Controversial School Report Cards Issued By Ohio, How Did Lakewood Fare?

LAKEWOOD, OH — The Ohio Department of Education released its annual, and controversial, school district report cards on Thursday. The Lakewood City School saw some regression in measured areas and improvements in others.

A spokesperson for the school system said the district would issue a release to the community early next week discussing the state report card scores. The spokesperson declined further comment on the grades.

The district saw some progress and some regression in various categories this year. The district's progress grade dropped one letter, from an 'A' to a 'B' and its prepared for success grade dropped from a 'C' to a 'D'. However, it's K-3 Literacy grade improved from a 'D' to a 'C'. (Subscribe to the Patch Lakewood newsletter for local news and updates.)

Here's how Lakewood Schools were graded this year:

• Achievement: C
  • The Achievement component represents the number of students who passed the state tests and how well they performed on these tests.
• Gap Closing: F
  • The Gap Closing component shows how well schools are meeting the performance expectations for our most vulnerable populations of students in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and graduation.
• K-3 Literacy: C
  • The K-3 Literacy component looks at how successful a school district is at getting readers identified as not on-track, per the Third Grade Reading Guarantee, on-track to proficiency in third grade and beyond.
• Progress: B
  • The Progress component looks closely at the growth that all students are making based on their past performances.
• Graduation Rate: C
  • The Graduation Rate component looks at the percent of students who are successfully finishing high school with a diploma in four or five years.
• Prepared for Success: D
  • Whether training in a technical field or preparing for work or college, the Prepared for Success component looks at how well prepared students are for all future opportunities.

The Lakewood City Schools had the 372nd best Performance Index score in the state. The performance index is a calculation that measures student performance on the Ohio Achievement Assessments/Ohio Graduate Tests at the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 10th (OGT) grade levels, according to the ODE.

The state report cards issued for districts have been lightning rods for criticism from superintendents across the state. Shaker Heights Superintendent Gregory Hutchings said they did a "disservice" to his students. Cleveland Heights-University Heights Superintendent Talisa Dixon said the reports are only one measure of a district, and ignore the unique qualities of each school system.

Photo from Rick Uldricks, Patch