In the 2021-2022 school year, 59.5% of all students were proficient in English Language arts, while 50.5% were proficient in mathematics.
The results from this year show the educational progress schools made after going back into session after the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed, according to Lisa Gray, president of Ohio Excels, a nonprofit organization that focuses on improving educational outcomes for Ohio’s K-12 students.
“Worse, students in some grades and subjects are performing at levels lower than they did before the pandemic,” Gray said. “For example, these latest school report cards indicate that student performance in both reading and, particularly, mathematics, still remains too low.”
Gray noted this problem is particularly true for students from diverse racial backgrounds and those facing economic disadvantage. According to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce data, Black students’ proficiency in English Language Arts was 36.4% in the 2023-2024 school year, compared to white students’ 69%. And math had an even greater disparity — Black students were 24.7% proficient in math while white students were 63% proficient in math.
Hispanic and multiracial students also underperformed compared to white students, with 45.4% of Hispanic kids proficient in English Language Arts, and 37.7% proficient in math. Multiracial kids were 56.5% proficient in English while 46.2% were proficient in math.
The Ohio Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, said it was “encouraged by gains made by many public schools ... particularly improvement in math and reading outcomes for English learners and economically disadvantaged students, reading scores among elementary students, and student attendance.”
OEA President Scott DiMauro noted that chronic absenteeism rates declined from 26.8% to 25.6%. DiMauro called for the state to add accountability standards for private schools, which do not receive these state report cards.
“Parents cannot make apples-to-apples comparisons between their local public schools and the private schools taking public taxpayer-funded vouchers because private schools are still not held to the same accountability and transparency standards as public schools in our state,” DiMauro said.
Aaron Churchill, Ohio Research director for the Fordham Institute, a think tank focused on reforming education, agreed with Gray’s take.
“This year’s data are another wake-up call, as they show too many Ohio students continuing to struggle in math and reading,” Churchill said.
The state noted the problems in its summary of the report cards.
“It’s important to acknowledge the gains in literacy scores for third, fourth, and fifth grade students, but also recognize there is significant improvement still needed,” ODEW director Stephen D. Dackin wrote in the report.
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