School report cards: How Clark, Champaign schools performed in 2023-24

Springfield Superintendent Bob Hill said the data shows progress over the last school year, with the district improving in one of the five category ratings. The district scored a 2 in progress, compared to a 1 last year, and scored a 2 in each category other than early literacy being a 1.

“Despite the numerous challenges our students encounter, including the well-established link between poverty and academic achievement, our committed team of educators and support staff work relentlessly to provide the very best for our students — offering high-quality education, exceptional educators who care and comprehensive support systems,” Hill said.

“The correlation between improved student performance metrics and the reduction in chronic absenteeism is significant. Our team is excited to build on this positive momentum.”

The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce uses multiple data points from public schools to determine the districts’ ratings. The five categories that go into the overall rating are achievement, gap closing, early literacy, graduation and year-over-year progress.

Achievement and progress are most heavily weighted into the equation. Achievement includes more raw measures of how students did on state testing, and progress measures academic growth of students from year to year, according to ODEW.

The report also has a college, career, workforce and military readiness component that measures how ready students are to achieve outside of the K-12 system. But the state has not yet begun to include this component into the overall system and it isn’t rated as an individual component on this report card.

Northeastern and Northwestern joined Springfield with 2-star grades in progress, and Northeastern scored the lowest in graduation with a 1.

An overall rating of at least 3 stars means a district or school meets state standards, according to the Ohio Department of Education.

Clark County’s overall top ratings were 4 stars for Clark-Shawnee, and 3.5 stars for Greenon, Tecumseh and Southeastern. Northeastern and Northwestern each had ratings of 3 stars.

Clark-Shawnee Superintendent Brian Kuhn said the district is “extremely proud” of its overall rating.

“This rating indicates that our students exceeded state standards during the 2023-24 school year,” Kuhn said. “This report card reflects the hard work and dedication of our outstanding staff. We continue to strive to meet students’ learning needs each and every day.”

Greenon scored the highest in graduation with a 5; Southeastern scored the highest in gap closing with a 4; and Clark-Shawnee and Tecumseh scored the highest in progress with a 4.

“We are pleased with this year’s Ohio State Report Card data, as our 3.5-star overall rating reflects the district’s success in meeting state standards,” said Greenon Superintendent Darrin Knapke. “We are especially proud to have achieved a 5-star rating in the graduation category, demonstrating our commitment to preparing students for success beyond Greenon Local Schools.”

“While we celebrate these achievements, we also recognize that there is always room for growth,” he added. “Our district will continue to analyze the data and identify areas for improvement, ensuring we provide the best possible educational experience for our students.”

All districts other than Springfield scored a 3, or “meets standards” in achievement, and all districts besides Clark-Shawnee, Northwestern and Springfield scored a 3 in early literacy.

In Champaign County, almost all school star ratings were above 3 in all categories, with West Liberty-Salem rating overall the highest with a 4.5, and Urbana scoring the lowest with a 3.

West Liberty-Salem had the highest ratings with 5s in achievement, gap closing and graduation, along with Graham who also had 5s in gap closing and graduation.

“This achievement is a testament to our commitment to a rigorous core curriculum, academic excellence, and fostering strong relationships throughout our district. These values are aligned with our strategic plan and guide everything we do to ensure student success,” said Graham Superintendent Chad Lensman. “Moving forward, we will continue focusing on strong instruction and supporting students inside and outside the classroom.”

Mechanicsburg Exempted Village and Triad Local schools scored the second highest in achievement with a 4; Graham and West Liberty rated the highest with a 4 in progress; along with those two districts, Triad also scored the highest with a 5 in graduation. West Liberty and Triad also scored the highest with a 4 in early literacy.

Urbana scored the lowest in achievement, along with Graham, and gap closing with a 3, early literacy with a 2 and graduation with a 1. Triad scored the lowest in progress with a 2.

State Report Card for schools, 2023-24

Source: Ohio Department of Education.