Lorain schools see improvement in state assessments — district officials eye work to be done | Chronicle Telegram According to district data, Lorain schools received an overall score of 2.5 out of 5 stars — a score that indicates the district is in need of more support. A score of 3 stars indicates a district is meeting state standards, according to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.

As education data and charts were displayed across a screen during Monday's board of education meeting, Lorain school officials said there was cause for some celebration — the district had received its best report card from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce in more than a decade. According to district data, Lorain schools received an overall score of 2.5 out of 5 stars — a score that indicates the district is in need of more support. A score of 3 stars indicates a district is meeting state standards, according to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. "I think what you can see is that we're not there yet, but everything that we're looking at is trending in the right direction," Superintendent Jeff Graham said during an interview prior to Monday's meeting. Lorain's mark of 2.5 is the highest score that the district has received from the state since 2011, said Assistant Superintendent Ross May, up from two stars for each of the past three years. Each year, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce releases report cards on all public school districts throughout the state. A district's overall score is a combination of six components. Two of the components — progress and achievement — are weighed at 25 percent each. Lorain schools received scores of two stars and one star for those categories, respectively. The remaining four components — gap closing, early literacy, graduation and career and college readiness — are weighed at 12.5 percent. Lorain schools received scores of three, one, two and three stars for those categories, respectively. To Graham and May, the work students have demonstrated in career, college, workforce and military readiness has been the biggest point of pride in the district. "They're prepared," Graham said of the multiple pathways students can take through high school. "That's our ultimate goal." "We want to make sure that when our kids leave us, they are prepared," May said. "So we spent a lot of time and effort and energy into career-tech programming, in our early college and, I mean, high school as a whole." Last year, Lorain was ranked as the lowest performing district in Ohio. Information on where Lorain currently ranks was not immediately available through the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce on Monday. Additional data for all districts in the state is expected to be published today. Both Graham and May said that while it is encouraging to see higher results, the annual report card indicates areas that need to be improved. District officials acknowledged the many pressures that may negatively impact a student's education, both within the classroom and outside of it. However, the singular greatest impediment that could be the reason for low performance scores is chronic absenteeism, they said. "It's the biggest thing we're trying to improve," May said. "We've got to connect with our students and families in a different kind of way." Last school year, 56.5 percent of students missed at least 10 percent of the school year, according to district data. While that figure has fallen from 64.5 percent in 2021-22, Lorain officials acknowledged that it is still a large impact to student success each year. "Attendance is awful," Graham said. "When our kids do show up for school, great things are happening." Contact Garrett Looker at glooker@chroniclet.com.