Cincinnati school board hears data-driven case to raise strategic goals, tighten tracking of credentials

Cincinnati Public Schools Superintendent Murphy and district staff presented trend data Sept. 8 and asked the Board of Education for direction on whether to raise strategic-plan targets and change how some student groups and career credentials are counted.

The district’s director over goals and guardrails, Mike Turner, showed several years of data that the district says already exceed some of the strategic-plan targets, including a reported 57% third-grade English language arts proficiency in 2023–24 (the plan goal for that year was 51%). Turner told the board, “This data definitely shows that the strategic plan goal for this year . . . was already exceeded last school year.”

The presentation aimed to give the board context on whether to keep, combine or raise targets and how to report performance for subgroups and career-technical metrics. Board members repeatedly pressed for practical next steps — what instruction and supports will change, how credentials will be tracked, and how the district will address gaps for Black, Hispanic and multiracial students.

District staff provided subgroup detail for sixth-grade ELA and said that when Black, Hispanic and multiracial students are reported together the combined proficiency rate is 32.2%, a gap of 42.3% compared with white students; Turner also flagged subgroup variances with a 45% gap for Black students and a 26% gap for multiracial students in certain years. For Algebra I, staff said 2023–24 performance was roughly 38% and that the district expects to meet or exceed the strategic-plan target of 40%.

On career-technical and college-credit measures (the presentation labeled this Goal 4), Turner described differing ways the original 47.6% starting point was computed and proposed a rules-based definition for the board: a graduating senior who either earned a College Credit Plus (CCP) course with a D or higher, or who earned a 12-point package of industry-recognized credentials. Using those rules for the class of 2024, the district reported about 55.75% of graduating seniors met one of those thresholds.

Board members pressed for more detail and for higher standards. Board member Craig said the district should not simply measure whether students meet the bare minimum required by the state: “If we are not adjusting that way on the fourth goal, then we're gonna end up just kinda giving how many people can meet the minimum qualifications the state requires.” Other members repeated that the district should track whether credentials lead to employability or clear next steps such as apprenticeships.

Several trustees also emphasized equity and representation. Board member Mapp asked for a districtwide plan to accelerate Tier 1 instruction and scale successful interventions rather than relying only on tutoring. Board member Matt and others urged the district to use Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) training that the district is expanding beyond pilot schools. Turner described an aggressive MTSS rollout: the pilot expanded from 14 schools, 18 more will join next week and 20–30 more schools will receive training in January, with the remainder trained by the end of the year.

Superintendent Murphy told the board the administration will return with concrete recommendations. During the meeting she said staff will present specific X–Y target values at the district’s calendar/academics meeting and will prepare five recommendations for board consideration about whether to amend, sunset or raise existing goals and guardrails. The board also discussed possibly focusing on this school year’s targets while the district writes a new multi‑year strategic plan.

The board and staff did not take formal votes on goal changes at the meeting. District leaders said follow-up items will include recommended target values, implementation steps (including tutoring, MTSS rollout and curriculum implementation), and a clearer method to track credential types and post‑graduation outcomes. Staff also agreed to return with more disaggregated enrollment and credential-tracking data in upcoming meetings.

What happens next: Superintendent Murphy and staff will deliver a set of recommended target values and a plan of interim actions at the next academic calendar meeting and in subsequent materials to the full board. Trustees asked for explicit, month-by-month steps documents that show how instructional supports will be deployed and evaluated.