The annual state report cards on Ohio鈥檚 school districts and buildings are out 鈥� and like everything else this strange year, they look very different from the usual updates.
There are no letter grades for either districts or buildings, no grades on individual performance measures, no information on student academic growth or on achievement gaps between groups.
State school superintendent Paolo DeMaria said that鈥檚 because federal and state tests after .
鈥淭he fundamental data that鈥檚 included in state report cards is based on those assessments that are taken at the end of the year. So without that, there鈥檚 really very skeletal 鈥� the legislature directed us to include only those things for which we had data, and that鈥檚 not very much, DeMaria said.
The report cards do show a half a point increase in the statewide graduation rate, and more students meeting the 鈥淧repared for Success鈥� measure, such as scoring well on college entrance exams, earning honors diplomas or securing industry recognized credentials.
The limited statistics on the 2020 report cards also show some slight gains for Northeast Ohio's biggest school districts.
The Cleveland Metropolitan School District鈥檚 four-year graduation rate showed slight improvement at 80.1 percent, a nearly two-point jump over 2019.
Meanwhile, Akron Public School鈥檚 four-year graduation rate bumped up less than half a point, to 80.2 percent.
As for the category 鈥淧repared for Success,鈥� which looks at how well students are prepared for future opportunities either 鈥渢hrough training in a technical field or preparing for work or college,鈥� Akron schools jumped two points to 23.5 percent and CMSD dipped a half percent to 10.4 percent.
Parma City School鈥檚 four-year graduation rate was down one point from 2019 to 86.4 percent. In the Prepared for Success category, however, Parma jumped nearly four points to 50.1 percent.
DeMaria said it鈥檚 unclear what the report cards might look like next year, since decisions are still being made on federal and state testing and full-time, in-person learning for all schools.
鈥淭he state board of education ,鈥� DeMaria said. 鈥淚 hope to see continuing dialogue about what the long term report card construction and structure looks like, and I think that will have to take some of these issues into account.鈥�
Gov. Mike DeWine has also said to the report cards.
The A-F grading system went into effect in 2012, and critics have called it both and .
