Just as students get their report card, school districts across Ohio also get a report card. Thursday the state department of education released its annual report cards, showing what districts are doing well on and what needs improvement.
This report card is for the 2021-2022 school year, and officials say they reflect the impacts of the pandemic on learning.
"We're seeing substantial improvement from a state perspective in almost every area compared to last year," said Ohio Department of Education Chief Program Officer Chris Woolard. "However, we're not back to where we were before the pandemic."
Many observers note that virtual classes and remote school during a global pandemic caused learning issues for a lot of kids, especially in reading and math.
"Those were issues that were important and in need of emphasis anyway, the pandemic has made it more urgent," Woolard said.
Woolard said the report cards are meant to show what schools are doing right and what needs some work based on how students do on state tests.
This year is different from previous years since state officials changed the way report cards are structured. Before, schools were graded with letter grades, A-F, and now the state uses a five-star system.
Among the categories that the report card judges is whether students are making progress.
"It's taking the state tests and not only seeing if students a certain level but are they improving," Woolard said.
For one of the bigger districts in northwest Ohio, the progress category was a bright spot on this year's report card.
"They have not only met expectations for one year of growth, they exceeded it, which means we've delved into the learning loss that we expected over the course of the pandemic," said Toledo Public Schools Superintendent Romules Durant.
TPS scored 2.2 stars out of five. To see report cards for other districts in northwest Ohio, you can click here.
Durant said one big challenge the district is facing is poor attendance.
"Within absenteeism, before the pandemic we were sitting around 20 percent that had doubled during the pandemic which showed how many kids were staying home," Durant said.
With the hope from the state that this will be used as a tool for improvement.
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