COLUMBUS – The state on Thursday released its 2023 Ohio School Report Cards, the first one where schools and districts received overall ratings of one to five stars, based on achievement, progress and other measures.
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The “star” system replaced the use of letter grades to rank schools and districts. The evaluations are based on five components: achievement, progress, education gap closing, early literacy and graduation.
The Dept. of Education says nearly 90% of districts earned overall ratings of three stars or higher, meaning they met state expectations for performance. The list includes at least 16 central Ohio districts, Hilliard, Dublin, Westerville, Lancaster, Southwest Licking Local and Westerville among them, though the Columbus City Schools, the state’s largest district, earned only two stars.
The Columbus district earned a single star each for its graduation rate and early literacy component and two stars for performance on state tests, the progress students are making and the reduction of educational gaps among students from various backgrounds and environments.
Bexley, Grandview Heights, New Albany and Olentangy were among those receiving the highest rating of five stars.
Dublin, Hilliard, Pickerington and Worthington earned 4.5 stars. Westerville, Canal Winchester, Southwest Licking Local and Lancaster received 4 stars.
The Hamilton Local schools earned 3.5 stars and Groveport-Madison, Newark and Amanda-Clearcreek were among those who met the expectations and received three stars.
The head of the state’s largest teachers’ union applauded the inclusion of a Student Opportunity Profile for each district for the first time.
“We know our students are much more than just their scores on high-stakes standardized tests, and the quality of teaching and learning in our classrooms is much more than what an overall star-rating can reflect. The new Student Opportunity Profile information in the state report cards goes a very long way toward providing a fuller, more useful picture of what is actually happening in Ohio’s public schools,” Ohio Education Association president Scott DiMauro said.
The Student Opportunity Profile reports measures factors like student-to-teacher ratios, the percentage of students participating in advanced placement or honors courses and enrolled in career technical education courses, among other criteria.
Statewide, academic achievement continues to improve and chronic absenteeism is down from the previous year, from 30.2% to 26.8% but state officials say it remains a concern.
The percent of third-grade students scoring proficient on Ohio’s state test for English language arts increased from 59.8% to 62.2%.