Latest state report card yields few surprises, except for Youngstown

YOUNGSTOWN

The first of the 2014-15 Ohio Department of Education report card results produced few surprises for Mahoning Valley school districts. Those districts that traditionally scored high continued that trend. Those that usually struggled were unchanged.

There is one exception to those scores released Thursday: Youngstown earned a C on the kindergarten through third-grade literacy measure — the same grade achieved by Campbell, South Range, Boardman and Austintown.

The data released measure kindergarten through third-grade literacy, four- and five-year graduation rates — and a category called “prepared for success” that includes student participation in college admission tests and industry-recognized credentials.

Districts weren’t given grades for the prepared-for-success category.

For the literacy grades, Stephen Stohla, interim Youngstown superintendent, points out that the latest score is about 15 points higher than last year’s.

For a lot of Valley districts, though, there’s no grade included for K-3 literacy. No grade under this measure means the district has a lot of strong readers.

Read more about the latest measurements in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.