COLUMBUS – Ordinarily a D on a report card would not be a reason to boast, but the grade represents an improvement for Ohio’s largest school district.
Columbus City Schools saw its overall grade on its State Report Card, released by the Ohio Department of Education Thursday, go from an F to a D with it biggest gain coming in the area of “gap closing,” which measures how well schools are meeting the performance expectations for at-risk students in the areas of English language arts, math, and graduation, superintendent Dr. Talisa Dixon said.
The district’s grade improved from a D to a B in one school year.
“While our overall grade of a ‘D’ is certainly not the end goal, it does show improvement over last year and now allows us to focus on the long-term success of our District,” Dixon said.
The district reported a graduation rate over 80 percent among four- and five-year students, though that was still only good enough for a D.
The program also achieved an “A” on the Post-Program Placement component, which shows the percent of students who are employed, in apprenticeships, in the military, or enrolled in postsecondary education or advanced training within six months of leaving high school.
Statehouse Democrats and Ohio’s largest teachers’ union question the accuracy of the state’s school report cards and called for the system’s overhaul.
“Many of the components used to determine school success and improvement disproportionately affect larger school districts. Instead we should be considering each district’s unique circumstances, challenges and their individual rates of improvement,” said Sen. Tina Maharath (D-Columbus), a member of the Senate Education Committee.
“It’s widely recognized that the current report cards rely too heavily on standardized tests and counter-intuitive methodologies that are stacked against low-income districts,” Ohio Education Association president Scott DiMauro said.
Among central Ohio school districts, only New Albany, Grandview Heights and Olentangy received A’s.