State Report Card

September 11, 2014

Dear Citizens Leadership Academy Families,

Tomorrow, Ohio will release the report cards for all public schools, and I wanted to be sure that you heard our results from me. While we did considerably better than Cleveland Metropolitan District Schools (CMSD) and also other local schools in various tests, we didn’t reach the 80% passage rate that we needed to reach – in several cases, we were in the high 70’s, but because we didn’t reach that 80% mark, our report card was negatively impacted.  Seventh and eighth grade math achievement showed solid improvement from 2013.  Citizens Leadership Academy earned a C in Performance Index Score, measuring overall student achievement.  We also earned F’s in gap closing and – because Ohio increased the state standards this year — in indicators met.  Here are our specific scores:

6th Grade		7th Grade		8th Grade			Performance Index Score
Reading	Math	Reading	Math	Reading	Math	Science
76.8%	62.2%	89.5%	81.4%	91.5%	79.8%	61.7%	93.2

• We earned an 89.5% in seventh grade reading and an 91.5% passage in eighth grade reading, but that was slightly lower than the previous year, resulting in a negative score.
• Our reading scores in seventh and eighth grade were almost twice as high passage rates as CMSD, and higher than Cleveland Heights, Euclid, and South Euclid, all suburbs from where we draw our students, as well as other large Breakthrough middle schools.
• Our math score for eighth grade (79.8% passage rate) was failing because it was below 80% but higher than that of Shaker Heights, South Euclid, Mayfield Heights, Euclid, and Cleveland Heights, not to mention CMSD that was a 40.0% passage rate.

We know that families like you expect excellence in education, and although these tests are important and valid, they are just one measure of excellence, and they are not the sole measure by which we assess success.  CLA is a school committed to excellence in everything we do for every scholar every day, not just on how we perform on these high stake tests.  With that said, there are lessons to be learned, as these are important tests, and we need to strive to improve on these tests so our excellence is reflected on them.

I recently met with Cortez Hawthorne, a founding CLA graduate who now attends University School.  I was so proud of his maturity and his leadership at one of Northeast Ohio’s top high schools. Cortez talked about how CLA prepare him academically and exposed him to a new world of opportunity.  He is not alone.  More than half of our graduates earned places in highly selective high schools.

Citizens Leadership Academy makes dreams possible for students because of the support of our entire community: families, staff, and partners.  We are preparing our students to excel in high school, college, and beyond.  Thank you for your continued support of our students and our mission.

Most Sincerely,

Shelly Saltzman
Founder and Model Leader