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Education: Belpre BOE takes right approach to report card

Belpre Board of Education members had a lot to digest when they received the district’s grade on the state’s report card, released last month. Based solely on the letter grades presented, the news was not good. However, it is important for the district to recognize where there is value — and where there is none — in such grading systems.

Bernie Boice, director of instruction, is correct to understand the grades are not “a total reflection of everything that happens in our district that can’t easily be described in a report card.”

Board members and district officials are right to focus to some degree on the many positives in the district — areas in which there has been improvement and where students are being well served. It is also important for them to recognize how touchy the grading system can be. As Boice explained, three students made the difference between letter grades in one category.

However, there is a reason for standardized analysis of a school system’s performance. School officials know that. They cannot be disregarded altogether.

“We do look at the report card and find value in the data that is there,” Boice said. ” … We have a lot of good things going on that don’t get characterized and reflected in that report card, but we do take the data in the report card seriously. We look at every component carefully and try to work on those, making strategies.”

Good. It might have been tempting to ignore some of those bad marks; come up with a few excuses and move on. But they tell part of the story of what is going on in Belpre Schools, and must be considered even as officials keep their focus on their successes. Students deserve a school system in which those in charge are realistic about that they do well AND what needs some work.

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