As the state considers lowering high school graduation requirements, a new report card shows Ohio’s education system remains mired in the middle of the pack nationally, earning a C that ranks it 22nd among the 50 states and District of Columbia.
The mediocre showing in the study released Wednesday was slightly better than last year’s ranking at 23, but a tumble from 2010 when Ohio was fifth.
The annual Quality Counts report by Education Week, a national education trade newspaper, ranks states on student achievement, education financing and several indicators of student success, including family income, preschool enrollment and graduation rates.
Overall, Ohio earned 74.2 points of a possible 100, identical to the national average. And like the nation as a whole, Ohio’s performance was essentially unchanged from last year.
Massachusetts for the third year was the top performer, receiving a B with a score of 86.5. Five other states also earned Bs: New Jersey, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maryland and Connecticut.
Nevada again was last, earning a D and score of 65. Mississippi and New Mexico also got Ds.
But like Ohio, a total of 34 states fell into the C range.
State schools Superintendent Paolo DeMaria was out of the office Wednesday and unavailable to comment.
Ohio Department of Education spokeswoman Brittany Halpin said in a statement that “Education Week’s report highlights the need to keep raising expectations for our students and focus our attention on supporting schools and vulnerable populations of students. We’re taking this opportunity, as we develop Ohio’s ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) state plan, to evaluate the ways we can drive improvement in our schools.”
The report comes as the state Board of Education is considering temporarily lowering new high school graduation requirements in response to complaints from school district superintendents and others that large numbers of this year’s juniors, the Class of 2018 and the first subject to the new benchmarks, won’t graduate.
Chad L. Aldis, vice president for Ohio policy and advocacy at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, said the report highlights several areas of concern, notably persistent gaps in achievement between students in poverty and their more well-off peers. According to the latest National Assessment of Education Progress scores, 32 states are shrinking these achievement gaps. Ohio is not.
In addition, he noted that the percentages of Ohio students in preschool and kindergarten, as well as percentages of young adults working on post-secondary degree and adults who have earned degrees, are all below national averages.
“Ohio still faces challenges in overcoming a significant poverty-based achievement gap and lower-than-average adult educational attainment,” Aldis said. “At a time when Ohio policy makers debate graduation standards, cut scores, and the next wave of report cards under ESSA, it’s critical that we continue to have high expectations for all Ohio students.”
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
