By Kathryn Robinson
Media Relations Associate
Cincinnati Public Schools
Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) last week received its School Year 2022-23 Ohio Department of Education (ODE) Report Card, earning a two-star rating. The overall data represents a district that is still recovering from the pandemic, but showing positive signs as more than half of the areas of accountability demonstrated growth and many schools demonstrated success across the ODE Report Card component categories which include: Achievement, Progress, Gap Closing, Early Literacy and Graduation Rate. The district’s overall rating remained a 2-star, with its point total of 1.607 being .018 points from receiving an additional half star. Looking deeper into the report card data, results from last year reveal more than half of all CPS schools earned three stars or higher for the Overall rating, the District showed growth in 12 of 20 tested areas and five fewer schools were categorized by the State as requiring intensive support.
The most significant growth for CPS occurred within the Gap Closing component, which represents the extent to which schools are fulfilling performance standards for students in English Language Arts, Mathematics and Graduation Rates. Additionally, Gap Closing evaluates schools’ efforts in enhancing language proficiency among English learners, decreasing chronic absenteeism across all student groups and identifying gifted students for specialized services.
To create a path for positive growth amid pandemic learning loss, CPS implemented a back to the basics strategy at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year, focusing on the ABCs of Academics, Behavior and Culture.
“Our District’s performance on the Ohio Department of Education Report Card demonstrates a path toward academic growth. I am encouraged to see gains in several performance indicators and the Gap Closing component,” Superintendent and CEO Iranetta Rayborn Wright said. “While proud of progress, it’s clear we are still recovering from the pandemic. The District is focused on implementing our priorities as they will appear in our Strategic Plan, which will guide our work to achieve our Board’s approved Goals and Guardrails to improve student performance.”
To proceed with recovery from the pandemic, the District will continue to engage in the ABCs to improve outcomes for students during the 2023-24 school year by focusing on the Board of Education’s Goals & Guardrails and the District’s aligned strategic priorities: Support Our Students, Equip Our Educators, Connect Our Community, Ignite Innovation and Optimize Operations. Each strategy outlines and clarifies intentional areas of work to improve student outcomes impacting CPS’ district and school ODE Report Card Overall ratings, including the sub-categories.
“CPS believes in the inherent value and potential of every one of our students, and we are committed to creating a district where every child in every zip code has access to an excellent education,” Ben Lindy, CPS Board of Education President, said. “To that end, we believe that we have to show measurable improvement in student outcomes, and the state report cards are one important way of doing so. This year, we are particularly encouraged by our Gap Closing component rising to a 3-star, even as we know we need to do more. Also, more than half of our rated schools earned a 3, 4 or 5 star with 33 of 61 schools earning these overall ratings. We are very focused on continuing the improvement we are seeing and accelerating that improvement in the months and years ahead.”
Overall Rating:
● District earned 2 stars with 1.607 points, .018 points from reaching a 2.5 star rating
● 63% – 27 of 43 elementary schools earned 3, 4 or 5 stars
● 33% – 6 of 18 high schools earned 3, 4 or 5 stars
This is the first year for an Overall Ranking since the accountability system changed to a star ranking. The Overall Ranking is weighted by the following components: Achievement 28.601%, Progress 28.601%, Graduation Rate 14.266%, Gap Closing 14.266% and Early Literacy 14.266%. The College, Career, Workforce and Military Readiness component is not included in this year’s report card. ODE indicates this component will be a part of the overall rating in 2025.
CPS experienced the largest increase among the Ohio 8 and ODE Similar Districts by region in the Gap Closing component which assesses district and schools’ alignment with performance expectations in English Language Arts, Mathematics and Graduation Rates. This component also gauges the effectiveness in supporting English learners to enhance language proficiency, reducing chronic absenteeism and identifying and providing services to gifted students. In Gap Closing, CPS improved to three stars overall, with 23 schools improving by one star or more. Chase School, Covedale School, Frederick Douglass School, Fairview-Clifton German Language School, Hyde Park School, Kilgour School, Rockdale Academy, Rising Stars at Carthage, School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) and Walnut Hills High School earned 5 stars. Improvement within the Gap Closing component represents a continuous year-over-year reduction of educational disparities. CPS increased more than four percentage points in the Gap Closing component by improving Mathematics progress, Chronic Absenteeism and English Language Arts achievement, aligning to the Board’s goal to increase reading proficiency. In the 2022-23 school year, CPS piloted i-Ready assessments, an online assessment and instruction tool to help teachers provide students a path to proficiency and growth in reading and mathematics, MyPath Personalized Instruction and the Teacher Toolbox for Reading in several elementary schools. These programs provided real-time data to assist teachers and students throughout the school year, allowing them to adjust instruction based on student needs and test results. The District is using these tools for reading and math for all K-6 students for the 2023-24 school year after evidence of marked improvement on Ohio’s ELA test from the students in the pilot program.
Gap Closing Component:
● District improved to 3 stars – 4.3 percentage point increase
● 81% – 35 of 43 elementary schools received 3, 4 or 5 stars, an increase by 4 schools
● 39% – 7 of 18 high schools received 3, 4 or 5 stars, an increase by 2 schools
● 14% – 6 of 43 elementary schools increased by 2 or more stars
● 11% – 2 of 18 high schools increased by 2 or more stars
● 37% – 16 of 43 elementary schools increased by 1 or more stars
● 39% – 7 of 18 high schools increased by 1 or more stars
● Gifted Value Add increased to 4 stars, from 3 stars
● CPS experienced the largest increase among the Ohio 8 and ODE Similar Districts by region
CPS ranks first among the Ohio 8 in the Achievement component which assesses studentvperformance on all tested areas of accountability. CPS also experienced growth in 12 of 20 tested areas. The areas include Grades 3- 8 English Language Arts, Grades 3- 8 Mathematics, Grades 5 and 8 Science; Algebra, Geometry, Biology, English 2, American U.S. Government, and American U.S. History. Nine schools received three, four or five stars for Achievement. Ten schools improved by one star and no elementary schools decreased. CPS students increased proficiency in Algebra 1 by three percentage points and in English Language Arts, both on target with the Board’s goal. Achievement gains for students with disabilities also were evident for grades 3- 8 in English Language Arts, Math and Science. Achievement growth and proficiency are central to the Board’s goals and the District’s priorities. Strategies that are supporting more than half of the areas of accountability are focused on i-Ready data to provide benchmark assessments to inform instruction, aligned professional development and conducting instructional reviews with all one- to three-star schools to ensure instruction is appropriately tiered and aligned with the curriculum.
Achievement Component:
● CPS ranks first among the Ohio 8
● 3% increase – District earned 2 stars
● 60% – 12 of 20 tested areas showed growth
● 14% – 6 of 42 elementary schools earned 3, 4, or 5 stars
● 17% – 3 of 18 high schools earned 3, 4 or 5 stars, an increase by 1 school
● 19% – 8 of 42 elementary schools increased by 1 star
● 11% – 2 of 18 high schools increased by 1 star
The Progress component assesses student growth as compared to past performance. 13 elementary schools and four high schools increased by at least one star in the Progress component, with AMIS (Academy of Multilingual Immersion Studies), Rothenberg Preparatory Academy and the School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) improving to four stars and Covedale School, Frederick Douglass School and LEAP Academy improving to five stars. To support year-over-year growth, CPS implemented accelerated learning strategies, a focus on instructional equity to align programming, instruction and curriculum. The investment into i-Ready assessments to monitor student progress in real time by both teachers and principals leads to improved progress.
Progress Component:
● CPS maintained its rating similar to most other Ohio 8 districts
● District earned 2 stars
● 74% – 31 of 42 elementary schools earned 3, 4 or 5 stars, an increase by 1 school
● 39% – 7 of 18 high schools earned 3, 4 or 5 stars, an 1 an increase by 2 schools
● 31% – 13 of 42 elementary schools increased by 1 or more stars
● 24% – 4 of 17 high schools increased by 1 or more stars
● 12% – 5 of 42 elementary schools increased by 2 stars
The Early Literacy component measures reading improvement and proficiency for students in kindergarten through third grade by assessing proficiency in third grade reading, promotion to fourth grade and improving K-3 literacy. CPS’ Early Literacy rating for the 2021-22 report card measured two of the three components: proficiency in third grade reading and promotion to fourth grade. As a result of an added measurement and retained students as requested by parents, CPS’ Early Literacy rating dropped 1 star. Four elementary schools, John P. Parker School, Roll Hill School, Silverton Elementary School and CDA, increased by one star in Early Literacy. Aligned to the CPS Board’s goal, the District implemented several strategies and improved its third grade English Language Arts proficiency for school year 2022-23. These strategies included additional professional development and instructional reviews to truly leverage the curriculum. The District trained all kindergarten and first grade teachers in the Science of Reading, dyslexia support and a structured literacy approach, and continues to train second and third grade teachers.
Early Literacy Component:
● District earned 1 star
● 23% – 11 of 47 tested schools earned 3, 4 or 5 stars
● 9% – 4 of 47 tested schools increased by 1 or more stars
● 2.3% – Increase in 3rd grade English Language Arts proficiency
● CPS ranks first among the Ohio 8
The Graduation Rate for the class of 2022 increased to 80.8% with four schools improving by one star. To continue to grow its graduation rate and remain in line with the Board’s goal of 85% by 2024, CPS is implementing a series of strategies for improvement. CPS invested $4 million in Graduation Counselors, Attendance Social Workers and Assistant Principals of Culture and Community to improve attendance and graduation rates by increasing early interventions to support students. Preliminary data for the class of 2023 shows signs of growth in the graduation rate.
Graduation Rate Component:
● District earned 1 star
● 28% – 5 of 18 high schools earned 3, 4 or 5 stars, an increase by 1 school
● 2.7% – Increase in four year graduation rate for class of 2022
● 22% – 4 of 18 high schools increased by 1 or more stars
● 2.9% – Increase in five year graduation rate for students with disabilities
● CPS is one of two Ohio 8 districts to improve its Weighted Graduation Rate
● Preliminary data projects CPS graduation rates will be 4 year – 81.5%; 5 year – 84.6% and weighted graduation rate – 82.7%
The College, Career, Workforce, and Military Readiness Component measures how well-prepared students are for future opportunities. While not included in this year’s rating, CPS improved 6.4-percentage points when compared to the 2021-22 school year.
Superintendent Wright added, “Today’s report card from the Ohio Department of Education is one measure our team will use as we implement our strategic priorities to improve student outcomes. We are committed to supporting the whole child, and together with our educators, parents, and community, we will work diligently to ensure a brighter future for our students.”
The Ohio 8 districts are Akron City, Canton City, Cincinnati Public Schools, Cleveland Municipal, Columbus City Schools District, Dayton City, Toledo City and Youngstown City. The ODE Similar Districts are Fairfield City, Hamilton City, Northwest Local, Princeton City, Reynoldsburg City, South-Western City and the Ohio 8 school districts.
For more information about ODE’s report cards visit: https://reportcard.education.ohio.gov/