Why nearly half of Franklin County districts saw lower state report card scores

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Eight of 18 Franklin County public school districts scored a half-star lower on their state report cards this year.

"Although the report card on its surface looks like, 'Oh my gosh, something happened. They did terrible,' it's really not accurate," Whitehall Superintendent Sharee Wells said. "And we're really, really optimistic about what it's going to look like next year."

Ohio's annual district and school report card scores were released last Monday, ranking districts on a five-star scale. Whitehall, like many districts, saw a half-star decline; the district received two and a half stars this year but three stars in 2024. Wells echoed the remarks of many similarly positioned districts and said although there is work to do, the report cards represent just part of districts' progress.

Ohio measures six components: achievement, progress, gap closing, graduation, early literacy, and college, career, workforce and military readiness. Achievement, or testing performance, and progress, or academic growth from year to year, are weighted at 25% when calculating the overall star rating. Each of the remaining four categories are weighted at 12.5%.

The category considering postsecondary readiness is new this year, affecting how many districts scored overall. Of all Franklin County districts, only Columbus City, Dublin and Groveport Madison did not see their lowest score in college, career, workforce and military readiness.

"We are learning more about this new component and will use this data to reflect on our practices and make necessary adjustments to ensure every student is prepared for their future," a Worthington spokesperson said of the new category.

Wells said Whitehall's one star for postsecondary readiness does not fully reflect the work they are doing to implement career readiness into every grade level. She said Whitehall's score was also complicated because the district did not fully understand the new reporting requirements. Wells hired a new professional this year to ensure district data accurately meets state expectations.

South Western City Schools had nearly the same star rankings as last year and increased its achievement rating to three stars. However, the district got just two stars in its postsecondary readiness category, contributing to a lower overall score. Brian Bowser, South Western assistant superintendent of curriculum, said he is proud of the district's progress and will continue improving.

When looking at the point values associated with district rankings, South Western missed the three and a half star threshold by 0.06 of a point. South Western scored 2.594 points overall and was the closest Franklin County district to achieving a different score.

Although adding a sixth category adjusted districts' scoring, it was not the only factor for lower scores. For example, Gahanna-Jefferson received just one star in postsecondary readiness but maintained its overall four star rating. NBC4 Investigates found many high-achieving districts saw declines in early literacy scores due to shifting assessment tools. See previous coverage in the video player above.

Wells said Whitehall, like other districts, knew scores might see a dip this year as districts adjusted to updated state curriculum standards. She said the report card data's deadlines also affected the ratings, and she feels her district is already performing better than the report card reflects.

Wells said when she first got to the school in 2022, three out of four graduating seniors told her they did not know what they were doing next. She said since she's been at Whitehall, they've expanded their career programming down through pre-K, and added pre-engineering and pre-biomedical learning pathways. At this year's senior breakfast, Wells said she already saw a change in how students discussed post-graduation plans.

"The declines were explainable and understandable and definitely temporary, and we're seeing a lot behind the scenes, even deeper within the report card data, that's showing some great progress for us," Wells said. "So we know that we have a lot of great work to do, but we're also excited about the start that we've had."

See all Ohio districts and report card scores by school here.