Understanding School Report Cards

Due to school closures and COVID-19, the Ohio Department of Education did not conduct state testing or issue report cards for the 2019-20. A report card was issued in October 2021 for the 2020-2021 school year, but there were no letter grades assigned or rank issued. However, you may want to start exploring a school by learning about school performance in the 2018-19 school year.

Understanding the Ohio School Report Card

Ohio’s School Report Cards are designed to provide insights into school and district strengths and challenges. The Report Cards present a common set of information about all public schools – traditional district, community schools (sometimes known as charter schools) and independent schools.

While no single document can tell you everything you want to know about a school, Ohio School Report Cards can be a launching point for getting to know a school.

Ohio Report cards are generally published each September. Schools and districts receive an overall A-F designation. An overall rating of A or B means the school exceeds expectations.

Current report cards also include six different categories of information, referred to as “components”:

Achievement
Progress
Graduation Rate
Improving At-Risk K-3 Readers
Gap Closing
Prepared for Success

Click on this link to find the report card for your school.

SOURCE: Guide to 2018-2019 Ohio School Report Cards

The Six Components

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Achievement

The Achievement component tells families and communities how students perform on state assessments.

The Achievement component tells families and communities how students perform on state assessments.

State and end-of-course assessments are aligned to Ohio’s standards for what students should know and be able to do at each grade level or in each subject area at the high school level. A grade of A or B in the Achievement Component means the school met at least 80% of targets.

Students take Ohio State Assessments in the following grades:

	Grade 3	Grade 4	Grade 5	Grade 6	Grade 7	Grade 8
English Language Arts	×	×	×	×	×	×
Mathematics	×	×	×	×	×
Science			×

Students no longer take social studies tests in grades 3-8.

When a student begins to take courses for high school credit, they take a test at the end of the course to determine if they have mastered the content. These End-of-Course tests are taken for:

English I and English II
Algebra I (or Integrated Math I)
Geometry (or Integrated Math II)
Biology or Physical Science
American History and American Government

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Progress

Not every child comes to school at the same level, nor does every child learn at the same pace. The Progress component looks at how student knowledge and skills grow over time at the school. Every child should experience growth every year.

Not every child comes to school at the same level, nor does every child learn at the same pace. The Progress component looks at how student knowledge and skills grow over time at the school. Every child should experience growth every year.

The below chart shows the grading scale for this component.

Grade	Definition
A or B	Students are growing faster than expected
C	Students are growing as expected
D or F	Student knowledge and skills did not advance as much as expected for the one- or three-year period.

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Gap Closing

Ohio believes it is important for all of our students – from all backgrounds – to achieve at high levels. The Gap component tells stakeholders how well schools and districts are serving all student groups:

Ohio believes it is important for all of our students – from all backgrounds – to achieve at high levels. The Gap component tells stakeholders how well schools and districts are serving all student groups:

American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian/Pacific Islander, Black/Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, Multi-Racial, White, non-Hispanic, economically disadvantages, students with disabilities and English language learners. The smaller the gap, the better a school is supporting all of its students. A score of A or B means the school is meeting at least 80% of targets in English language arts, mathematics and graduation rates.

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Graduation

As the title suggests, the Graduation Component provides a look at the percent of students who earn a diploma in four or fewer years after they enter 9^th grade for the first time and within five or fewer years after entering 9^th grade.

As the title suggests, the Graduation Component provides a look at the percent of students who earn a diploma in four or fewer years after they enter 9^th grade for the first time and within five or fewer years after entering 9^th grade. The calculation makes adjustments for students who transferred into and out of the school during that timeframe.

A school receiving a Graduation Rate grade or A or B has at least 89% of its students graduating in four years or 90% graduating in five years. Four and five-year graduation rates are weighted as follows to form the component score.

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Improving At-Risk K-3 Readers

Research shows students who read well by the end of the third grade are more likely to be on grade level and graduate from high school truly prepared for college or the career of their choice.

Research shows students who read well by the end of the third grade are more likely to be on grade level and graduate from high school truly prepared for college or the career of their choice.

The Improving At-Risk K-3 Readers component provides insights into how successful the school is in improving the skills of struggling readers and moving them “on track” to meet the Third Grade Reading Guarantee. The component looks at moving students in kindergarten, first, second and third grades. For instance, how many students were not on track in kindergarten, but are on track in first grade, and so on. Growth is focused on ensuring students score well enough on the English language arts assessment in the spring of their third grade year to be promoted to the fourth grade.

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Prepared for Success

The Prepared for Success component provides insights into how prepared students are for life after high school, whether a student plans to enroll in college, continue training in a career/technical field, enter the military, and so forth.

The Prepared for Success component provides insights into how prepared students are for life after high school, whether a student plans to enroll in college, continue training in a career/technical field, enter the military, and so forth.

A grade of A or B on this component means students in this school are graduating well-prepared for the future.

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