Local schools in top 5, bottom 5 of some report card categories

Strong report cards

** Tests: Oakwood ranked 12th among the state’s 607 school districts in performance index, a detailed measure of state test scores that gives incrementally more credit for the highest performers and less credit for the lowest scorers. Two smaller districts, Newton in Miami County and Waynesville in Warren County, were next locally, ranking around 40th.

A group of rural school districts just north of the Dayton area scored extremely well, with Marion Local and Fort Loramie posting the second- and third-highest test indexes in the state. Russia, Versailles, St. Henry and Minster also ranked in the state’s top 12.

** Graduation: Less than 5% of school districts statewide had 100% of their high school class of 2020 graduate in four years, as the statewide rate was 87.2%. Locally, Miami East, Twin Valley South and Franklin-Monroe were among those districts, while Brookville and Oakwood sat at 99%.

Graduation rates are measured on a one-year lag, and show the percentage of students who earned a diploma within four years of starting ninth grade.

** Attendance / absence: Again, several small rural districts on the outskirts of Dayton had the area’s lowest chronic absenteeism rates (defined as missing at least 10 percent of the year’s instructional time, for any reason). Russia, Marion Local, New Bremen and Franklin-Monroe were among the 10 lowest chronic absenteeism rates, below 2%.

Among school districts in the core Dayton area, Bellbrook (4.2%), Kettering (5.1%) and Springboro (5.8%) reported the lowest rates.

** Young readers: Waynesville ranked ninth among 607 Ohio school districts in the K-3 reading improvement measure, which tracks efforts at getting struggling young readers on track to proficiency by the third grade. Oakwood, Cedarville and Covington also ranked in the top 5% of the state on that measure.

** High school metrics: Oakwood and Russia were among the top 10 in the state on the Prepared for Success category, which tracks college entrance tests, honors diplomas, college credits and job credentials as a measure of college and career readiness. Springboro also scored among the top 5% of Ohio districts in that area.

Lower results

Dayton, Trotwood and Jefferson Twp. were the three lowest-scoring school districts locally for performance index on state tests, and were among the bottom 10 statewide, but they scored higher than the Akron, Youngstown and Cleveland districts.

Those same three districts were among the bottom five statewide in the Prepared for Success category and the bottom 20 in four-year graduation rate. Northridge schools also ranked in the bottom 5% of the state’s districts in multiple categories. Following the years-long financial trend, Northridge, Dayton and Trotwood also rank among the bottom 3% in the state for average income, with Jefferson slightly higher.

Outside of those four districts, the only local schools to rank among the bottom 5% of the state in any category came in the K-3 reading improvement measure. Yellow Springs, Sri-County North and Miamisburg all ranked low for their performance in that area.