Ohio earns B- on helping its students

The Nation’s Report Card ranked Ohio 24th, issuing it a B- for how well it prepares students for success.

The national average was C+, according to the analysis released Wednesday.

Ohio’s ranking was somewhat better than in previous years; it was 26th in 2018; 29th in 2017; and 27th in 2016.

“We’re making progress, and I’m pleased with that,” said state Superintendent Paolo Demaria. “We’re always looking to see how we are doing and how we measure against other states.”

Demaria noted that Ohio ranked higher than all but one of its five neighbors, Pennsylvania.

The score is derived from 13 social and education indicators spanning a child’s life from birth through the school years and into adulthood. Measures include family income and parents’ education, student test results and graduation rate, and post-secondary education attainment, employment and income.

Ohio got its highest marks for the highschool graduation rate

— a benchmark that state lawmakers recently softened to ensure that more students receive their diploma — and children with at least one parent employed.

Ohio got its lowest marks for preschool enrollment, fourth-grade reading-test results, and adults earning a post-secondary degree.

The annual assessment by Education Week is widely viewed as one of the best measures of how a state is performing compared with its peers across the country.

Overall, the ranking is about what Ohioans should expect, considering that its scores in other measures, such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also are around the national average, said Chad Aldis, vice president of Ohio policy and advocacy for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an education-policy advocate.

“No one should be freaking out and thinking any differently about their local schools or the schools around the state based on what they read here,” he said. “Ohio’s report card is a far better indicator.”

However, Aldis said, Ohio’s low score in educational attainment is a significant problem.

“We’ve heard for a long time that businesses don’t have enough qualified applicants for the job openings in Ohio,” he said. “That is a really important measure that we can look at and gauge where we are as a state.”

This year’s report card comes in three installments, starting with the chancesfor-success section. Education Week will release sections for school finance in June, and K-12 student achievement in September.

The chances-for-success analysis is intended to highlight the role of education in a person’s success.

Massachusetts ranked first with an A-, followed by New Jersey, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Minnesota, all with a B+.

New Mexico ranked last with a D+, behind Nevada, Louisiana and West Virginia, all with a C-.

A closer look into Ohio’s results showed:

• 95.3 percent of children have parents who speak fluent English

• 83.5 percent of public high school students graduate with a diploma

• 74.5 percent of adults work full time and year-round

• 59.1 percent of children live in families with incomes that are at least double the federal poverty level

• 39.6 percent of adults have at least a two-year postsecondary degree

• 38.7 percent of fourthgraders in public schools scored “proficient” on a national reading test