CMSD scores low on new college‑and‑career readiness measure; district outlines steps to improve

The Cleveland Municipal School District reported to its Board of Education that the district’s 2024 graduating cohort met the state’s new college, career, workforce and military readiness indicator at roughly 35.65%, a level the district’s chief academic officer said yields a one‑star rating for that component on the state report card.

The college, career, workforce and military readiness measure was added to Ohio’s state report card for the first time this year and accounts for 12.5% of the district’s overall score, Chief Academic Officer Dr. Salina Florence told the board. “The readiness of the class is estimated by calculating the number of students in the graduation cohort who engage in one or more of these experiences,” she said, describing 11 possible pathways that include college credit, SAT/ACT benchmarks, industry credentials, apprenticeships and verified military enlistment.

Why it matters: The readiness measure is a lagging indicator that reflects the 2024 cohort, and it can lower a district’s overall state rating even when other measures show growth. Florence said the district’s unduplicated cohort score was 35.65%, producing a one‑star result for that component.

Key details: Florence walked the board through student scenarios used to illustrate how a single pathway counts as ready and how students can meet readiness in multiple ways. She showed that some common pathways—military enlistment and apprenticeship enrollment—had little or no participation reported in the 2024 data. Florence said students appearing in more than one pathway are counted only once in the unduplicated cohort total.

Data collection problems and next steps: Board members asked whether missing reports could have depressed the district’s percentage. Florence and other staff acknowledged earlier years lacked consistent reporting systems and that some schools did not submit verification for outcomes such as military enlistment. “In previous years … principals were able to say to us, ‘We had kids enrolled in the military, but we did not collect that data in the correct way,’ ” Florence said. The district has set specific deadlines and structures for schools to submit evidence for each of the 11 readiness indicators.

Planned interventions include: establishing consistent data‑submission processes; progress‑monitoring during the school year; district curriculum supports for CTE courses; expanded SAT prep time during the school day; training for AP/IB teachers; revisions to school scheduling so more students can access honors diplomas; and building counselors’ and leaders’ capacity to record eligible student outcomes.

Questions from the board: Board member Miss Jones asked directly whether the issue was incomplete collection of existing data; Florence agreed it was in part a collection problem and said the district has worked this year to align school reporting. Miss Peake asked about ROTC’s role; Florence called ROTC a “work in progress” and said programs are not yet systemwide enough to reliably document enlistment data.

What’s next: District staff framed the work as an implementation priority for the coming year: better evidence collection, targeted academic and CTE supports, and more consistent opportunities for students to earn measurable credentials that count on the state report card.

Ending: The board heard the presentation as part of the evening’s CEO and academic updates; formal action on any related policies or funding was not taken at the work session.