About 75% of TPS third graders pass Ohio test

88% of students pass statewide reading exam

6/17/2014

About three-fourths of Toledo Public Schools third-graders passed the state‘‍s reading test this year, meaning they won’‍t have to repeat the third grade, according to test results released today.

This is the first year that the state‘‍s Third Grade Reading Guarantee will force students who can’t score above a certain level to be kept in third grade another year. The results are not exact, since some students are exempt from the test. And students who don’t pass the tests in the spring could be promoted to fourth grade if they show improvement over the summer. 

While TPS students performed below suburban peers — a trend that’‍s not surprising, since academic achievement correlates to socioeconomic status — the district had higher passage rates than Toledo charter schools. About 70 percent of students enrolled in Lucas County charter schools passed the reading test, according to state data.

Across Lucas, Fulton, and Wood counties, only the Ottawa Hills district had a 100 percent passage rate. Statewide, about 88 percent of third-graders passed the reading test.

“These preliminary results show that most Ohio students have mastered the reading skills they need to be successful, but more needs to be done,” State Superintendent Richard Ross said in a statement. “We need to continue and in some cases increase our efforts to ensure every boy and girl in Ohio will have the skills necessary to be lifelong learners.”

Ohio third grade students take reading tests twice — in the spring, and in the fall, when they've just started third grade. Data provided to TPS in the fall by the state education department showed about a 50-50 split in TPS students who did not meet the benchmark for promotion to fourth grade, according to the district, meaning about 25 percent of TPS students improved their scores during the school year enough to pass the test.

Contact Nolan Rosenkrans at: nrosenkrans@theblade.com or 419-724-6086, or on Twitter @NolanRosenkrans.