Akron Public Schools Students Improve, but Expected to Fall Short on State’s Report Card

Student performance in Akron Public Schools improved in key areas like early literacy and high school graduation rates last year, according to a preliminary state education report card presented at a recent school board meeting. Despite this progress, the district is still expected to receive 2.5 out of 5 stars on its state report card, falling short of the 3 stars needed to meet all state standards. Although the district received the same overall grade in the previous year, Assistant Superintendent Tamea Caver noted that the preliminary report indicates broad progress.

The preliminary report, which does not include all final metrics, assesses districts across six areas — five of which contribute to the overall grade.

Achievement – Measures student academic progress and achievement on Ohio State Tests.
Gap closing – A component that measures the distance between the state’s academic expectations and the district’s performance in math, English language arts and graduation. It also measures district performance for English learners and gifted students.
Progress – Measures student performance compared to expected growth on Ohio’s State Tests.
Early literacy – Measures reading improvement and proficiency for kindergarten through third-grade students.
Graduation – Measures four- and five-year adjusted graduation rates.

In the 2023/2024 school year, Akron Public Schools (APS) saw a slight improvement in its achievement category, with performance index points rising to 63.3 from 61.1. However, it only earned two stars in this metric, missing the three-star threshold. The most notable improvement was in gap closing, which increased from 27.1% to 44.7%, nearly earning four stars. This progress was driven by reductions in chronic absenteeism and higher graduation rates.

APS’s graduation rate improved significantly from 85.6% to over 88%, reaching the highest level in seven years and contributing to an additional star. Early literacy measures also showed growth, with third-grade reading proficiency rising to over 50% and overall literacy for kindergarten to third grade increasing to nearly 24%. However, promotion to fourth-grade reading decreased due to new state requirements. Assistant Superintendent Tamea Caver attributed the improvements to curriculum changes and professional development.

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