Ohio students posted their strongest reading scores in five years, according to the 2026 Ohio School Report Cards released this week. Statewide English language arts proficiency climbed to 62.2 percent, marking a milestone in a multi year push to overhaul how reading is taught in Ohio classrooms.
Governor Mike DeWine, Lt. Governor Jim Tressel and Ohio Department of Education and Workforce Director Stephen Dackin announced the results together. Officials credited the gains to the state’s Science of Reading initiative, which completed its first full year of implementation during the 2025 2026 school year.
Literacy Gains Reach Every Student Group
The report cards show literacy proficiency rose across all 10 demographic groups tracked by the state. That includes economically disadvantaged students and students with disabilities, two populations that have historically lagged behind statewide averages.
“We know the Science of Reading is the best method we have for teaching children of all abilities how to read,” DeWine said. He pointed to a coaching network that has grown to 140 coaches serving more than 200 schools statewide.
Progress is also showing up before students reach kindergarten. The number of children arriving at school with literacy readiness skills rose by 16,900 last year, a jump of 17.2 percentage points. State officials tied part of that gain to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Ohio, a program that mails free books to children from birth through age five. More than 430,000 Ohio children now receive a book each month through the program.
Math Scores Also Climb
Mathematics proficiency reached 56.4 percent statewide, also a five year high. Nine of the 10 demographic groups measured showed improvement in math, nearly matching the gains seen in reading.
Ohio’s Performance Index reflected the same trend. English language arts scores rose 2.21 points since 2022 to reach 84.07 this year, while math scores climbed 5.7 points over the same span to 78.7.
Graduates Show Stronger Career Readiness
More than two thirds of Ohio’s Class of 2025 earned at least one of the state’s postsecondary readiness measures. That marks the third straight year of improvement on that front. Technical skill proficiency also rose, with 25.4 percent of graduates passing three or more career technical assessments, up from 22.3 percent two years earlier.
Work based learning participation more than doubled as well. Students earning the OhioMeansJobs Readiness Seal alongside 250 hours of work based learning reached 8.4 percent in 2025.
Chronic Absenteeism Keeps Falling
Attendance data offered another bright spot. Chronic absenteeism dropped from 25.1 percent to 23.9 percent over the past year, continuing a four year decline. Officials said the improvement translated into roughly 3.7 million additional hours of learning statewide.
“Raising literacy achievement is foundational to everything we want for Ohio students,” Dackin said. State officials also pointed to new tools, including a statewide attendance dashboard launched this summer, as part of the effort to catch attendance problems earlier.
Lt. Governor Tressel connected the academic gains to the state’s broader push on student wellness, including the Team Tressel Fitness Challenge, which has reached hundreds of thousands of students in grades three through eight since launching last fall.
Families looking to learn more about their local district’s results can find full data broken down by school and district at reportcard.education.ohio.gov.
FAQs
1. What is Ohio’s statewide literacy proficiency rate this year?
Statewide English language arts proficiency reached 62.2 percent, the highest mark in five years.
2. What is the Science of Reading initiative?
It is a statewide instructional approach Ohio adopted through the ReadOhio initiative, requiring schools to ground reading instruction in evidence based methods.
3. Did math scores improve too?
Yes. Math proficiency reached 56.4 percent statewide, also a five year high, with gains in nine of 10 demographic groups.
4. How much has chronic absenteeism dropped?
Chronic absenteeism fell from 25.1 percent to 23.9 percent this past year and has declined 6.3 percentage points since the 2021 2022 school year.
5. Where can families find their local school’s report card?
Full results by district and school are available at reportcard.education.ohio.gov.
