Toledo's boys' academy was almost closed a year ago. Now, it's hailed as a success story.

Martin Luther King, Jr., Academy for Boys made major academic gains last school year. The school jumped two ranks on the Ohio school report cards, which were released yesterday.

School leaders pointed to a dedicated staff, new reading initiatives, and an attitude of empowerment at the school. The staff feels so strongly about empowering students that they tell them their test scores at the beginning of each year and give them goals based on those scores.

"You have to have a goal to achieve something," Principal Chad Kolebuck said.

King Academy was one of Toledo's bright spots this year, but not every school saw such major gains.

Toledo Public Schools maintained its ranking of continuous improvement -- the equivalent of a C grade. The district's overall score, called a performance index, increased to 83.1 on a 120-point scale, a bump of 0.5 points. King Academy jumped from academic emergency to continuous improvement.

This is the fourth year in a row the state gave Toledo the continuous improvement ranking, and the fourth straight year the school system made incremental improvements on test scores. The district's performance index has risen from 79.1 in the 2006-2007 school year.

Despite the overall increase, 10 schools were rated in academic emergency, the state's lowest designation, up from nine last year.

The annual assessments include a bevy of data -- including graduation rates, results of the Ohio Academic Achievement exam and the Ohio Graduation Test -- and show whether a district and its students continue to improve year-to-year. Much of the information is used to determine whether schools made "adequate yearly progress," a determination of success under the No Child Left Behind Act.

In many ways, Toledo's report card was the same as in years past: small growths in test scores, a few bright spots and disappointments, and the same group of schools and students pulling the district's overall rank down.

While district officials lauded the success of the staff at King Academy, they also spoke about the district's continuing struggles.

"We made some improvements, but we also realize that the improvements that have been made in the district are not to our satisfaction, nor to the satisfaction of our community, nor our parents, nor our students," TPS Chief Academic Officer Jim Gault said. "I think we are at a point right now that we are not satisfied with small, incremental growth."

How TPS did

Of the 10 TPS schools designated as in academic emergency, two of them were actually small schools within Scott High School. Scott moved away from small schools in the summer, and will return to a traditional format this year. Of the schools in academic emergency, all but Sherman and Spring are in the Scott learning community, and all the schools are in the central city.

Meanwhile, the number of schools rated excellent dropped from eight to five, a major disappointment for TPS staff.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment in the Toledo rankings was for Birmingham Elementary. The East Toledo school was a poster child last year for the district when it moved from continuous improvement to excellent. But this year, the school dropped back to the C ranking.

But while more schools ended up in academic emergency this year, Toledo saw significant improvements in the next category. Only nine schools were rated in academic watch, the equivalent of a D, compared with 14 schools last year.

Some schools, such as King Academy and Rogers High School, made major improvements last year. And even though Birmingham lost its excellent ranking, its overall scores show a steady upward trend.

Most of Toledo's scores coalesce around middle rankings. Out of 54 schools, 30 were rated effective or continuous improvement.

Making changes

Toledo officials acknowledge they need improvement with black and special education students, but said they've developed plans that they expect will garner significant gains.

Millions in federal funds will be pumped next year into central-city schools -- whose students are predominately black -- and reform plans are already under way at many of those schools.

District leaders pointed to Cincinnati as a model for improved special education services. Cincinnati became the first urban district to reach the effective designation last year, and retained that ranking again this year. Its performance index, meanwhile, jumped to 87.3 from 83.1 the year before.

Toledo school officials said Cincinnati has been able to outperform TPS largely because of its performance in special education, a frequent weak point for the Toledo district. Several years ago, Cincinnati moved to include more special education students into its regular classrooms, a concept called inclusion.

Students receive additional services through specialists while in class, but the goal is to keep them among their peers. "Inclusion; that's the main thing," Mr. Gault said. "[Cincinnati] started making their gains when they changed their special education services."

Toledo officials are moving to a special education inclusion model this year, and expect significant test score increases. The concept has costs associated with it, because more paraprofessionals are required, but district officials say the benefits outweigh the costs.

In the area

Strides were made in some suburban districts. Northwood and Woodmore climbed two designations, from effective to excellent with distinction, the state's highest ranking.

Northwood Superintendent Gregory Clark said the score is a reflection of the combined efforts of students, parents, teachers, and staff.

"We believe if you institute the best practices across the board, test results will follow," Mr. Clark said. "We are trying to provide excellent opportunities to all our students. ... We are certainly happy to be recognized by the state in this way."

Curriculum changes and new technology were among the reasons given for Woodmore Schools' improvement. The district hired a curriculum director, and educators evaluated test data to make teaching adjustments, Superintendent John Fernbaugh said.

"We put in a lot of hours. We put Smart Boards in every classroom," he said. "We made changes in how the kids were being taught and had the teachers alter their delivery to meet the needs of our students."

Rossford Exempted Schools climbed one category to excellent with distinction. Superintendent Susan Lang said she shared the good news with teachers and staff Monday, their first day back in the classroom.

She said the score is the culmination of four years of work since the district began aligning curriculum in core subjects.

"I am very proud of all the buildings," she said. "The board of education believed in our plan and everybody worked together."

Anthony Wayne, Lake Local, Maumee, Otsego, Ottawa Hills, Perrysburg, Springfield, Swanton, and Sylvania were rated excellent on the report card.

Lake Local Schools last year improved to excellent with distinction but dropped to excellent this year because the district just missed the criteria in fifth-grade math and science, said Superintendent James Witt. High school students in the Wood County district were moved to temporary quarters after a tornado ripped through the high school building last June.

"We are certainly proud of the efforts our staff and students made given the circumstances our school has been through in the last two years. We certainly are going to work hard to get back excellent with distinction over the course of the next year," Mr. Witt said.

It was the 11th consecutive year that Perrysburg maintained a rating at or above the excellent category, Superintendent Thomas Hosler said. "We are pleased with the results," he said. "The staff has become very focused not only on the quality of instruction but also on student and baseline testing to identify students who might need assistance."

The Washington Local, Oregon, and Genoa districts were ranked effective. Washington Local dropped to effective from excellent.

Superintendent Patrick Hickey said the school again would have achieved excellent had the state not made changes in the way it calculates the value-added criteria, which is a measure of how much each student progressed from year to year.

"It is disconcerting. But I am proud of our staff," Mr. Hickey said. "On the other hand, I am still seeing growth in the district."

Mr. Hickey said the district reached a new record on the student performance index, but still dropped.

Charter schools

Last year, only one Lucas County charter school -- the Toledo School for the Arts -- was rated excellent on state report cards. This year, TSA was joined by the Toledo Preparatory and Fitness Academy on Arco Drive.

This is the sixth year in a row TSA has earned the distinction. The arts school in Toledo's Uptown district enrolls nearly 600 students and mixes a traditional college preparatory program with visual and performing arts classes.

Though the number of excellent charter schools grew, far more charters schools were given the state's lowest distinction. Of the 35 Lucas County charter schools, eight were rated in academic emergency. Of the remaining charter schools, 11 were in academic watch, 10 were in continuous improvement, and two were rated effective.

Contact Nolan Rosenkrans at: nrosenkrans@theblade.com or 419-724-6086.

First Published August 25, 2011, 5:02 a.m.