Goals and Guardrails
This web page provides an overview of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District Goals & Guardrails adopted by the Cleveland Board of Education in April 2025, along with a summary of how progress will be monitored by the Board in the 2025-26 school year.
- Overview and Background
- Monitoring progress and performance in 2025-26
- Early Literacy Goal
- Math Proficiency Goal
- College Readiness Goal
- Safety & Well-being Guardrail
- Opportunity & Access Guardrail
- Community Engagement Guardrail
- Appendix B: Supporting notes on Interim CEO Measures
Overview and Background
In September 2023, the Cleveland Board of Education initiated a shift to Student Outcomes-Focused Governance, an approach to improving governance premised on two beliefs: 1) school systems exist to improve student outcomes, and 2) student outcomes do not change until adult behaviors change.
In February 2025, the Board identified the specific priorities to be entrusted to the CEO for the next five years, known as the Goals and Guardrails. To inform the process, the Board reviewed academic performance data to assess the current achievement levels of CMSD students. Additionally, the Board applied insights gathered from several community engagement efforts, ensuring that our work reflects the vision and values of the families and communities we serve. These engagements included:
- CEO Listen & Learn Tour (2023)
- Board’s CEO Search Community Engagement (2023)
- Mayor Bibb's Community Listening Tour on Education
Integrating feedback from these initiatives and the District academic outcomes, the Board developed and adopted a set of Goals and Guardrails that it believes will improve the outcomes of our students and reflect the priorities and aspirations shared by our community over the past three years. The Goals reflect a vision for what CMSD students will know or be able to do by 2030, guiding the system’s focus toward tangible, measurable academic outcomes. The Guardrails reflect the non-negotiable values the school system must honor while allowing the CEO freedom to pursue the goals.
The Goals and Guardrails will govern the District's priorities and initiatives. The Board will entrust the CEO and staff with developing strategies and allocating resources in accordance with the Goals and Guardrails.
Monitoring progress and performance in 2025-26
The Goals and Guardrails describe a five-year time horizon. To support progress monitoring and evaluation of the performance of CEO and staff in the interim, the CEO has identified a set of measures that will be used to track progress toward the Goals as well as reflection of the Guardrails. These Interim CEO Measures for each Goal and Guardrail are detailed on pages 2-3, with targets the system is expected to achieve.
While the Goals and Guardrails extend to 2030, each Interim CEO Measure is forecasted for a range of between 1-3 years. This approach allows some degree of multi-year visibility while recognizing that some Interim CEO Measures are expected to be revised or updated in future years due to either shifting context (e.g., changes brought by Building Brighter Futures) or an evolving understanding of the levers most likely to support Goal achievement. Any updates to Interim CEO Measures for 2026-27 will be brought for Board consideration in early 2026. The Goals and Guardrails themselves will not change.
As part of the Board’s adoption of a Student Outcomes-Focused Governance model, the Board will monitor progress to Goals & Guardrails at public meetings at least once per calendar month. Page 4 of this document outlines the Board’s progress monitoring calendar for the 2025-26 school year.
Early Literacy Goal
| The % of 3rd graders who are Proficient in English and Language Arts (ELA) will increase from 35% in Aug. 2024 to 60% by Aug. 2030. | 2024-25 (est.) | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 | 2029-30 | |
| 31.3%i | 37.0% | 42.8% | 48.5% | 54.3% | 60.0% | ||
| 1.1 | Increase the % of K-3 grade students On Track in Reading as measured by the Fall iReady assessment from a fall 2024 baseline of 41.7% to: | Fall | 45.0% | 48.0% | 51.0% | ||
| 1.2 | Increase the % of K-3 grade students predicted to be proficient in Reading as measured by the Winter iReady assessment from an SY2024-25 baseline of 30% to: | Winter | 35.0% | 40.0% | 45.0% | ||
| 1.3 | Decrease the % of K-3 grade students identifies as chronically absent from an SY2024-25 baseline of 49% to no greater than:ii | End of Year | 45.5% | ||||
Math Proficiency Goal
| The % of first-time test takers who are Proficient in Algebra 1 will increase from 26% in Aug. 2024 to 50% by Aug. 2030. | 2024-25 (est.) | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 | 2029-30 | |
| 35.7% | 38.6% | 41.4% | 44.3% | 47.1% | 50.0% | ||
| 2.1 | Increase the % of those students who are taking the Algebra 1 for the first time that are predicted to be Proficient as measure by the Winter NWEA MAP assessment from the SY 2024-25 baseline of 21.8% to: | Winter | 26.9% | 31.9% | 36.9% | ||
| 2.2 | Increase the % of students from the 2031 graduating cohort predicted to be Proficient in Math as measured by the Winter iReady assessment from an SY2024-25 baseline of 35.9% to: | Winter | 38.0% | 40.4% | 42.8% | ||
| 2.3 | Decrease the % of 9th grade students identified as chronically absent from an SY2024-25 baseline of 71.2% to no greater than: | End of Year | 67.6% | ||||
College Readiness Goal
| The % of 4-year graduation cohort who meet at least one college ready indicator — ACT/SAT College Ready, Honors Diploma, AP/IB College Ready, or 12+ college credits — will increase from 8.2% in Aug. 2024 to 25% by Aug. 2030. | 2024-25 (est.) | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 | 2029-30 | |
| TBA | 11.6% | 14.9% | 18.3% | 21.6% | 25.0% | ||
| 3.1 | Increase the % of first- and second-year high schoolers predicted to be college ready as measured by the Winter NWEA MAP for both ELA and Mathiii from an SY2024-25 baseline of 7.5% to: | Winter | 10.5% | 13.5% | 16.5% | ||
| 3.2 | Increase the % of students on-track for credit accumulation by the end of their first year of high school from an SY2024-25 baseline of 69.7% to: | End of Year | 74.2% | 78.6% | 83.1% | ||
| 3.3 | Increase the % 3rd year high school students that are on track to either earn 12 college credits or pass AP/IB exams by the end of their 4th year from an SY2024-25 baseline of 6.4% to: | End of Year | 7.2% | 9.7% | 12.1% | ||
Safety & Well-being Guardrail
| The CEO shall not fail to promote safety within CMSD facilities, along with physical and mental well-being for all students. | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | |
| 4.1 | Reduce the % of serious safety incidents reported by CMSD schools from an SY2024-25 baseline of 2.9% to no greater than: | 2.7% | 2.6% | 2.4% |
| 4.2 | Increase the % of students reporting feeling physically safe at school on the Panorama student survey from a baseline to be determined in SY2025-26. | Baselineiv | TBD% | |
| 4.3 | Increase the % of students reporting positive mental well-being indicators (such as stress management, emotional regulation, or access to support) on the Panorama student survey from a baseline to be determined in SY2025-26. | Baseline | TBD% | |
Opportunity & Access Guardrail
| The CEO shall not implement an academic program that fails to provide access to artistic, athletic, and career preparation opportunities for all students. | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | |
| 5.1 | Increase the % of students in the 4-year graduation cohort passing their Career Technical Assessments from an SY2024-25 baseline of 17.8% to: | 19.2% | 21.6% | 24.1% |
| 5.2 | Increase the % of CMSD High Schools that offer both i) at least two credit-based offerings among band, choir, drama, dance, or fine arts and ii) sufficient athletic options to qualify for Senate League membership (minimum of 2 sports per season: Fall, Winter & Spring) from a 2025-26 baseline of 13% to:v | TBA 6/24 | ||
| 5.3 | Increase the number of High School students completing internships in the summer following the school year.vi | 350 | 450 | 550 |
Community Engagement Guardrail
| The CEO shall not make significant changes to the operation of the district without meaningful ways for the community to provide input.vii | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | |
| 6.1 | The CEO or designee will meet with distinct stakeholder groups including but not limited to civic organizations, faith leadership, nonprofit partners, corporate partners, higher education partners, and neighborhood groups to gather input before making recommendations to the Board of Education regarding Building Brighter Futures. | 100% / as reportedviii | ||
| 6.2 | The CEO or designee will host school-level meetings to gather input regarding the Building Brighter Futures initiative at 100% of potentially impacted schools in advance of any recommendation for closure, consolidation or reutilization, offering multiple modes for stakeholders to provide input. | 100% | ||
Appendix B: Supporting notes on Interim CEO Measures
i Goals 1 & 2 were adopted based on official data from the 2023-24 school year. At the time of this document, preliminary OST data for 2024-25 is available and estimates have been factored into the Early Literacy & Math Proficiency targets set for 2026-30. College Readiness indicators for 2024-25 are not yet available at the time of this writing and are not factored into the College Readiness targets for 2026-30.
ii The Council of Great City Schools recommends that Interim Goal Measures should be strongly predictive of the five-year Goal outcomes. While chronic absenteeism rates are not strictly predictive of proficiency rates, they undoubtedly impact student learning. The CEO is designating measures 1.3 and 2.3 for strategic focus, progress monitoring and performance evaluation on a one-year basis for 2025-26. Chronic absenteeism will be revisited in early 2026 for potential extension as a 2026-27 measure.
iii A student who is Proficient in one of Math or ELA – but not the other – is not counted toward meeting the requirements for College Readiness Measure 3.1.
iv In 2025-26 the District will replace its former student survey instrument (Conditions For Learning) with one administered by Panorama Education. With the adoption of a new instrument and survey questions, the District cannot at this time identify a reliable baseline for setting 2025-26 targets. 2025-26 results will be used as a baseline for setting 2026-27 targets. Measures 4.2 and 4.3 are included here for communicating intent to the Board and will be included in 2025-26 monitoring reports, where baseline data and strategies will be presented for Board review but not factored into 2025-26 CEO evaluation.
v As part of the Building Brighter Futures initiative, the CEO will make a recommendation to the Board in fall 2025 that would expand student access to artistic and athletic programming beginning in 2026-27. Interim CEO Measure 5.2 reflects this aspiration. This measure and targets will be reevaluated for extension to future years in early 2026.
vi The District does not have reliable historical data regarding student internships but will be collecting this data beginning summer 2025. The District has set an internal target of 250 student internships for summer 2025, but summer 2026 will be the first period covered for the purpose of evaluation.
vii Building Brighter Futures will entail significant changes to the operation of the District in 2025-26 and will be this year’s focus for adherence to the Community Engagement Guardrail. Both Interim CEO Measures for the Community Engagement Guardrail are designed specifically around Building Brighter Futures and are expected to be redefined for 2026-27 and the years to follow.
viii Measure 6.1 does not offer a strict quantitative target but is included to reflect the District’s commitment to the spirit of the Community Engagement Guardrail. Extensive community input on Building Brighter Futures will be gathered from stakeholder groups in 2025-26, but setting a quantitative target is a difficult exercise. In Board progress monitoring sessions scheduled for August and December, the CEO will present data and details regarding the scale and results of efforts toward 6.1.