Clark, Champaign student test scores decline
Sep. 22—Student test scores in Ohio from spring 2021 were lower than past years, including those at schools in Clark and Champaign counties, according to the Ohio Department of Education.
The drop in test scores was expected after the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the school year. Test performance was also worse in schools that spent more time in remote or hybrid learning, with a greater impact on English tests than math.
ODE officials said in grades 5-8 and on high school end-of-course-exams, overall test proficiency rates decreased by about 8 percentage points in English, and by about 15 percentage points in math from spring 2019. There were no state tests in spring 2020 due to COVID closures.
In those older grades, test achievement declines in English were as much as two to three times larger in mainly remote districts than in mainly in-person districts, according to an Ohio State University analysis of the data. In third-grade English, ODE said for each week of remote learning, students' achievement growth in English was about one-third less than the growth of their peers learning fully in-person.
School-by-school
The annual state report cards for Ohio's K-12 schools, containing specific results for individual schools and districts, will be released in mid-October , one month later than usual. ODE did release preliminary district-level data for each individual state test but cautioned that it has not been fully verified.
Clark County schools generally mirrored the state in that preliminary data, with proficiency rates on grade-level state tests were lower than in 2019 on about 75% of tests.
In the Tecumseh and Northwestern Local School Districts, 2021 student proficiency rates were lower than 2019 on 18 of the 20 grade-level tests. In the Northeastern Local School District, that was true on 17 of 20 tests.
Northeastern Assistant Superintendent Shawn Blazer said although only three test scores increased since 2019, the districts scores were still above the state average in most test areas.
"Like most school districts, we expected some decreases due to the loss of instructional time in spring of 2020 and the 2020-21 school year compared to the spring 2019 results," he said.
Blazer said this is the first time in two years for some students to take the state tests since they were canceled in spring of 2020.
"We continue to analyze our district data, looking to close the students learning gaps, and started this process with summer school offerings in readings and math. We will continue to work on closing learning gaps during this school year and have hired additional teachers to support our students learning needs," he said.
In Springfield City and Clark-Shawnee Local Schools, district rates were lower than 2019 on 16 of 20 tests. At Springfield, there were increases on English Language Arts 2, Geometry, Biology and American Government. At Clark-Shawnee, there were increases on English Language Arts 2, Integrated Math 2, English Language Arts and American History.
Southeastern Local Schools saw its proficiency rate increase from 2019 to 2021 on seven of the 20 grade-level tests, and Greenon Local Schools' proficiency rate increased on six of 20 tests.
In Champaign County, 2021 student proficiency rates were lower in the Urbana City School District on 19 of the 20 grade-level tests than in 2019. In the Triad Local School District, that was true for only 18 of 20 tests, and 16 out of 20 for Mechanicsburg Exempted Village Schools.
In Graham Local Schools, the district saw its proficiency rate increase on 12 of the 20 grade-level tests. The district saw decreases on mathematics (grades 3, 5, 6 and 8), English Language Arts (grades 3 and 7), Geometry and Science.
Test participation rates were lower statewide in spring 2021, especially among traditionally lower-performing students. State officials said that means raw scores may actually overstate student achievement in comparison to previous years.
Other data categories
Chronic student absence — defined as 18 days or more of absence from education activity in a school year — increased significantly in 2020-21, with 24% of Ohio's K-12 students meeting that definition.
Total PreK-12 enrollment in Ohio public schools dropped about 3% (53,000 students) from 2019-20 to 2020-21. ODE officials said almost half of the decrease was in preschool and kindergarten, as many students likely delayed enrollment. Ohio's homeschool enrollment increased by 55% (approximately 18,000 students) in 2020-21.
Committed coverage
The Springfield News-Sun is committed to providing in-depth coverage of school-related issues in Clark and Champaign counties, including state testing, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education, school funding and more.
