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State Changes Report Cards For 20 Columbus City Schools

State Auditor's Office

The Ohio Department of Education has recalculated report cards for 20 schools in the Columbus district, as well as schools in four other districts, after correcting for errors resulting from improper data tampering. The release of the revised report cards marks the close of the state's investigation into the attendance data scandal. Amy Hansen of member station WCPN in Cleveland reports.

More than 100 revisions were made to 2012 and 2013 school report cards in the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo, and Southern Ohio’s Northridge Local school districts.  
 
All four were cited for manipulating - or scrubbing - attendance records in order to discount student test scores that would drag down their schools ratings.  
 
An additional year’s report cards were revised for Columbus City Schools. Lower rankings are now reflected for twenty Columbus schools from 2011 to 2013.  
 
With the updates in place, department spokesperson John Charlton says the rating system can now truly serve its intended purpose.  
 
“For the past two or three years, we’ve had report cards that are not giving a true picture to the parents and to the students,” said Charlton. “We think parents and taxpayers and people in the public use these report cards to make decisions.”  
 
Most of the revisions reflected a drop in school performance, although a few schools’ ratings rose.  
 
Charlton says while the state’s investigation into data scrubbing is concluded, the department of education it will continue to monitor and analyze school district data going forward.  Also, any school personnel who investigators found participated in scrubbing could still face discipline.

Jim has been with WCBE since 1996. Before that he worked as a reporter at another Columbus radio station, and for three newspapers in Southwest Florida.
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