MADISON TOWNSHIP — Madison Local Schools has seen its star rating increase in the state report card, but Supt. Rob Peterson said the district isn’t getting comfortable.
“While we are proud of the success on the report card, we are certainly not satisfied with those results and understand that there is still work to do,” Peterson said.
“We will continue to work to improve the education of our students and how we support them.”
Every year, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce releases its school report cards, which rate public schools and districts on a one-to-five star scale.
Three stars means a district has met expectations. Five stars means a district has significantly exceeded expectations.
Madison Local Schools increased its overall star rating from 3.5 to 4 stars, with a one star increase in the gap closing component.
- Achievement: 3 stars
- Progress: 3 stars
- Gap Closing: 4 stars
- Graduation: 5 stars
- Early Literacy: 2 stars
- College, Career, Workforce and Military Readiness: 5 stars
Madison High School earned a building rating of 3.5 stars. The rest of the district’s schools each earned 4 stars. Its career technical education program earned 5 stars for the fourth consecutive year.
Peterson said the 5-star ratings in graduation and postsecondary readiness reflect the hard work of students, staff and families across the district.
What do school report card components mean?
Achievement is a measure of how well students in grades 3 through 12 performed on state tests.
Progress measures how much growth students are making, based on state test results from prior years. For the 2025-2026 report cards, ratings are based on three consecutive years of data.
Gap Closing measures how well schools close achievement gaps for students of different races, students with disabilities and students from economically disadvantaged families. The gap closing metric is also impacted by chronic absenteeism rates and how well the district serves gifted students.
Graduation is determined by a high school’s four-year graduation rate (60 percent of the score) and its five-year graduation rate (40 percent of the score).
Early Literacy is a measure of reading improvement and proficiency for students in kindergarten through third grade.
College, Career, Workforce and Military Readiness is a measure of how prepared Ohio’s students are for future opportunities, including entering the workforce, enlisting in the military or pursuing additional education. Districts get points for students who do things like pass the ACT or SAT, earn an honors diploma, complete college courses or earn industry recognized credentials.
Nevertheless, he also said the state grade card doesn’t tell a complete story.
“While the report card provides us with good feedback regarding student test scores and other measures, we know that there is so much more that goes into educating and supporting our students,” he said.
“I am extremely proud of our teachers, non-teaching staff, and administration and their efforts in supporting our students and providing them with high-quality learning experiences.”
Madison’s lowest metric was in early literacy, an area where the district is continuing to focus its efforts.
Peterson said the district is trying to strengthen basic literacy instruction through the science of reading — which focuses on evidence-based strategies for teaching children how to read. The district also hired a literacy coach at the primary school using grant funds from ReadOhio and is encouraging parents to regularly read with their children at home.
“We also plan to implement a K-4 Literacy Bootcamp to work with students in August prior to the start of next school year,” Peterson said. “Additionally, we are partnering with the local branch of the public library to provide summer reading programming.”
What are Ohio school report cards?
Report cards measure six major components: achievement, progress, gap closing, graduation, early literacy and postsecondary readiness.
Achievement and progress each make up one-fourth of a district’s overall score, while the other components each make up 12.5 percent.
One star means a district needs significant support to meet state standards. Three stars means a district has met expectations. Five stars means a district has significantly exceeded expectations.
School report cards also offer information on school district enrollment, teacher salaries and experience and even school finance.
Madison had an enrollment of 2,522 students and a four year graduation rate of 98.2 percent last year, according to its report card.
The district’s teaching staff had an average 17 years of experience and earned an average salary of $64,499.
The district saw a slight decrease in chronic absenteeism year over year, dropping from 21.7 to 20.4 percent.
