Data Stories

Canal Winchester Local Schools located in Central Ohio near Columbus was the first school district in Ohio to pilot Heroic Game Day. Winchester Trail is listed by the Ohio Department of Education as “Suburban – Low Student Poverty & Average Student Population Size.” Student enrollment included minority students (44.6%), Students with Disabilities (20%), economically disadvantaged students (30.4%), and English Learners (5.9%).

Analysis of Heroic Game Day data included a correlation of the level of student engagement to student proficiency scores on Ohio State Tests in reading and math. Analysis was conducted at the student level with the district matching Heroic Game Day student account data to proficiency results and de-identifying individual student data to case 1, case 2, case 3, etc. The sample size for the study included 154 students in grades 3-5.

Student levels of engagement were determined by average minutes per day in the game and ranged from 0.0001 to 60.2. Findings from the study showed strong statistically significant correlations between “High” levels of engagement (10 mins or more per day) and state reading assessment scores (0.505, p = 0.05) and state math assessment scores (0.259, p = 0.05).

The analysis also found a strong statistically significant correlation between “Moderate” levels of engagement (5-10 mins per day) and student growth in reading (0.628, p = 0.05).1

The study also found that 100% of Winchester Trail ES students who played Heroic Game Day at least 30 minutes per day scored proficient or better on state reading and math assessments.

100% of Winchester Trail ES students who played Heroic Game Day at least 30 mins per day scored proficient or better on state reading and math assessments.

Garfield Heights City Schools located in Cuyahoga County near Cleveland joined Heroic Game Day in January of 2022. Garfield Heights is listed by the Ohio Department of Education as “Urban – High Student Poverty & Average Student Population.” Student enrollment included minority students (94.3%), Students with Disabilities (17.9%), and Economic Disadvantaged students (99.7%).
Analysis of Heroic Game Day data was an experimental design comparing student engagement to student proficiency scores on Ohio State Tests in reading and math between grade levels in the pilot school (Elmwood Elementary) and between the pilot and two other non-pilot elementaries in the district. Analysis was conducted at the school level using publicly reported results from Ohio’s Local Report Card.

The analysis showed that 5th graders at Elmwood Elementary logged nearly twice as many minutes in the game as 3rd graders and more than seven times more than fourth graders in the same school. The fifth graders also had more than twice as many students score proficient or better on the state reading and math assessments.

Additionally, Elmwood Elementary students recovered pandemic-related learning loss more quickly than their peers in the two other district elementary schools not using Heroic Game Day. The Elmwood fifth grade students actually increased the number of students scoring proficient of better in in math (+2.6) and science (+12.7) compared to non-pilot schools in the district which decreased in the percent of students proficient or better in math (-14.4) and science (-22.4). In reading, Elmwood students fell 7.1 percentage points while comparison schools fell an average of 33.4 percentage points.

Elmwood ES students in Garfield Heights recovered from pandemic-related learning loss more quickly than other GHCS students in elementary schools not using Heroic Game Day

Ironton Elementary is located in Lawrence County in the Appalachia region of southern Ohio. The school is 100% economically disadvantaged and historically has ranked in the lower third in student growth among the over 1600 elementary schools with Composite Index calculation on the state report card.

Analysis of Heroic Game Day data was an experimental design comparing Ironton Elementary to its 20 “Similar Districts” as determined by the Ohio Department of Education’s “Similar District” methodology. Analysis was conducted at the school level using publicly reported results from Ohio’s Local Report Card.

In 2022-23, Ironton Elementary led all Heroic Game Day pilot sites in most minutes in the game and the percentage of students using the game (95% participation rate) and was awarded the Ohio Heroic Skills Competition state champion for the 2022-23 competition period.

Ironton Elementary also posted the highest “Composite Index” of all Heroic Game Day schools on the 2022-23 report card with +9.35.

Ironton’s Composite Growth Index ranks the highest among Ironton’s 20 “similar” districts and 19th statewide of all elementary schools, placing Ironton in the 99th percentile of all 1,618 elementary schools in Ohio that report a Composite Index.

By comparison, in 2021-22, Ironton Elementary’s Composite Growth Index was 0.47 which ranked in the 50th percentile statewide. In 2017-18 and 2018-19, Ironton Elementary reported negative Composite Index scores ranking as low as the 32nd percentile statewide.

Ironton’s Performance Index for 2022-23 was 94.1, trending up from 87.7 in 2021-22 and 84.7 in 2020-21. That Performance Index score was the highest among its similar districts and second highest for Heroic Game Day schools (Chesapeake Elementary 98.5, see below)

Chesapeake Elementary is located in Lawrence County in the Appalachia region of southern Ohio. The school’s K-4 enrollment is 50.1% economically disadvantaged.

Analysis of Heroic Game Day data was a trend analysis comparing Chesapeake Elementary’s change in Performance Index Score from pre to post-pandemic. Analysis was conducted at the school level using publicly reported results from Ohio’s Local Report Card.

The year before the pandemic, Chesapeake Elementary School attained 80.4% of possible Performance Index points. In 2022-23, Chesapeake ES earned 89.2% of possible Performance Index points.

Their overall Performance Index of 98.5 is the highest among all Heroic Game Day pilot schools and fourth highest among its 20 similar districts. This is remarkable because from 2019 to 2021, Chesapeake students lost 15 points on the percent of students scoring proficient or better in reading. By 2023, Chesapeake had recovered the learning loss and scored higher on state assessments than students in similar non-Heroic Game Day schools.

Similarly, in math, Chesapeake Elementary dropped from 89% scoring proficient or better to 84%, a five-point learning loss. By 2023, one year after implementing Heroic Game Day, Chesapeake has recovered all of that pandemic-related learning loss and actually increased its number of students proficient or better to 91%.

Chesapeake ES students recovered from learning loss and scored higher on state assessments than students in similar non-Heroic Game Day schools.

Par Excellence Academy is a small K-6 community school (charter) in Newark, Ohio. Par Excellence joined Heroic Game Day in the second half of the 2021-2022 school year as the first community (charter) school in Ohio. The school primarily used it at the outset as part of its after school program, but in 2022-23 school began using it before, during and after school. Par Excellence enrollment is 100% economically disadvantaged.

Analysis of Heroic Game Day data was a trend analysis comparing Par Excellence Academy’s change in overall rating and Performance Index Score from pre to post-pandemic. Analysis was conducted at the school level using publicly reported results from Ohio’s Local Report Card.

Par Excellence Academy was rated as an F on it’s report card the year before the pandemic.In 2023, the school earned a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, equivalent to a B in the old rating system. This is the highest rating ever for this school.

Par Excellence Academy’s overall Performance Index Score which measures proficiency levels in reading and math dropped to a low of 60 points in 2020. In 2023, the school earned a score of 93.6, an increase of 33.6 points and a demonstration of real “Learning Recovery.”

Chesapeake Elementary School scored the highest point total of any Herioc Game Day school between October and January of the 2023-24 school year. According to mid-year benchmark assessments using iReady, Chesapeake Elementary has surpassed growth targets for the year in both reading and math. This represents a full year’s expected growth in just a half year of instruction.