The nineteenth edition of Education Week’s Quality Counts report is out, and while Ohio outperforms over thirty states, the results show that there is still much work to be done. The 2015 report, which has a new evaluation system that focuses on outcomes rather than policies and processes, indicates that the nation as a whole declined from a C+ in 2013 (when grades were last given) to a C in 2015. Ohio also declined, moving from a B- in 2013 to a C in 2015. The report rates states’ quality along three key dimensions: Chances for Success, which takes into account indicators like family characteristics, high school graduation rates, and workforce opportunities; K–12 Achievement, which rates academic performance, performance changes over time, and poverty-based gaps (as measured by the NAEP assessments); and school finance, which includes measures of funding equity across schools. Ohio’s overall score, which is the average of the three categories, was 75.8 out of 100 possible points, which earned a ranking of eighteenth in the nation. In the Chances for Success category, Ohio earned a B-. Most indicators in this category show that Ohio is close to the national average, including preschool enrollment (46.5 percent of Ohio three- and four-year-olds compared to 47.3 percent nationally) and percentage of adults with a two- or four-year postsecondary degree (37 percent of Ohio adults compared to 39.9 percent nationally). In the K–12 Achievement category, Ohio earned a C-. Although this places the Buckeye State at sixteenth in the nation in achievement, the relatively high ranking hides low percentages: just over 37 percent of fourth-grade public school students were proficient on the 2013 NAEP reading test, and only 40 percent of eighth-grade public school students were proficient on the NAEP math test. Ohio fared slightly better in the school finance category with an overall grade of C+. This category determined that Ohio spends $12,010 per pupil (adjusted for regional cost variation), compared to a national average of $11,735. Elsewhere in the nation, consistently high-performing Massachusetts nabbed the top overall spot with a solid 86.2 out of 100 (B), while Mississippi earned a dismal 64.2 out of 100 (D), making it last in the nation. Overall, although Ohio performed reasonably well in terms of rankings, a C overall means there’s ample room for improvement in the Buckeye State. (For another take on this report, see here.)
Source: “Education Week's Quality Counts.” Education Week Resource Center (January 2015).
