Reading Scores Statewide Hit Best Mark in Five Years, New Report Cards Show

Ohio's newest school report cards show the state's strongest reading results in five years, a trend that includes districts across Northeast Ohio. Statewide English language arts proficiency reached 62.2 percent for the 2025 2026 school year, according to data released this week by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. Governor Mike DeWine, Lt. Governor Jim Tressel and DEW Director Stephen Dackin unveiled the results together. State leaders attributed much of the gain to the Science of Reading initiative, an instructional overhaul that completed its first full year in Ohio classrooms this past school year. Every Student Group Showed Improvement Officials said literacy proficiency rose across all 10 demographic groups the state tracks, including economically disadvantaged students and students with disabilities. Those two groups have typically trailed statewide averages. "We know the Science of Reading is the best method we have for teaching children of all abilities how to read," DeWine said in a statement. A coaching network tied to the initiative has expanded to 140 coaches serving more than 200 schools statewide, some of them in Northeast Ohio. The gains extend to children who have not yet started kindergarten. Kindergarten readiness for literacy rose by 16,900 children last year, a 17.2 percentage point increase. State officials credited part of that jump to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Ohio, which mails free books each month to enrolled children from birth to age five. The program now reaches more than 430,000 Ohio children monthly. Math Proficiency Also Reaches a Five Year High Statewide math proficiency climbed to 56.4 percent, matching the reading data as a five year high. Nine of the 10 tracked demographic groups improved in math as well. The state's Performance Index told a similar story. English language arts scores rose 2.21 points since 2022 to reach 84.07 this year. Math scores climbed 5.7 points over the same period to 78.7. Career and College Readiness Keeps Rising More than two thirds of Ohio's Class of 2025 met at least one postsecondary readiness benchmark, the third straight year that figure has improved. Career technical assessment proficiency also grew, with 25.4 percent of graduates passing three or more assessments, up from 22.3 percent in 2023. Participation in work based learning more than doubled statewide. The share of students earning the OhioMeansJobs Readiness Seal alongside 250 hours of work based learning reached 8.4 percent in 2025. Fewer Students Are Chronically Absent Attendance data showed continued progress as well. Chronic absenteeism dropped from 25.1 percent to 23.9 percent over the past year, part of a four year statewide decline. State officials estimated the improvement added roughly 3.7 million hours of learning time across Ohio. "Raising literacy achievement is foundational to everything we want for Ohio students," Dackin said. DEW launched a new statewide attendance dashboard this summer to help school communities spot attendance problems sooner. Lt. Governor Tressel linked the academic progress to broader student wellness efforts, including the Team Tressel Fitness Challenge, which has reached hundreds of thousands of students in grades three through eight since it launched last fall. Residents can look up results for their own district or school at reportcard.education.ohio.gov .