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Sept. 13, 2018 -- The Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District once again showed progress in the latest Ohio state report card data that was released on Thursday but also recognized areas of growth for the District and its schools.

Most notably, CH-UH made strides on the Gap Closing component, Graduation Rate, Career and Technical Education, and Prepared for Success measures in addition to significant gains made within specific subject areas across the District.

Statement From CH-UH Superintendent Dr. Talisa Dixon
As expected, our district showed improvement and had success in some of the measures on the state report card. There are also other areas that warrant further effort and continued focus. However, the report card is just one measure for our district, and we will not let these results be the narrative of our schools or our community.

This year, we are beginning the important work of defining what our community values in our students and in our graduates. We hope to develop a “portrait of a graduate” that better measures the success of our students. The state comes up with these measures that they believe everyone in the state should be able to do--and we don’t disagree with that, we think it’s important that our students achieve mastery. 

However, communities across the state are very different, and there must be a way to recognize that our students are coming to us from different entry points. We have to develop something that acknowledges that fact and defines what our community values in our students.

If we consider the experiences we want for our kids and what parents expect to happen in the classroom and in school, you don’t get that from the state report card. Instead, you get one moment in time that students are asked to recall information, and we are categorizing our schools and our communities based on that one day and that one point in time. As a school community, we will not let that one day define who we are.

Even with all that said, there are positives within this year’s state report card that I believe are worthy of highlighting and celebrating the hard work of our students and our staff.

High School Graduation Rate
Heights High School had a four-year graduation rate of 84.9% for students who entered the 9th grade in 2014 and graduated in 2017. This rate held steady compared to last year’s rate of 85.6%. The five-year graduation rate also held steady at 91.0%. The five-year rate earned the high school a “B” on the report card, while the four-year rate was a “C”.

Achievement Component Improvements
Heights High School showed marked improvement in all tested areas on the Achievement component. These areas include Algebra 1, American History, Biology, English 1, English 2, Geometry, and Government.

Achievement scores across the district improved on all science tests, which are given in fifth grade, eighth grade, and high school.

Career and Technical Education
CH-UH’s career prep consortium, Heights Career Tech, once again received all A’s for its Graduation Grade and Post Program Placement Grade.

Heights High offers Career and Technical Education courses through a five-district consortium that includes Cleveland Heights, Bedford, Maple Heights, Shaker Heights, and Warrensville Heights. Students have the opportunity to earn professional certifications, industry-recognized credentials, and college credit in 23 unique pathways--many of which are housed on the Heights High campus.

Prepared For Success
Heights High showed improvement on many of the Prepared for Success measures, which assess the district’s performance on preparing students for college and career readiness. The areas of improvement included: