Ohio Unveils 2025-26 School Report Cards: See How Districts Are Performing for Children
Ohio has released its 2025-26 school report cards, giving parents, educators and communities a new look at how districts are performing across key areas of children’s education.
The report cards, released Tuesday, September 15, use student performance data from the 2025-26 academic year and rate districts on a five-star scale. The system replaced the A-F grading system in 2021.
Districts receive an overall rating alongside scores for six areas: gap closing, achievement, progress, graduation, early literacy, and college, career, workforce and military readiness.
A three-star rating means a district is meeting state standards. Districts receiving fewer than three stars are considered in need of support, while those earning more than three stars have exceeded state standards.
The report cards are intended to give families information they can use when considering their children’s educational progress and the performance of their local schools.
This year’s ratings include some changes to the graduation and college, career, workforce and military readiness measures. The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce expects these changes to result in slight increases in performance in the two areas.
Students now have additional ways to demonstrate readiness for education, employment or other pathways after secondary school. For example, certain scores on Ohio’s English Language Arts II, Algebra I and Geometry end-of-course exams can now count towards the readiness measure.
The release has also renewed debate over how fairly school districts are assessed, particularly in communities with different economic conditions.
For families, the report cards can provide a starting point for understanding where schools are performing well and where children may need stronger educational support.
