NEWS: JHS receives a 3.66 GPA

JHS lands 3.66 GPA under A-F evaluation

By Austin

 

Now students are not the only ones receiving grades in school.

 

 Jones High School received a 3.66 GPA, which is a ‘B’ average, when schools statewide were given grades based on student achievement, student growth, and school wide performance. 

 

In addition to JHS, Jones Elementary School received a 2.83 while Jones Middle School received a 2.99, which are all ‘B’ averages for the district.

 

Principal Carl Johnson said, “I am relieved but not satisfied with our grade, although I did not know what to expect at the start.”

 

Dr. Johnson said he thinks the JHS grade can be raised.  “I believe that if we do better on tests, motivate students more for tests, encourage higher school attendance records, along with having more AP courses combined with higher enrollment in those courses, we could raise our grade.”

 

Dr. Johnson said he feels that the previous grading system was too hard to understand for the public and administrators of the schools. 

 

Contrary to public belief, the new A-F grading system is not replacing the previous scores or the No Child Left Behind mandates.  It is simply being used in addition to those because more people are able to understand the letter grade rather than the old 0-1500 score. 

 

High school counselor Curtis Moses said that parents had little knowledge of what they were looking at when they saw the older API score.  He also said that the current A-F grading system is very straightforward and much easier for parents and students alike to interpret. 

 

Dr Johnson also said that under the earlier evaluation systems, schools could be penalized for consistently low scores, and there were even cases that administrators or teachers were fired.  The new A-F system, however, is only an informative evaluation tool.

 

 “I am pleased but not happy about our grade,” said Mr. Moses about the school’s grade.  “I would much rather have had an ‘A.’”

 

Mr. Moses said he believes that the school’s score can improve if students score well on both the End of Instruction and ACT tests along with higher enrollment in AP classes. 

 

Jones receives 'B' average from OK DOE 

By Joey

Maybe students aren’t the only ones getting graded. Jones High School received a 3.66, which is an average “B,” on their report card from the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

The State of Oklahoma came out with the new A-F grading system which is designed to make it a lot easier for parents, teachers and administrators to evaluate the schools performance and for schools to improve in needed areas.  Three categories that the grade is based on are overall student growth, student achievement and whole school performance.

“I’m proud that we got the ‘B,’” said Principal Carl Johnson, “but I’m not satisfied with our grade, although I did not know what to expect at the start.”

Dr. Johnson said he thinks there are some ways for JHS to improve. Some suggestions include motivating students to do better on tests, and maintaining high attendance to school, along with having more AP courses, and requiring students to take classes they have failed in the same year instead of being allowed to take electives.

Dr. Johnson said he feels that the previous grading system was too hard to understand for the public and administrators of the schools.

JHS counselor Curtis Moses said he believes that the previous API rating system was difficult to understand and that parents had no idea what they were looking at when they saw the grade. He also stated that the new A-F grading system is very straightforward and much easier for parents and students alike to understand.

Critics have said they think the new A-F grading system is replacing the API and the No Child Left Behind mandates but they are not. A-F is simply being added to those two because more people are able to understand the grade rather than the old 0-1500 score which was much more complex. Schools that make a low grade can be penalized and administrators along with teachers could be fired. But the A-F grade is only for informational purposes.

Mr. Moses said he believes that we can improve the school’s score if students score well on both the EOI and ACT tests.  He also said he believes that the grade could be improved if Jones School System had more AP classes and had higher enrollment in those classes.

“I am pleased but not happy about our grade. I would much rather would have had an ‘A’,” said Mr. Moses.