By Rick Palsgrove
Groveport Editor
Like most everything else in 2020, the Ohio Department of Education’s State Report Card results are affected by the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
No overall letter grades were assigned to Ohio’s public schools in this year’s report, but according to Groveport Madison High School’s Communications Director Jeff Warner, the information that state has released has some highlights for the district.
“We had 98.4 percent of our third graders pass fourth grade reading,” said Warner. “Our staff has worked super, super hard getting our kids ready.”
Though no overall grades were issued by the state for districts this year, Warner noted that five years ago Groveport Madison had received an “F” grade, but progressed to a “solid ‘C’” at the point grades were last issued.
“We’ve made progress and have used the investment the community has made in the schools to increase student achievement,” said Warner.
Warner said one difficulty the district faces is the transient nature of its student population as nearly one-fifth of its students leave the district before the school year is completed.
“It’s primarily our English language learners,” said Warner of the students who leave. “It’s hard to maintain consistency and it effects long term systemic change.”
Warner also noted that only 40.8 percent of the district kindergarten students are literacy ready when they enter school. He said this points to the need for pre-K school program for all students. Right now, he said, the district only offers a special needs pre-K program.
“We need more emphasis on our little learners,” said Warner. “The district is looking at what it can do for young parents with support with online resources.”
Visit reportcard.education.ohio.gov for more detailed information on this year’s State Report Card.
