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# Ohio Literacy Proficiency Reaches Five-Year High at 62.2%
- URL: https://www.theamericanquorum.com/state-news-ohio-2026-09-19-a/
- Published: 2026-09-19T20:23:08.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-19T20:23:08.000Z
- Description: Ohio’s 2025-26 report cards show five-year highs in literacy and math proficiency, along with lower chronic absenteeism. Statewide gains are clear, but district-level results continue to vary sharply.
- Author: News Desk
- Tags: State News, Ohio

**Ohio students reached five-year highs in both English language arts and mathematics proficiency during the 2025-26 school year, according to statewide report cards released this week.** The [Ohio Department of Education and Workforce](https://education.ohio.gov/Media/Ed-Connection/Sept-15-2026/Ohio-School-Report-Cards-now-available?ref=theamericanquorum.com) reported English language arts proficiency of 62.2% and mathematics proficiency of 56.4%.

The literacy result follows the first full school year in which Ohio schools implemented instruction grounded in the Science of Reading. State officials said English language arts proficiency increased across every student demographic group. The statewide performance index also rose: English language arts reached 84.07, up 2.21 points since 2022, while mathematics reached 78.7, up 5.7 points over the same period.

The state is also pairing classroom changes with early-childhood reading support. The same [official release](https://education.ohio.gov/Media/Ed-Connection/Sept-15-2026/Ohio-School-Report-Cards-now-available?ref=theamericanquorum.com) says more than 430,000 children currently receive a monthly book through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Ohio, which has mailed 28 million books since its statewide launch.

The results are broad indicators, not a verdict on every district or student. Ohio’s public [School Report Cards portal](https://reportcard.education.ohio.gov/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) allows families to look up individual districts and buildings, where achievement, progress, gap closing, graduation, early literacy and postsecondary readiness can vary substantially. Three stars means a district or school meets state standards; ratings above or below that level reflect higher or lower performance under the state system.

## Attendance and readiness also improved

Chronic absenteeism fell for a fourth consecutive year. The statewide rate dropped from 25.1% to 23.9% in one year and is down 6.3 percentage points from 2021-22, which the department translated into 3.7 million additional hours of student learning. Kindergarten readiness also increased: 16,900 more children demonstrated literacy readiness than a year earlier, a 17.2% gain.

Postsecondary preparation strengthened as well. More than two-thirds of the Class of 2025 earned at least one of Ohio’s 11 college, career, workforce or military readiness measures. The share of graduates demonstrating proficiency on at least three career-technical assessments rose to 25.4%, from 22.3% in 2023, while the share earning both an OhioMeansJobs Readiness Seal and 250 hours of work-based learning more than doubled to 8.4%.

## Statewide gains mask local gaps

The statewide direction was positive, but district-level results remain uneven. [Cleveland Metropolitan Schools](https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2026/09/18/cmsd-2026-report-card?ref=theamericanquorum.com), for example, remained at 2.5 stars overall even as its four-year graduation rate rose to 79.6% and its readiness measure improved by nearly 13 percentage points. Cleveland’s early-literacy proficiency was 36%, and chronic absenteeism remained above 50%, more than twice the statewide rate.

Those differences make the underlying components more useful than the overall star alone. Families can compare a district’s year-over-year progress, graduation results and achievement gaps through the state portal rather than relying only on the headline rating. The new report cards provide a statewide sign of recovery while also identifying communities where attendance and early literacy remain urgent problems.