Cincinnati Public Schools Earns Best Rating in Years
Cincinnati Public Schools Earns Best Rating in Years
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Key Points
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The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce was scheduled to publish the official report cards on Sept. 15, one day after Superintendent Shauna Murphy announced CPS’s results to the board; the district said its announcement reflected the state’s official data.
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CPS said it would provide a fuller picture of the results, including important achievements by individual schools, after the statewide report cards were released.
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Ohio’s report card system uses a five-star scale adopted in 2021 and assigns separate ratings for six components: gap closing, achievement, progress, graduation, early literacy, and college, career, workforce and military readiness.
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Board Vice President Moffitt said Ohio’s post-graduation measures do not fully capture students pursuing noncollege routes, and called for more career-tech and vocational options so students can enter the workforce and become gainfully employed.
Cincinnati Public Schools jumped to three stars on Ohio's state report card, up from 2.5 stars in each of the past two years. The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce officially released the ratings on September 15, marking the first time the district has met state performance standards since Ohio switched to its five-star system in 2021. The biggest leap came in the Progress component, which measures student academic growth and jumped from two stars to four.
Superintendent Shauna Murphy told the board that reaching three stars required "very specific and targeted interventions, enrichment, and strategies." The district serves roughly 34,000 students across 66 schools and now outperforms other major urban districts in Ohio on growth metrics. But officials said significant work remains, especially in third-grade reading and post-graduation pathways.
Progress Component Surges Two Stars in Single Year
The Progress component, which tracks how much students grow academically year-to-year, became the district's strongest rating. It climbed from two stars to four stars—a gain that counts heavily since Progress makes up 25% of the overall score. Superintendent Shauna Murphy said this jump reflects deliberate academic interventions and enrichment programs rolled out across the district.
Gap Closing, which measures whether the district reduces achievement gaps between student groups, also improved from two stars to three. The district paired these gains with strong results in its Career-Technical Planning District rating, which earned 4.5 out of 5 stars, signaling strong workforce readiness programs.
Graduation Rates and Early Reading Remain Major Obstacles
Despite the overall improvement, Cincinnati's graduation component dropped to one star from two stars—a troubling sign as the district works toward better post-secondary outcomes. Early literacy scores also need attention, with third-grade reading proficiency remaining below state targets. Board Vice President Dr. Kareem Moffett noted that Ohio's post-graduation measures undercount students pursuing careers outside college, and called for more vocational and technical pathways.
District leaders promised a fuller breakdown of results by individual schools after the statewide report cards were released. The in-depth briefing was scheduled to highlight achievements and outline the specific work needed to boost graduation rates and early literacy proficiency in the coming school year.
Ohio's Five-Star System Grades Six Components
Ohio abandoned letter grades in 2021 and adopted a five-star rating model to measure school performance. The system evaluates six separate components: Achievement, Progress, Gap Closing, Graduation, Early Literacy, and College, Career, Workforce & Military Readiness. Each component receives its own rating, and they combine into an overall district score. The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce publishes these ratings annually to hold districts accountable.
Cincinnati reached three stars overall, placing it in the "meets state standards" category. Nearby districts show similar patterns: North Olmsted climbed to four stars from 3.5 stars, while East Cleveland and Maple Heights both held steady at three stars. Independence schools in Cuyahoga County dropped from 5.8 stars to 4.5 stars despite high test scores, showing that ratings can shift even when individual test performance stays strong.
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