Ohio lawmakers announce a K-12 education plan

Ohio education officials have proposed a new statewide plan to improve students’ math performance.

The 47-page document, Ohio’s Plan for K-12 Mathematics, urged schools to adopt new instructional materials and teaching strategies, and to invest in ongoing professional development for educators.

According to Cleveland.com, local districts are not required to follow the plan, but they are strongly encouraged to study it and address the math problem Ohio faces over the next three years.

The math plan allegedly is not connected to new legislation or donors.

“Any building I’ve been in that’s considered a good building to teach in has shared leadership,” Jeff Wensing, president of the Ohio Education Association and a former Parma City Schools math teacher, said, approving the plan. “The administration values the voices of the educators. Everyone sits down and decides what needs to be implemented, figuring out what the kids need.”

The news source reported that, after the COVID-19 disruptions, Ohio students’ math performance became very concerning, with only 53.5% of students being proficient on state math tests in the 2023-24 school year.

It was also revealed that “fewer than 30% of eighth graders scored proficient on the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress,” “math scores trail English language arts performance and have been slower to rebound across all grade levels” and “middle school math and high school geometry have seen some of the steepest drops.”

The new plan emphasizes math proficiency to address persistent learning gaps and accelerate learning for all students.

“Ohio’s mathematics vision builds on long-accepted research about how students learn mathematics,” according to the plan. “The central objective is to cultivate these best practices across all Ohio classrooms.”

Among the ways the education officials plan to fix all of these problems is by urging schools to use high-quality instructional materials, such as textbooks, workbooks and other tools. Additionally, the officials plan to improve teacher training and deploy math coaches.

Ohio officials also previously targeted reading problems that students face by introducing the “Science of Reading” law, according to the Thomas B. Fordman Institute.

Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and First Lady Fran DeWine previously visited two Ohio schools – Cherry Hill Primary School and Willowville Elementary School – to celebrate the students’ great strides in reading as part of the Governor’s Literacy Leaders Tour, the press release said.

“We see time and again that as teachers and students become more comfortable using the Science of Reading in the classroom, it results in a very positive learning experience,” Gov. DeWine said. “Kids are excited to read and achieve their goals, and their schools are seeing amazing results. The schools we visited today are additional examples of how we’re setting up students for success in school and throughout life.”