Rankings are given to Nebraska schools in three groups of grades…3rd-5th grade, 6th-8th grade, and 9th-12th…called cohorts, based on the results of the statewide tests given each spring in math, science, reading and writing.

Each district receives a ranking based on improvement from the previous year by comparing scores of the same grade in each year, and on growth of the students by comparing their scores from their previous grade to their new grade. The changes in growth and improvement were done in only math and reading.

All the school districts along Highway 20 from Harrison to Gordon, except Crawford, had at least one of the three grade cohorts rank in the top 20 in the state in at least one of the four testing areas.

The highest placing was by the Chadron 9-12th grade cohort in reading…4th out of 227 districts. Chadron’s other numbers were back in the pack…99th out of 249 for grades 3-12, 52nd in science, 68th in math, and 79th in reading.

Chadron showed both improvement…that’s comparing grade-to-grade between the two years… and growth…comparing scores of the same group of students each year…in reading, but lost ground slightly in both subjects in math.

Hay Springs ranked 5th in high school science, 21st overall in science, 35th in reading, 90th in math, and 196th in writing. In math, Hay Springs dropped almost 9-1/2 points in improvement and 1.1-points in growth, and had a split decision in reading…with growth jumping 13.2 points but improvement fall 3.6 points.

The Gordon-Rushville 6th-8th grade cohort was 7th out of 234 districts in science and 37th overall in science, but was 149th in math, 158th in reading and 204th in writing. Improvement and growth registered big jumps in both reading…11.2 and 12.4 points…and math…9.5 and 6.3 points.

Harrison-Sioux County middle school students were in the top 10 in two areas…5th in reading and 7th in math. The district also placed very well overall…21st in reading, 40th in math, 44th in science, and 108th in writing. Reading was up 6-points in improvement and 8.2 points in growth, but math had a split result with improvement dropping 5.1-points while growth was increasing 8.7-points.

Crawford’s scores were middling…152nd in math, 155th in reading, 160th in writing and 172nd out of 249 in science. Its improvement scores dropped slightly in math and reading, with the reading growth score also down slight but math growth improvement slight.

The State of the Schools report also shows if each school met the federally-mandated “adequate yearly progress” standards for elementary, middle school and high school. Crawford, Sioux County, and Hay Springs did for all 3 groups and for each district as a whole.

The Chadron school district met the progress standard at the elementary level, was ranked in the “needs improvement category” for the high school, and listed as “not met” for the middle school. Gordon-Rushville got “needs improvement” rankings at the elementary and middle school levels and “not meeting” for the high school.

As a result, both Chadron and Gordon-Rushville were listed as “not met” district wide.