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Ohio Department of Education releases school report cards: Here's how northwest Ohio performed

Schools are now graded on a 5-star scale, offering a comprehensive analysis at the cost of a year-to-year comparative one.

TOLEDO, Ohio — The Ohio Department of Education released its annual school district report cards on Thursday, offering insight into the quality of education locally and state-wide. 

In previous years, school districts received a letter rating on a scale of A-F, similar to a student report card. This year, ODE scored schools out of five stars, with five being the highest. During the previous two years, ODE did not provide overall reports because of complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

RELATED: Ohio school report cards are out: See how your district did for 2020-21 in the state's abridged, no letter grade report

Critics argue the ratings aren't reflective of students' actual performance because they are based exclusively on testing, which is only one component of the educational experience. Additionally, some say the new rating system complicates yearly comparative analysis because of absent or inconsistent data. 

But ODE officials said the yearly report card is important to the future of Ohio education. 

"The more we understand the needs of students through the Ohio School Report Card results and other data, the better we can personalize education, focus instruction and tailor enrichment programs to accelerate and enhance learning," Interim Superintendent of Public Instruction Stephanie Siddens said in a press release.

ODE stressed that the report cards are only a part of the story. In the same press release, the department encourages "communities, including parents caregivers, business and philanthropy, to learn what's happening in their local schools" because it can "provide a more complete picture of students' educational experiences."

Each district is scored on two components: achievement and progress. Three other components were also considered, including gap closing, graduation and early literacy, but criteria was not provided for those scales.

Achievement measures how well students performed on state tests throughout the year in a variety of subjects in grades 3 through high school. Thresholds of maximum points earned in academic performance determine how many stars a district receives. According to the ODE guide to the 2022 report card, the achievement component measures "which students are performing well" and "which are not;" in which subjects are students excelling; and more. 

The progress component measures the changes in achievement schools see from year-to-year. "More simply put," the 2022 guide reads, "academic growth is measured by looking at the current achievement compared to prior achievement results on Ohio's State Tests."

According to the ODE, "gap closing" measures reduction in the educational gap for student subgroups, graduation measures the four-year and five-year graduation rate and early literacy measures reading proficiency in K-3 grades.

The rankings have important qualitative descriptions. For both components, the number of stars awarded have descriptions that are crucial to understanding the rankings. They are as follows:

Achievement component

Five stars: District significantly exceeds state standards

Four stars: Exceeds state standards

Three stars: Meets state standards

Two stars: Needs support to meet standards

One star: Needs significant support to meet standards

Progress component

Five stars: Significant evidence the district exceeded student growth expectations by a large magnitude

Four stars: Significant evidence the district exceeded student growth expectations

Three stars: Evidence the district met student growth expectations

Two stars: Significant evidence the district fell short of student growth expectations

One star: Significant evidence the district fell short of student growth expectations by a larger magnitude

Here are the report cards for the 10 WTOL Big 11 school districts located in Ohio:

Anthony Wayne

Achievement component: 5 stars

Progress component: 1 star

Gap closing: 4 stars

Graduation: 5 stars

Early literacy: 5 stars

Average: 4 stars

Bowling Green

Achievement component: 3 stars

Progress component: 4 stars

Gap closing: 5 stars

Graduation: 4 stars

Early literacy: 2 stars

Average: 3.6 stars

Findlay

Achievement component: 3 stars

Progress component: 2 stars

Gap closing: 4 stars

Graduation: 4 stars

Early literacy: 2 stars

Average: 3 stars

Maumee

Achievement component: 4 stars

Progress component: 5 stars

Gap closing: 5 stars

Graduation: 5 stars

Early literacy: 2 stars

Average: 4.2 stars

Oregon

Achievement component: 3 stars

Progress component: 2 stars

Gap closing: 3 stars

Graduation: 3 stars

Early literacy: 3 stars

Average: 2.8 stars

Perrysburg

Achievement component: 5 stars

Progress component: 5 stars

Gap closing: 5 stars

Graduation: 5 stars

Early literacy: 3 stars

Average: 4.6 stars

Springfield

Achievement component: 3 stars

Progress component: 4 stars

Gap closing: 5 stars

Graduation: 3 stars

Early literacy: 2 stars

Average: 3.4 stars

Sylvania

Achievement component: 4 stars

Progress component: 5 stars

Gap closing: 5 stars

Graduation: 4 stars

Early literacy: 3 stars

Average: 4.2 stars

Toledo Public

Achievement component: 2 stars

Progress component: 4 stars

Gap closing: 3 stars

Graduation: 1 star

Early literacy: 1 star

Average: 2.2 stars

Washington Local

Achievement component: 2 stars

Progress component: 2 stars

Gap closing: 3 stars

Graduation: 2 stars

Early literacy: 1 stars

Average: 2 stars

Average from all listed schools: 3.4 stars

You can search for your school district's performance by clicking here.

State of Ohio stats rundown

Across the state of Ohio, data indicated that students of all economic, racial, ethnic and linguistic groups and abilities improved scores in English Language Arts and mathematics from the 2020-21 school year to the 2021-2022 school year. 

RELATED: 'Sobering picture' of pandemic education: Reading, math scores drop sharply

Additionally, 72.2% of districts saw a performance index increase of three points or more. Four-year graduation rates are steady from 2020, hovering at 87.2%. 

At the school-level, 30.5% received 1 star in early literacy, while 42.2% of Ohio schools claimed 5 stars in gap closing. 

You can view more state-wide statistics here

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