The report card’s usual measures of student achievement, performance index, year-over-year growth and gap closing come from those spring state exams for students in grades 3-12.
“While schools have less information available than in years past, we still emphasize the importance of gauging where students are in terms of academic achievement and using available district data to (improve) instruction,” said Paolo DeMaria, Ohio’s superintendent of public instruction.
The main data categories that will be available are graduation rates and high school “prepared for success” measures, since that information is reported on a one-year lag, according to ODE.
The report cards released Tuesday will have four-year graduation rate data for the Class of 2019, and five-year data for the Class of 2018.
Prepared for success data measures college and career readiness through high school students' ACT/SAT scores, Ohio Honors Diplomas, job industry credentials, College Credit Plus achievement and more.
But even in those components of the report card, schools will only get numerical data, not letter grades.
The report card changes were part of the COVID shutdown-inspired House Bill 197, which also canceled the 2019-20 state tests, extended absentee voting in the spring election and pushed the income tax deadline back to July 15.
As of today, Ohio’s spring 2021 state exams remain scheduled as usual. Senate Bill 358, which has another hearing in the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday, would seek a federal waiver so Ohio could eliminate those tests. DeMaria did not comment on whether ODE supports that measure.
“The education community’s goal is to carry forward the teamwork, collaboration and care we’ve seen since last spring through this new academic year and beyond,” DeMaria said. “We have never been more focused, united and determined to ensure each child is challenged to learn, prepared to pursue a fulfilling post-high school path and empowered to become a resilient, lifelong learner who contributes to society.”
The 2019-20 report cards for charter schools, public school districts and career tech centers are expected to be available at reportcard.education.ohio.gov by late morning Tuesday.
Other data expected on those report cards includes student chronic absenteeism rate, partial information on kindergarten through third-grade literacy improvement, school financial/spending data, and whether districts have implemented Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) systems.
No school district will have an academic distress commission (state takeover) established based on the limited 2019-20 report card data, and charter schools will not be subject to penalties based on 2019-20 data.
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