With Thanksgiving in the rearview mirror and Christmas on the horizon, Ohioans are now fully immersed in the holiday season. Between shoveling snow and checking the kids’ Christmas lists, most folks aren’t thinking about their plans for the new year. But given Ohio’s less-than-stellar academic results on national and state exams, policymakers definitely should be.
The good news is that lawmakers in the Senate have already done some heavy lifting to create legislation that could help Ohio students. As a matter of fact, Senate Bill 19—which was unanimously passed by the upper chamber just prior to Thanksgiving—is the perfect opportunity for House policymakers to hit the ground running. Here are two reasons why they should put passing Senate Bill 19 at the top of their 2026 to-do list, as soon as the chamber reconvenes.
1. It will help boost math achievement statewide.
Ohio has a math problem. During the 2024–25 school year, just 55 percent of Ohio students scored proficient or above on the state’s math exams. Results are worse in middle school (ranging from 48 to 52 percent for grades 6–8) and just as concerning in high school Algebra I and geometry (59 and 43 percent, respectively). While it’s encouraging that proficiency rates improved in most grades between 2024 and 2025, overall achievement has yet to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels. In fact, gaps between 2019 and 2025 results remain large. Last year’s math proficiency rates fell short of pre-pandemic marks by roughly 5 percentage points in fourth and fifth grade, approximately 7 percentage points in seventh grade and geometry, just over 8 percentage points in sixth grade, and a massive 10 percentage points in eighth grade.
These aren’t just numbers. These are real Ohio kids, and almost half of them are moving from grade to grade without mastering the requisite math skills. Given Ohio’s lackluster graduation requirements, it’s likely they’ll still be awarded diplomas. But then what? Those who go to college may get stuck in remedial math classes that will help them wrack up student debt but not course credit. Students who enter the workforce won’t be prepared to succeed in many of Ohio’s in-demand careers, which require strong math and problem-solving skills. Even basic adulthood tasks—household budgeting, understanding car loans or mortgage rates, doubling a recipe, filing taxes, saving for retirement, calculating costs for a family vacation—could be hard to do.
If Ohio leaders want to do right by current and future students, they need to solve the state’s math problem. Senate Bill 19 offers an evidence-based path forward that focuses on curriculum and teachers.
First, it requires the Department of Education and Workforce (DEW) to review core math curricula and establish a list of high-quality instructional materials. Undertaking such a review would assist school leaders when it comes time to purchase new textbooks and materials.
Second, the curricula that schools use in both math and reading would be identified on state report cards. These new expectations should provide families, advocates, and communities with additional transparency.
Third, the bill calls for state officials to establish a new math proficiency exam for teacher candidates in the early grades. Those who fail to demonstrate proficiency can still earn a teaching license, but districts and schools would be prohibited from assigning them to teach math until they earn a proficient score.
Fourth, the bill requires DEW to establish two professional development offerings for current teachers: a course for foundational math knowledge and a series of programs on evidence-based math instruction. Collectively, these provisions should help ensure that current and future educators are well-prepared to teach math.
2. It would help struggling students and high achievers.
When students take Ohio’s state exams, their results fall into one of five performance levels: limited, basic, proficient, accomplished, and advanced. The top three levels (proficient, accomplished, and advanced) are considered passing scores that are at or above grade level. The lowest (limited) is a red flag that students are far behind.
Unfortunately, there are significant numbers of students scoring limited on math exams. In elementary and middle school, the percentage ranges from 23 percent in fourth grade to an eye-popping 39 percent in eighth. To catch up to their peers—and be prepared for adulthood—these students need intensive intervention and support from their schools.
On the other end of the spectrum, accomplished and advanced students are surpassing grade-level standards. Their test scores are a clear indicator that they’re ready to be challenged. And yet, many aren’t given the opportunity to enroll in advanced math courses. This lack of access has an impact on all high achievers across the state, but it’s particularly problematic for low-income students. A recently published Fordham report found that high-achieving, low-income students in Ohio are significantly less likely to attend college than their wealthier peers who had similar academic performance in third grade. Part of the reason why is that they lack access to rigorous learning opportunities such as advanced math coursework.
Students on both ends of the achievement spectrum deserve more support from their schools, and Senate Bill 19 aims to provide it. For struggling students, it establishes a new requirement for public schools to provide evidence-based intervention services to those who score limited on state tests in math or reading. Beginning in 2026–27, schools must also develop a Math Improvement and Monitoring Plan for each student who qualifies for intervention services. Meanwhile, for high-achieving students, the bill requires public schools to enroll students who score accomplished or advanced on their seventh-grade math exam in Algebra I in eighth grade. Students in grades 3–6 who score accomplished or advanced must also be enrolled in advanced math the next year.
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Between disappointing NAEP scores and lackluster state report card results, Ohio had a rough year in 2025. But the start of a new year brings new opportunities, and Senate Bill 19 is a great one. Here’s hoping that House lawmakers seize the opportunity to strengthen math policy in Ohio and help more students achieve proficiency in the years to come.
