QualityCore^® Proves Powerful to Student Academic Growth at Ohio School District

The Olentangy Local School District isn’t resting on its laurels. The central Ohio district has earned the state’s “Excellent with Distinction” honor for the sixth year in a row. In addition, all 19 of its schools received high ratings. These designations place Olentangy among the top seven percent of all school districts in Ohio.

Students gather in a circle to discuss a class assignment at a school in the Olentangy Local School District.

While these accomplishments are significant, the district’s administrators and teachers are continuously raising the bar on academic expectations. They want all students to graduate well prepared for their future. ACT’s QualityCore is helping them achieve that goal.

“Our students do well on the Ohio Graduation Tests, but those are more general in terms of achievement in particular subjects,” said Tom Fry, data, research, and accountability director. “We want to know if our students are growing in knowledge and skills as they move through multiple courses within each subject area. QualityCore gives us the ability to look at both progress and achievement on a course-specific basis.”

QualityCore is a research-based curriculum program that raises the quality and intensity of high school core courses. Rigorous ACT Course Standards define the essential knowledge and skills students need to be college and career ready, and end-of-course assessments help educators measure and track student progress. Other components include instructional resources, a formative item pool, and professional development.

This past spring, the district completed its second year of administering end-of-course assessments in all twelve QualityCore courses: English 9, 10, 11, and 12; Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Pre-Calculus; Biology, Chemistry, Physics; and U.S. History. Staff administered more than 10,000 tests to students in grades seven through twelve.

A student gives a presentation to his teacher and fellow students during a class in the Olentangy Local School District.

QualityCore’s instructional resources allow educators to customize instruction to meet their students’ particular needs. Teachers receive information about the performance of each student and about the class as a whole, which helps them plan and shape their lessons accordingly. “Our teachers like the QualityCore assessments because they test students on what is being taught in the classroom. There’s a link between what teachers are teaching and what students are learning.”

In addition to tracking student progress from course to course, the district is also using QualityCore end-of-course assessment outcomes to project students’ success in high-level courses, such as honors classes. “Like most districts, our teachers recommend students for high-level courses. But what about the kids who fall between the cracks or those who are not traditionally identified for high-level courses? We want to make sure all students have the same opportunities as those who are recommended,” said Fry.

Administrators discovered last year that 35 students’ QualityCore end-of-course scores qualified them for a biology honors class, though teachers had not recommended them for it. Staff members contacted the students, and more than half enrolled in the class.

District administrators also look at the projections in relation to college readiness benchmarks and are using the information to help motivate students to take more rigorous courses. “QualityCore helps us place students in the right classes based on their capabilities. It’s a very powerful tool.”