Four northern Indiana schools have been honored by the state for strong gains in the classroom.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Tony Bennett on Wednesday recognized Dickinson Fine Arts Academy in South Bend, Bittersweet Elementary School and Grissom Middle School in the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation, and Culver Elementary School for significant improvement under Indiana’s A to F school accountability system.
Dickinson moved from an F to an A.
Bittersweet Elementary improved from D to A.
Grissom Middle School jumped from D to A.
Culver Elementary climbed from D to A.
“These fair and comprehensive measures of school performance demonstrate that school leaders and teachers are focusing on the skills our students need to succeed in their academic and professional careers,” Bennett said. “The results of our new approach to grading schools are already making a measurable difference in student performance, and Indiana’s educators should be celebrated for their hard work and success.”
“Bittersweet’s success can be attributed to teachers taking a leadership role in using data to drive their instruction,” Bittersweet Elementary Principal Bob Thompson said. “Teachers differentiated their instruction and made sure they were challenging students at their appropriate instructional levels. In a true team effort, every adult in our building took ownership of our scores and worked together to move forward. Many volunteered for after school tutoring for those students who needed additional remediation.”
More than 61% of Indiana's schools received A or B letter grades for the 2011-12 school year. 41% earned A's, 20% Bs, 20% Cs, nearly 19% D or F grades.
This year, 207 schools received As for the first time.
