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A preliminary report card from Ohio's Department of Education confirms that Akron Public Schools is moving in the right direction. Based on this preliminary data, APS believes it has earned a rating of Continuous Improvement.

APS continues to be a leader among Ohio's largest city school districts in graduation rates; has increased its performance in reading, science and math; and has shown strong year-to-year learning growth.

In a year with a new federally mandated graduation rate calculation, the district ranked among the highest of the eight urban districts in Ohio with an average graduation rate of 75.3% over four years. That number grows to 80.5% when including summer and fall graduates.

Other report highlights for APS include:

• continued improvement in elementary and middle school reading,
• significant increases in all grade levels tested in science,
• and solid increases across nearly every grade (6 out of 8) in math.

Overall, the district met its Value Added rating, with students in grades 3-8 making a year's growth in a year's time in reading and math (seven schools moved their students more than one year's growth in one year's time, and 29 schools moved their students one year in a year's time).

"We've worked hard to prepare students for college and careers," Superintendent David W. James said. "We're finding out what works, and now we're seeing the results."

"APS ranks as one of the best large urban public school districts in the state and continues to make steady progress year after year," James continued. "Our students are getting a year's worth of learning value out of every school year, which should be encouraging to Akron's parents and taxpayers."

To learn more about the district's progress, click here.

To review spreadsheets with detailed information for the district and all of its schools, go to http://tinyurl.com/8we9euq.

The state's preliminary report did not include attendance rates, performance index scores or overall district grades.