YOUNGSTOWN - After years of promising that academic improvement was attainable in Youngstown, the results are finally becoming more evident.

This year's school report card shows that the district's overall rating is 2.5. While this rating is still low, it is half a star higher than last year's.

For Superintendent Jeremy Batchelor, this improvement feels like a measure of vindication.

"Last year we were two, and this year we went up a whole half a star. And I'm going to be honest, the high schools have been a struggle for us in Youngstown, but this year, they carried us," Batchelor told 21 News. 

The superintendent stated that the implementation of an accountability system for both teachers and students, along with improved math scores and career readiness at Chaney and East High Schools, played a significant role in the district achieving a three-star rating for student progress. This rating is above the state average.

"We want to make sure that we continue our strategic resource allocation work," Batchelor said. 

The next step for the district is to improve early literacy, which is still far behind, with just one star. Batchelor mentioned that work is already underway.

"We were involved in a lot of state-level work with our early intervention, and so our teachers are doing the right things. It's just a matter of making sure that we really stay focused on those babies in preschool and kindergarten," Batchelor said. 

This year, Chaney High School improved from a two-star rating to a three-and-a-half-star rating, while East High School increased its rating from one and a half stars to two and a half stars.