the high school’s overall score dropped 16 points to 52 percent, both “C” grades. Both the elementary and high school earned “B” grades for the 2017-2018 school year.

Cordell superintendent Brad Overton attributed the decline in large part to changes in the grade calculations.

“While we see a decline in the grade for the elementary and high school sites, I believe a big part of that decline was a modification in the calculation of the grade,” he wrote in an email to The Beacon.

When questioned further Overton said he wasn’t sure how the calculation was changed.

“It is my understanding that academic achievement is weighted more in the final grade this year than last,” he wrote. “Last year was 30 percent of grade, 40 percent this year. I have done some checking on this but I can’t verify so I hate to say for sure. They make changes to the system every year so it’s hard to keep up with it.”

According to the Oklahoma Department of Education, however, the criteria for the grading did not change between the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school years, just the targets for the various indicators that determine the final grade.

“The report cards are graded on specific indicators, and these indicators have not changed,” said Carrie Burkhart, OSDE assistant director of communications. “For elementary and middle, we grade on academic achievement, English language proficiency for English learners, academic growth, and chronic absenteeism. High schools are measured by academic achievement, English language proficiency for English learners, chronic absenteeism, graduation, and postsecondary opportunities. However, the targets for indicators do increase each year. Targets increase over time to reflect an expectation of consistent, sustained improvement. All students are expected to reach proficiency (i.e. a score of 300), which indicates readiness for college and career.”

The letter grades assigned to each school in the various grading criteria are determined by a comparison of the school’s score with the Oklahoma average score. Despite the elementary and high schools’ decline between the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school years, Overton said Cordell schools are still performing better than other area schools and the state average.

“A closer look at the grades for Cordell Schools as compared to the schools in our area shows that Cordell Schools continues to outperform most schools as well as outpace the state average,” he wrote.

Cordell Elementary’s 2018-2019 grades do compare favorably with Washita County’s three other elementary schools. Overall, Cordell scored a “C” grade with 56 percent. Only Canute scored higher, with a “B” grade of 64 percent. McMurray Elementary in Sentinel earned a 49 percent “C” grade and Burns Flat’s Will Rogers Elementary received a “D” grade at 32 percent.

Compared to the previous year, however, Cordell Elementary experienced the most significant decline in overall score among Washita County’s elementaries.

Cordell’s overall score dropped by 15 percentage points, falling from 71percent to 56 percent between the two school years. Canute experienced a 12 point decline, from 76 percent to 64 percent. McMurray and Will Rogers each dropped by 10 percentage points from their 2017-2018 levels. The state average, however, fell by only two points, from 55 percent to 53 percent.

Cordell Junior High, the only stand-alone junior high school in Washita County, maintained the same overall score - 68 percent - from 2017-2018 to 2018-2019, but improved its performance relative to the state average, which also fell two points at the junior high level from 55 percent to 53 percent.

At the high school level, Cordell’s “C” grade of 52 percent overall was second from the top among Washita County high schools. Sentinel’s Blanche Thomas High School also earned a “C” grade, but with a 60 percent score. Burns Flat-Dill City’s 50 percent and Canute’s 49 percent also earned “C” grades. The state average was 53 percent, also down two points from the previous year.

Of the high schools in the county, only Blanche Thomas posted an improvement in overall scores. The school’s overall grade increased from 57 percent to 60 percent between 2017-2018 and 2018-2019. Canute registered the most significant decline, falling from 78 percent to 49 percent. Burns Flat-Dill City fell 25 points, from 75 percent to 50 percent, and Cordell dropped 16 points, from 68 to 52 percent. The state average was 53 percent, down two points from the previous year.

Overton said school administration is not satisfied with the 2018-2019 grades and would be making adjustments in order to better meet students’ academic needs.

“As a school district we are not satisfied with our current testing results,” he wrote. “We are continuously monitoring the weaknesses of our students and the areas that we need to improve. As we monitor those weaknesses we then modify our instruction to meet those needs.”