COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Department of Education on Thursday released an abbreviated version of its annual school report card.
This is the third year the report cards are without overall grades for districts and schools due to challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic. The state agency said an overall rating will be included when the 2023 reports cards are released in the fall of that year.
The 2021-22 Ohio School Report Cards provide information on five rated categories: achievement, graduation, progress, early literacy and gap closing. Each component is rated on a scale of one to five stars.
“These report cards demonstrate something that teachers and school staff have observed: our students need more support to fully bounce back from the pandemic and remote learning disruptions in the last few years. While we believe the report cards could be more useful if they were less dependent on standardized test scores, they are helpful in determining where there are gaps that need to be addressed," said Melissa Cropper, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers.
“Ohio’s education community, together with families, is working to improve achievement for students. Our charge is clear, and the work ahead remains more urgent than ever as we continue an emphasis on literacy and mathematics acceleration while providing supports and interventions to help students overcome obstacles to learning,” said Interim Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Stephanie Siddens.
The Ohio School Report Cards and other data for all schools and districts, including community and other schools, are available here.
Columbus City Schools Superintendent/CEO Dr. Talisa Dixon said the state report card doesn't show the whole picture of the challenges the school district has faced.
"Like many districts across the nation, we are still navigating academic and social-emotional challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. We know there is still much work to be done, and we are actively addressing issues and seeking to continually improve student outcomes," Dixon said. "The annual state report card is a reminder of the work ahead in CCS, but it does not show a whole picture of what students, families, teachers, and administrators have accomplished since the return to in-person learning last year."
You can read Dixon's full statement here.
About the Ohio School Report Cards
The Ohio Department of Education said the annual state report cards are “designed to give parents, communities, educators and policymakers information about the performance of districts and schools — to celebrate achievement and success and identify areas for improvement.”
The report cards include “performance information provided by schools and districts including academic, financial, and opportunity to learn data. Some of this data is then combined into six components that receive star ratings to indicate the level of performance for the school and district.”