CLEVELAND — The report cards are officially in!
The Ohio Department of Education has released its annual 2023 school report cards for districts throughout the state.
According to the Ohio Department of Education, this is the first year districts and schools will receive overall ratings in half-star increments. An overall rating of at least three stars means a district or school is meeting state standards.
On the report card, the following categories will be listed, in which schools are ranked from one to five stars:
- Achievement Component: This component represents whether student performance on state tests met established thresholds and how well students performed on tests overall.
- Progress Component: This component measures the impact of districts, schools and teachers on the academic growth (or progress rates) of groups of students from year to year.
- Gap Closing Component: This component measures the reduction in educational gaps for student subgroups.
- Early Literacy Component: This component measures reading improvement and proficiency for students in kindergarten through third grade.
- Graduation Component: This component looks at the four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate and the five-year adjusted cohort graduation rate.
“Ohio School Report Cards illustrate consistent growth while helping schools pinpoint areas where continued focus is needed,” Interim Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Chris Woolard said. “Ohio’s administrators, educators, staff and families are dedicated to continuous improvement and raising student achievement, and this data will help inform decisions and drive additional supports for our state’s learners.”
So how does your child's school rank in the new report cards?
You can search for any district in the state HERE. We've also broken down some report card highlights from a few of the largest districts in Northeast Ohio.
CLEVELAND
OVERALL RATING: 2.5 stars
- Achievement Component: 2 stars
- Progress Component: 4 stars
- Gap Closing Component: 3 stars
- Early Literacy Component: 1 star
- Graduation Component: 1 star
AKRON
OVERALL RATING: 2.5 stars
- Achievement Component: 2 stars
- Progress Component: 2 stars
- Gap Closing Component: 2 stars
- Early Literacy Component: 1 star
- Graduation Component: 2 stars
“While we are certainly not where we want to be, overall, we are seeing good progress in many areas. Our strong team of teachers, administrators, staff, and community partners are working very hard on behalf of our scholars," said Akron Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Michael Robinson. "Akron Public Schools has seen improvement in our graduation rate, progress in our overall performance, attendance, and most notably in our college and career readiness, which is the focus of our nationally-recognized College & Career Academies model to transform K-12 education."
CANTON
OVERALL RATING: 2 Stars
- Achievement Component: 2 Stars
- Progress Component: 2 Stars
- Gap Closing Component: 2 Stars
- Early Literacy Component: 1 Star
- Graduation Component: 1 Star
None of the districts in Northeast Ohio received an overall rating lower than two stars. Joining Canton at the bottom of this list were Lorain, Painesville, and East Cleveland, the latter of which had 1-star ratings in achievement, progress, and graduation.
"The District believes that this report indicates that we continue to make academic progress, but there is still a great deal of room for improvement," said East Cleveland City Schools CEO and Superintendent Dr. Henry Pettiegrew II. The report cards published by the state also underlines our belief in the strength and importance of our scorecard and our revitalization plan over these state documents."
By contrast, 30 area districts received 5-star ratings, with four achieving "perfect" scores with five stars in each component. These districts were Aurora, Beachwood, Chagrin Falls, and Solon.
"I think there are three big factors to it. It's a community effort. I think it starts with great families and amazing students. We have an incredible student body, we have great families, they come to this district for the schools because they really value education," said Solon superintendent Fred Bolden. "I think you couple that with an exceptionally talented and caring faculty and support staff, and then we have a solid and stable board. And we have really quality district leadership. You put all those things together and it's a recipe for success."
Bolden said that in examining the report card data, the district is looking in particular at the component of growth, which can be challenging when students in the district are performing at a high level already.
"Being able to continue to do that year after year, that's a challenge for us, so we've been working with our administrators to look at how we're stretching our kids and pushing them to succeed further," he said.
The remaining districts with an official 5-star rating were:
- Avon
- Avon Lake
- Bay Village
- Brecksville-Broadview Heights
- Cuyahoga Heights
- Dalton
- Fairview Park
- Green Local (Wayne County)
- Highland
- Hudson
- Kenston
- Kirtland
- Lake
- Mayfield
- Nordonia Hills
- North Royalton
- Northwest
- Orange
- Perry (Lake County)
- Revere
- Rocky River
- Strongsville
- Twinsburg
- Tuslaw
- West Geauga
- Westlake
Twinsburg had 5s in every category except the progress component, for which they received a four. According to superintendent Kathi Powers, the district raised achievement and early literacy scores to 5s this year, compared to four and three last year, respectively.
"A report card like this is just a piece of paper, but so much happens behind the scenes that make the results happen, and this is such a hard working staff," she said. "We have wonderful parents in our community that support their children, and this is really about the kids, right. I mean they really performed at an amazing level last year."
Powers said they are particularly proud of their increased score in early literacy, while acknowledging there's still work to be done to raise the progress component to a five, including work on math, in particular.
"Our progress rating is not as great as we want it to be, and I can tell you already the work is going on behind the scenes to figure out this puzzle," she said.
Powers said that there is a concern that without those ESSER dollars, providing the "high level of intervention" seen in the district the past few years will be difficult without that funding. However, she said the district is "delighted" and proud of their students.
According to the Ohio Department of Education, nearly 90% of districts and 79% of schools earned an overall rating of three stars or higher, meaning they met the state's expectations for performance.
A full guide on the 2023 Ohio School Report Cards can be viewed below from the Ohio Department of Education:
