| By Stan Nicol, M.ED., Data Analysis and School Accountability School Local Report Cards (LRC), released in September 2022 by the Ohio Department of Education, were composed of up to 6 components areas. The Gap Closing component measured how well schools were meeting established goals in English Language Arts (ELA), Mathematics (MTH), Graduation, English Learners, Gifted and Chronic Absenteeism. The Chronic absence metric was previously a part of the Indicators Measure. Using established baseline Gap Closing calculations, we can measure learning losses with Ohio’s students. More importantly, we can evaluate if schools are effective in meeting the needs of ALL subgroups of students. The “Every Student Succeeds Act” (ESSA) went into law in 2015. This law replaced the No Child Left Behind Act. ESSA required states to develop a plan to measure the progress of our struggling students. ODE recognized ten subgroups of students which includes six race/ethnicity groups as well as Economically Disadvantaged, Students with Disabilities, English Leaners and All Students. Using data from the 2015-16 school year, baseline performance scores were established. Over the next ten years schools were to close the achievement gap. This is measured incrementally on the current Gap Closing component of the LRC. For the academic measure, a Performance Index (PI) calculation is used with a final goal of achieving an “All Students” PI score of 100 for both English Language Arts and Mathematics. The other nine sub-groups have a goal of reducing their achievement gap by 50% over the ten-year period. Because of the pandemic, ODE re-established the ESSA goals setting a new baseline using 2020-21 data. Using the baseline calculations established from the 2015-16 data we can compare the pre-pandemic baseline to the 2020-21 baseline. Because of the pandemic, Ohio did not administer OST tests in the spring of 2022. Figure A shows the declines in performance for English Language Arts. While all student scores declined during the pandemic, Ohio’s American Indian/Alaskan Native students showed largest impact with an 8.1-point decline followed by Black students with a decline of 6.9 PI points. English Learners had the lowest decline with a 1.2-point drop followed by White students at 1.4.  |
Comparing Mathematics performance scores by the measured subgroups, we see much more substantial learning losses. In all ten subgroups Ohio saw double digit declines. Black students show the largest decline at 15.9 points followed closely by Multi-Racial at 15.5. As with English language Arts, the White students group shows the least decline with a drop of 10.2 points followed by Students with Disabilities at 10.8. Figure B shows Ohio’s learning loss in Mathematics as measured through the ESSA Gap Closing baseline reports.  |
| Mathematics clearly shows the greatest learning losses. The data shows that Students of Color were impacted at a higher rate than White students. The schools sponsored by the Buckeye Hope Foundation have shown similar declines. Because of data limitations we can only go back to the 2017-18 school year. But, with the data available we show English Language Arts with an “All Students” decline of 9.2 performance points. While in most subgroups we see improvements from the 2020-21 school year, we are not back yet to pre-pandemic levels. Figure C below shows the learnings losses in ELA by the Gap closing subgroups. s.  Mathematics, as with the State, shows double digit declines in each measured subgroup. Figure D shows each of the subgroup calculations where data was available.  At Buckeye Community Hope Foundation, we monitor and address areas of student need within our schools. We review each school’s data and make plans to address the needs of the schools we serve. These scores do show the COVID era declines that have been mirrored across the state. The good news is that student performance has improved since the 2020-21 school year. We continue to support our portfolio of schools and the students they serve in efforts to continue academic recovery from COVID. |
| At Buckeye Community Hope Foundation, we monitor and address areas of student need within our schools. We review each school’s data and make plans to address the needs of the schools we serve. These scores do show the COVID era declines that have been mirrored across the state. The good news is that student performance has improved since the 2020-21 school year. We continue to support our portfolio of schools and the students they serve in efforts to continue academic recovery from COVID. |