Reimaging the Future of Assessments and Accountability in Ohio
Building on insights from our first Phase Two convening in California, where stakeholders emphasized the need for systemic changes, equitable resource allocation, and assessments that reflect the whole child's needs, the National Urban League (NUL) and UnidosUS hosted their second convening Broadening Perspectives from Ohio, on June 22 at the Tri-C Corporate College in Cleveland.
This gathering brought together over 100 students, educators, policymakers, elected officials, researchers, and caregivers to collaboratively envision assessment and accountability systems prioritizing equity, cultural relevance, and real-world readiness. Following the California model, the Ohio convening also broke down participation barriers by offering transportation, lodging, childcare, and translation services, ensuring all voices could contribute meaningfully.
By sharing statewide learnings and mobilizing advocates, this convening is taking a step forward in creating a better educational experience in Ohio for all students and families.
“Coming out of COVID, the idea was to start a conversation with community stakeholders about what was possible and necessary and not limited by what was feasible or politically acceptable. Too often, these conversations are centered around what the department or administration will sign off on,” said Hal Smith, Senior Vice President of Education, Youth Development, and Health at the National Urban League. “That’s part of what this group can talk about young people’s achievement and how best to measure not just progress but how young people can reach their goals. There are challenges, but there are opportunities, and we hope that today, we can continue building on the momentum of the last few years of driving young people towards learning and keeping them engaged.”
Eric S. Gordon, Senior Vice President of Student Development and Education Pipeline at Tri-C started the day with a keynote reflecting on Ohio's state of assessments and offered a solution on ways that the state can evolve them to improve student outcomes. “I have a couple of questions inspired by Ohio state tests. ‘A student adds yeast to a flask with glucose. What substance increases if the yeast is fermenting?” asked Gordon. “If you don’t know the answer, how would you find it? Most would probably Google it. This shows that we’re still asking students to memorize information that’s readily available online, which isn’t the best use of our assessment strategies. We need to start with foundational literacy and numeracy—skills essential for reading, writing, and mathematics. Then we should aim for college-ready standards across states, ensuring our assessments reflect real-world expectations.”
Gordon also touched on the importance of consistency and clarity in school evaluation practices so that school leaders and caregivers have the most valuable tools when advocating learning investments for their children.
“In Ohio, we have various grades that might seem confusing. For example: If 51.3% of students improve, what grade does that deserve? Many would say an "F," yet Ohio rates it as a "D." said Gordon. “This inconsistency illustrates that our grading systems need to be clearer and more logical. We should measure growth and ensure that assessments are transparent for educators and parents.”
During our first panel of the day, Demystifying Assessments and Accountability, Chad Aldis, Vice President for Ohio Policy at Thomas B. Fordham Institute, emphasized the importance of transparency in assessments for caregivers.
“Assessments don’t tell you everything about a student, but they tell you whether they are reading or doing math at grade level. Clearer assessments can give parents a better picture of a school’s strengths and weaknesses,” said Aldis. “I don’t know how well families can use the resources and assessments from the state because they come too late. I think the more valuable assessments are district administered that measure growth in the school year and allow parents to see where we’re closing gaps within the academic year.”
Russ Brown, Chief of Strategy and Performance for Columbus City Schools spoke about the learning losses that come out of reallocating resources to fill assessment gaps.
“My challenge with the accountability model is it tends to narrow things and boil a school’s performance down to a star rating based on math and reading performance that doesn’t truly reflect what’s happening in the building. And far too often, the reallocation of resources to address assessment gaps comes at the expense of subjects like history and the arts, which help develop the whole child,” said Russ Brown, Chief of Strategy and Performance for Columbus City Schools.
During a panel discussion, Dr. John Stanford, Director of the Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio, stressed the importance of separating assessment outcomes from student outcomes and highlighted the harms of a system that generalizes student achievement based on assessments.
“We need to be better prepared to discuss assessments with our young people to inform them that these are not a reflection of who they are, but a snapshot of where they are on their journey so that they are encouraged and feel good about themselves,” said Stanford. “My concern is that the current assessment and accountability system doesn’t create that for many young people and it’s a traumatizing experience for them to go through.”
A live sketch artist captured the essence of the discussion and helped paint a clear picture for the audience of the importance of clarity in assessment and accountability systems. After a series of low state assessment performances, the Lorain County School Board was taken under state oversight between 2017 and 2023. Stephanie Alexander-Johnson, Director of Wraparound Services at Lorain City Schools, discussed how the district has taken a new approach to education post-takeover on our second panel of the day, Bright Spots: Opportunities To Learn.
“In our school district, we are trying to tell our staff we’re not worried about test scores. We’re not worried about assessments. If we can’t take care of the socioemotional aspects of our students first, then learning cannot begin,” said Alexader-Johnson. “Often, people make choices and never listen to the people in which we serve. As a school district, we are stewards of the people, and listening to the parental and student voices are the greatest two voices we can hear.”
Lorain County worked to build wrap-around services to ease student anxiety around performance and boost their confidence.
“Listening to our students led us to hire ten new counselors for our elementary schools, three for our middle schools, six for high schools, and two social workers. Students can now comfortably say, ‘Hey, I do not feel comfortable taking these assessments.’ We are taking steps to listen to student voices, and we can sit down and make a plan to address their concerns and set them up for success.”
As NUL and UnidosUS continue to work alongside students, caregivers, and educators to develop a perspective on how to evolve assessments and accountability, we invite you to follow the progress of our work on our website at NUL.org.
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