Cincinnati Public does not meet any of 5 state standards, new Ohio report card shows

Cincinnati Public Schools' five-star ratings on the newly released school report cards were few and far between. The district itself scored mostly two-star ratings in the categories of achievement, progress, gap closing and early literacy. For graduation, which correlates to 2021 graduating students, the district scored one out of five stars.

As a rule, a three-star rating means a district meets state standards. Anything below three stars indicates a district or an individual school building has not met state standards. The state has not provided overall ratings or letter grades since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ohio school report cards: Find your district in this searchable database

Enquirer analysis: How did southwest Ohio schools do on state report cards?

A searchable database of the district's schools and their state report card ratings can be found at the end of this story, or by clicking here.

New CPS Superintendent Iranetta Wright said she was "not necessarily" surprised by the results given the data collection and analysis she's done on her own during her first 100 days and after. While all of the report card categories are important, Wright said she is most interested in the achievement data that correlates to student performance on state tests.

"It's one that carries a pretty substantial weight because it impacts everything else that students do," Wright said. Her priorities are closing gaps for kids and getting more students to grade-level performance. She also acknowledged the "glaring" difference between student performance at neighborhood schools versus selection schools such as Walnut Hills, which she plans to take "a close look at" to provide more equitable education across the district.

The district is the largest district in southwest Ohio and the second largest school system in the state. It serves nearly 36,000 students in more than 60 schools. It is a majority-minority district with more than 61% of students identifying as Black and 82% considered economically disadvantaged.

The average teacher salary, according to the district's report card, is $74,465.

"I think it's important that we have a clear picture of where we're making progress and where we need to focus next.  The report card is one important way to do that," school board president Ben Lindy wrote in an email to The Enquirer on Thursday. "Our board and the new superintendent deeply believe that significant progress for children is possible, and we're focused on making that happen."

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The district had a 53% chronic absenteeism rate, which rose since the previous school year and is worse for Black students. Students who miss 18 days or more of classes, regardless of excused absences, are considered chronically absent.

Students were still getting acclimated to post-virtual learning last school year, Wright said of families in CPS and across Ohio. There continued to be confusion around how long kids should quarantine and if and when to stay home if exposed to COVID-19.

Kids can't score well on tests if they aren't in school. Wright said chronic absenteeism is something CPS has to "tackle across the district" by following up with students and families and removing barriers to attendance. One of the biggest obstacles she's noticed so far this year? Transportation.

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"While we haven't had as many students that are missing school as a result of it, we have had students reporting to school late," Wright said. "So that's a barrier that we have to remove."

What do the stars mean and what were Cincinnati Public Schools' ratings?

Starting this year, schools will receive star ratings, from one to five, on five components: achievement, progress, gap closing, graduation and early literacy. Another component analyzing college, career, workforce and military readiness will be scored on future report cards, according to the state, beginning with the 2024-25 school year at the earliest.

Districts are rated on:

• Achievement ‒student performance on state tests and whether they met established state thresholds, for grades 3-12.

• Progress ‒ the growth of all students by comparing last year's state test scores to their performance on previous state tests.

• Gap closing ‒ looks at several data points to assess whether student subgroups based on race, ability and economic status are meeting state standards.

• Graduation ‒ the four-year and five-year adjusted cohort graduation rates.

• Early literacy ‒ information from third-grade reading tests, fourth-grade promotions and literacy improvement from kindergarten to third grade.

A more detailed explanation of what goes into the state's ratings for each component can be found online at the Ohio Department of Education's Guide to 2022 Ohio School Report Cards.

The region's largest district did not meet or exceed state standards in any category, and in general the district's schools scored low in all categories, with a few exceptions.

• Achievement: Hyde Park, Spencer, Kilgour and Walnut Hills schools were the district's only schools to score five stars in achievement. Fairview-Clifton German Language School and Sands Montessori School scored four stars, Dater Montessori and Clifton Neighborhood schools scored three stars and every other school in the district scored either one or two stars. That means 13% of the district's schools met or exceeded state achievement standards.

• Progress: Schools scored better on progress than achievement, with 63% of schools in the district scoring three or more stars.

• Gap closing: About 59% of schools in CPS met or exceeded state gap closing standards.

• Graduation: Eleven of the district's 15 high schools were below the state standard of a 90% graduation rate. Shroder, Walnut Hills, School for Creative and Performing Arts and Clark Montessori high schools exceeded that state standard.

• Early literacy: Twenty-two of the district's 47 elementary schools met or exceeded the state's early literacy standards.

Cincinnati Public schools that scored five stars on Ohio report cards

While the district as a whole did not meet, let alone exceed, state standards in any category, some CPS schools scored three, four and even five stars.

The following Cincinnati schools scored five stars on this year's state report card:

• Hyde Park School, in achievement and early literacy.

• George Hays-Jennie Porter School, in progress and gap closing.

• Spencer Center for Gifted and Exceptional Students, in achievement, gap closing and early literacy.

• Kilgour School, in achievement and early literacy.

• John P. Parker School, in progress and gap closing.

• South Avondale School, in progress.

• Sands Montessori School, in gap closing and early literacy.

• Silverton Elementary, in progress.

• Walnut Hills High School, in achievement, gap closing and graduation.

• Winton Hills Academy, in progress.

• School for Creative and Performing Arts, in graduation.

• Carson School, in progress.

• Rees E. Price Academy, in progress and gap closing.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Public Schools report card: Search our CPS database