Here's Why Ohio School Report Cards Should Receive An F

An analysis of the Ohio Schools report card data by Dr. Howard Fleeter of the Ohio Education Policy Institute proves that despite changes, ODE and the legislature continue to create measurement systems that measure poverty and not educational quality.

OEPI’s initial analysis of the FY16 Report Card data focuses on the relationship between
the percentage of economically disadvantaged students in each school district and the
district’s Performance Index (PI) score and PFS percentage. 

The graph above is self-evident. As poverty declines in a school district, that district is likely to see significantly improved results using the ODE school report card measure. Here's the conclusion from the analysis

This analysis is far from the first to demonstrate a strong negative correlation between
student achievement and socioeconomic status. However, this data shows that in Ohio,
the negative correlation between socioeconomics and student achievement has proven all too persistent over time. 

"Raise the bar" all you want, but unless you have policies to address this socioeconomic fact, results are going to continue to persist. Ohio needs a funding model that works for all students, not constantly changing measurement systems coupled with test and punishment rubrics.

OSBA Agrees, according to a Gongwer report, Director of Legislative Services Damon Asbury said

"Changes need to be made to close the gap between low-income and wealthy districts. Our organizations want to work with our members to improve school district report cards and solve problems, but what we do not want to lose in the recent confusion over report card results is the continuing performance gap we see between students in low-wealth districts and those in higher-wealth districts, we hope the OEPI report will serve to inform and encourage lawmakers to take action."

Couldn't agree more. Below is the full analysis