Officials praise state report cards, say more work needed

Staff report

Akron

The co-chairmen of the Ohio 8 Coalition say the recently released state report cards include good news about Ohio’s urban schools but that more work needs to be done.

The co-chairmen, David James, superintendent of Akron Public Schools, and David Quolke, president of the Cleveland Teachers Union, issued a statement.

“The Ohio 8, a coalition the superintendents and teacher union presidents in Ohio’s eight-largest urban school districts, is vigorously committed to enabling all students in our urban public schools to perform at the highest levels each year.”

Youngstown is part of the coalition.

“With the release of the 2010-11 state report cards, we are reminded once again that the challenges at hand are immense but our collective efforts are showing signs of paying off in many particularly difficult situations.”

They referred to the Thomas E. Fordham Institute, which pointed out that the percentage of students in eight cities attending a school that has met or exceeded expected growth (according to Ohio’s value-added metric) has risen from 67 percent in 2009-10 to 78 percent in 2010-11.

“Certainly we have much to be proud of with these results, but we also recognize that we have more to do to raise the performance levels within our districts and schools,” the statement said. “We will be using the latest data to advance successful approaches and create innovative solutions. Indeed our work on behalf of our young people is never done.

“We greatly appreciate the dedicated work of those on the front lines of educational improvement in Ohio who every day provide the special kind of learning opportunities each of our students deserves. We also appreciate the interest of analysts and observers such as those from the Fordham Institute who provide different levels of analysis in support of our continuous improvement efforts. As we begin another new school year, we look forward to working together with all dedicated citizens in our great state to bring a world class education to each and every student.”

The Ohio 8 was established in the fall of 2001 by the leaders of the eight big-city districts, with financial support from KnowledgeWorks and the Cleveland Foundation, the George Gund Foundation and the Joyce Foundation.

The coalition represents 200,000 students in its member districts.