5 New Reports

Ohio ACT College Readiness Report

This report focuses on:

Performance - student test performance in the context of college readiness
Access - number of your graduates exposed to college entrance testing and the percent of race/ethnicity participation
Course Selection - percent of students pursuing a core curriculum
Course Rigor - impact of rigorous coursework on achievement
College Readiness - percent of students meeting ACT College Readiness Benchmark Scores in each content area
Awareness - extent to which student aspirations match performance
Articulation - colleges and universities to which your students send test results


The Opportunity Gap - Is Ohio Providing Equal Access to Education?


ProPublica analyzed federal education data from the 2009-2010 school year to examine whether Ohio provided high-poverty schools equal access to advanced courses and special programs that researchers say will help them later in life.

The relative rigor of Ohio state proficiency standards in mathematics


This report contains the findings of a study that compared the relative rigor of Ohio proficiency standards in mathematics and reading using the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scale as a common yardstick.

Student achievement in Ohio's "Big 8" district & charter schools

Each year, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute conducts an analysis of urban school performance in the Buckeye State—targeting the “Big Eight” districts: Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo, and Youngstown. This year, there is some good news to report. For example, the percentage of students in these cities attending a school that has met or exceeded “expected growth” (according to Ohio’s value-added metric) has risen significantly, from 67 percent in 2009-10 to 78 percent in 2010-11.

The Common Core and the Future of Student Assessment in Ohio

Ohio committed itself to embracing higher standards that cross state lines when it joined 45 other states and the District of Columbia in adopting the Common Core standards in math and English language arts (ELA) in June 2010.

But, adopting rigorous academic standards is just the first step in a long journey. High academic standards do not automatically translate into stronger student performance. These higher standards must be accompanied by adequate, on-going training for current and future teachers, principals, and district leaders to understand the new standards; new, aligned curriculum at the local level; and aligned and well-designed assessments.

Ohio could ultimately develop its own assessments, though that is costly, challenging, and time consuming. And even if Ohio were able to muster the money and capacity to develop its own rigorous, content-aligned assessments, it would not be able to compare Ohio students and schools with those in other states and the nation as a whole. Further, Ohio would have to go it alone in terms of developing curricula, professional development tools, and computer systems.

Alternately, Ohio can move forward with one of two voluntary consortia of states working, with nearly $200 million of Race to the Top funding apiece, to develop Common Core assessments: the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) and the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC). (Ohio is presently a member of both but a decision-maker in neither.) This report outlines the characteristics of SBAC and PARCC and raises implementation concerns for Ohio as it moves forward with this decision.