The New Albany-Plain Local School District's preliminary 2011-12 state report card results show some improvements, and the district should at least retain its "excellent" rating, district officials said last week.

"Based on the number of indicators, it looks as if we've again met 26 of all 26 and will be an 'excellent' district," said Neil Gupta, the district's curriculum director.

Gupta said final results should be released by the state at the end of August.

The annual report card is issued by the Ohio Department of Education. It uses 26 indicators to show progress in each district. To meet the indicators, students must test at a 75-percent proficiency rate in:

* Third-grade achievement tests in reading and mathematics.

* Fourth-grade achievement tests in reading and mathematics.

* Fifth-grade achievement tests in reading, mathematics and science.

* Sixth-grade achievement tests in reading and mathematics.

* Seventh-grade achievement tests in reading and mathematics.

* Eighth-grade achievement tests in reading, mathematics and science.

* 10th-grade Ohio Graduation Tests in reading, writing, mathematics, social studies and science.

Gupta said district officials are anxious to learn if the district can regain the "excellent with distinction" designation. Last year, after achieving the highest possible rating nine years in a row, including "excellent with distinction" in the previous three years, the district fell to the second-highest rating, "excellent."

One of the state's measurements that dropped the district's ranking to "excellent" was the value-added rating, which measures the progress students made from the previous school year. The district did not achieve "above expected growth," which is required for "excellent with distinction." The value-added measurement was changed for the 2010-11 report card, with the state increasing the number of standards needed from one to two.

Gupta said the 2011-12 value-added rating is not yet available. Neither are the adequate yearly progress (AYP) data, which measure student performances in the following subgroups: economically disadvantaged students; Asian or Pacific Islander students; black, non-Hispanics; Hispanics; American Indians or Alaskan natives; multiracial students; students with disabilities; students with limited English skills; and white, non-Hispanics.

In the 2010-11 report card, the third-grade students with disabilities did not meet the AYP proficiency levels required in reading and math. Because some of those students were in the K-1 elementary building the previous two school years, both the K-1 and 2-5 elementary buildings were "designated for school improvement."

The district's performance index, which measures all student standards together, was 106.6 for the 2010-11 school year, the highest in the district's history, and is anticipated to go up one point this year, Gupta said. The highest possible score is 120.