CEDARVILLE — Cedar Cliff Local Schools scored well on the state report card released by the state Thursday.

The district received a C or higher in all but one component and showed marked improvement in another for an overall grade of C. While the district dropped from a B to a C, superintendent Chad Mason isn’t overly concerned.

“Obviously, I think we do better than ’C’ work in Cedar Cliff. Once again we had some good things and some areas of note to examine,” he said. “I don’t need a report card from Columbus to tell me anything about our kids. I am witness to it every day.”

Cedar Cliff received an A for graduation rate, B’s in progress and gap closing, a C in achievement and D’s in improving at-risk K-3 readers and prepared for success.

Gap closing shows how well schools are meeting the performance expectations for the most vulnerable populations of students in English language arts, math and graduation. Cedar Cliff met 89.9 percent of the objectives, up from 83.3 percent last year and 69.6 the year before.

Achievement measures if student performance met thresholds and how well students performed on tests overall using performance index and indicators met. The performance index measures the test results of every student, not just those who score proficient or higher. Cedar Cliff received 80.8 percent of the points available under PI, down just .6 percent, and met 65.2 percent of the indicators (15 of 23) after meeting 66.7 percent last year.

The progress component looks closely at the growth that all students are making based on their past performances. A C indicates expected growth while a higher or lower grade indicates more or less growth respectively.

The K-3 reading grade was lower this year as just 26.3 percent of students who started off track moved to on track compared to 55.6 last year. Last year 36 started off track while this year 19 started off track.

Graduation rates were nearly identical to last year.

Prepared for success examines the number of students who earned a remediation-free score on all parts of the ACT or SAT, earned an honors diploma, and/or earned an industry-recognized credential. Bonus points were also available. Cedar Cliff also received a D last year. This component is most troubling for Mason.

“It continues to baffle me that a school district which has an average ACT score two points above the state and national average, virtually every year sends over 80 percent of its graduates to four-year institutions, and has the majority of its graduating classes earning college credit while still in high school earns a ‘D’ in ready for success,” he said.

Mason added that the state needs to realize that “a report card that most community members would need hours of assistance just to interpret is a futile attempt to coerce educational policy.”

“Only then can we begin to have serious conversations about what really assists schools and helps our students,” Mason said. “I am just happy to be at a small school in a great community, with a tremendous staff, and I can see first-hand what takes place here each day and the great strides we make with kids.”