The first semester of 2016 has come to a close for the teachers and students of the Lawton Public School system, and just like students receive report cards grading their efforts in the first semester, so too will the teachers and schools of the district.

In 2012, the State Board of Education created an A-through-F grading systems for schools, giving parents, teachers and administrators an effective way to grade the effectiveness of individual schools within districts. The 26 schools of the LPSD are looking to improve their most recent grades from the State Board of Education.

Their was good news and their was bad news for Lawton schools. While two schools in the district, the recently opened Freedom Elementary and Woodland Hills Elementary both received As, Lawton High and Central Middle School both received Ds, low scores for the district. Hugh Bish Elementary showed the best improvement in the district, going from an F last reporting period to a B this report card. Principal Sherry Havron attributes the marked improvement to addressing the issues she knew the school faced, and addressing them with techniques to help teachers improve the way they presented information and concepts to students, bettering their comprehension of subject matter.

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On the other end of the spectrum, teachers and administrators at both Lawton High and Central Middle have begun to address the schools low scores. They have begun changing methods used in the classroom, applying more "hands on" techniques, eliminating "practice tests" throughout the year, and taking information from the state tests and applying it in the classroom. Teachers are working together to comprehend test scores and relating that to students performances overall. Tutorial programs are being put into place, with more coming before the Christmas break. Administrators at both schools are trying to use the poor performances as a motivational tool instead of an indictment of their school systems.

Across the state, fewer schools received gradings of A, B or D, with far more schools falling into the C and F categories. The grading system, which has been in effect for five years, is coming to a close at the end of this scholastic year. The Oklahoma State Department of Education will be rolling out a new school accountability program, set to go into place for the 2017-18 school year. Changes to the system are reported to include fine tuning accountability for the individual schools and tying the program into college and career preparedness program for Oklahoma students.

To look up a school's individual report card, please visit the Oklahoma Department of Education website.

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