JCCA gets low marks

The title on a statement issued by Jay County Christian Academy principal Mike Eads states the school’s position clearly: Failure is not acceptable.
In its first year of receiving a letter grade from the Indiana Department of Education, the local parochial school received a grade of F.
“We at JCCA will tackle this challenge of raising our ISTEP scores for the 2012-2013 school year,” Eads said in the statement.
“All of our teachers are aware of what needs to be accomplished and are working diligently to meet this important challenge.”
Eads addressed the failing grade, which is determined by factors including ISTEP performance, participation in testing and improvement.
Since 2012 is the first year of grading for JCCA, the school did not receive consideration for improvement.
As for standardized testing, Eads noted that the school’s grade was affected by its class demographics. Eads said the scoring guidelines only allow for a percentage of test scores from special needs students taking the ISTAR (1 percent) and IMAST 2 (percent) tests to be counted.
Since JCCA has a special needs makeup of about 10 percent, a percentage of those students were counted as ISTEP failures.
Eads also noted that new students coming into the school affected the ISTEP passing rate.
Eads said that in one class 55 percent of students passed the ISTEP test. Those passing had been JCCA students at least two years, while those not passing the test had transferred to JCCA this year from public schools.
Despite the circumstances, Eads also said the school has recently upgraded its curriculum by implementing the envision Math Common Core and Reading Street Common Core programs, which are used extensively throughout the nation. The school has also added a technology teacher within the last year to expand learning opportunities for students.
JCCA is also focusing on improving attendance, hoping to boost from 94.4 percent in the 2011-2012 school year to at least 96 percent this school year.
In 2010, Jay County High School received a grade of F. Westlawn Elementary was graded D in 2010, while Pennville Elementary and West Jay Middle School also received grades of D in 2011.
Rapid turnarounds in annual grades are common, however, as JCHS, Pennville and West Jay all received A grades this year. Westlawn fell to a B this year after receiving an A in 2011.
Eads said this morning he expects the school’s grade will improve after some of the curriculum changes as well as having the school improvement factor of the scoring system in play.
Elsewhere in the region, South Adams schools all received high marks, with the high school and middle school received A’s and the elementary school receiving a B.
“We’re happy about that,” said South Adams superintendent Scott Litwiller. “South Adams is proud of the hard work of its students and staff. Every student can learn and grow academically, physically, emotionally and socially and the development of the entire student is our top priority.
“We have a supportive community and the best educational opportunities are the results of family partnerships and community support. South Adams is a great place to learn because of its students, staff, parents and community.”
South Adams Middle school has scored an A in three consecutive years and the high school received its second A in a row after being given a D in 2010. South Adams Elementary fell to a B after receiving A’s in 2010 and 2011.
In northern Randolph County, Deerfield Elementary was given its third consecutive A grade.[[In-content Ad]]