Charter school sponsor ratings rise locally, across state

One year earlier, only five of 65 charter school sponsors were called effective, and none were exemplary.

LAST YEAR: Local sponsors not good, but above state average

“High-quality sponsors are the key to successful community schools,” said state superintendent Paolo DeMaria. “Their oversight drives effective operations and increased academic achievement.”

Charter school sponsors provide oversight of school management officials, make site visits and decide whether to open or close schools. The state’s evaluation system measured the sponsors on three things — the academic performance of their schools, compliance with laws, and adherence to best practices.

Nine of the 15 sponsors that have charter schools in the Dayton area were rated effective. That includes three that were called effective for the second year in a row — St. Aloysius Orphanage, the Fordham Foundation and Buckeye Community Hope Foundation.

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St. Aloysius sponsors Klepinger Community School and Life Skills Center of Dayton. Fordham sponsors Dayton Leadership Academy and DECA Prep, while Buckeye sponsors two local Horizon Science Academies (HSA Downtown and HSA Dayton High School).

Most of the locally involved sponsors that were rated effective received D’s in academic performance — fairly similar to the Dayton, Trotwood and Jefferson school districts where most of the charter schools are located. But they got high marks for legal compliance and best practices.

Three local sponsors were rated in the lowest category of “poor” for 2016-17, meaning their ability to sponsor charter schools will be revoked at the end of this school year unless they win an appeal with the Ohio Department of Education.

RELATED: How did local charters do on state report card?

Two of those poor sponsors — the Northmont and West Carrollton school districts — already closed their in-house charter schools this summer. The third was the Warren County Educational Service Center, which sponsors the Imagine Woodbury Academy (160 students in Harrison Twp.), as well as the Greater Ohio Virtual School (530 online students). Warren County ESC officials could not immediately be reached for comment about the ratings.

Any sponsor that receives an “ineffective” overall rating is prohibited from sponsoring any new or additional community schools, and the sponsor is subject to a quality improvement plan. Any sponsor that receives a “poor” rating or three consecutive “ineffective” ratings is subject to revocation of their sponsorship authority unless they win a state appeal.

Ron Adler, president of the Ohio Coalition for Quality Education, a charter school support group, strongly questioned the validity of the sponsor ratings last year. This year, he said the group still thought the evaluations could be tweaked, but added, “Overall, we’re very pleased with the end result.”

RELATED: State launches new rating system after scandal

State ratings of charter sponsors caused an uproar in 2015 when Ohio Department of Education officials attempted to quietly remove online school performance from the calculations. That led to the new, stricter evaluation system, with lower ratings last year. But as with most state ratings systems, school groups improve in subsequent years, once they adjust to the new metrics.

2016-17 SPONSOR RATINGS (out of 12 points)

EFFECTIVE

9 points: St. Aloysius Orphanage (Klepinger Community School and Life Skills Center of Dayton)

9 points: Fordham Foundation (Dayton Leadership Academy and DECA Prep)

9 points: University of Toledo (Dayton SMART Elementary, Trotwood Prep & Fitness, STEAM Academy of Dayton, Ohio Connections Academy, Ohio Virtual Academy)

8 points: Buckeye Community Hope Foundation (Horizon Science Academy Downtown and Horizon Science Academy Dayton High School)

8 points: ESC of Lake Erie West (Emerson Academy, Pathway School of Discovery, North Dayton School of Discovery, Horizon Science Academy Dayton, Summit Academy Community Schools of Dayton and Xenia, Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow)

7 points: Fairborn City School (Fairborn Digital Academy)

7 points: Miamisburg City Schools (Miamisburg Secondary Academy)

7 points: Educational Resource Consultants of Ohio (City Day School)

7 points: Ohio Office of School Sponsorship (All local Richard Allen schools, plus Watkins Academy)

INEFFECTIVE

4 points: Montgomery County ESC (Mound Street Academies)

3 points: Dayton Public Schools (Dayton Early College Academy, Dayton Business Technology High School)

3 points: Kids Count of Dayton (Miami Valley Academies and Summit Academy Transition High School Dayton)

POOR

2 points: Warren County ESC (Imagine Woodbury Academy, Greater Ohio Virtual School)

2 points: Northmont City Schools (Northmont Secondary Academy)

2 points: West Carrollton City Schools (West Carrollton Secondary Academy)

Note: Sponsors receive 0-4 points each for the academic performance of their schools, compliance with laws, and adherence to best practices.

Source: Ohio Department of Education