Ohio ranked 10th and 21st for its K-12 education performance and policy as compared to all other states and the District of Columbia for 2011, according to two national studies released this month.

In a third study, released today by the National Council on Teacher Quality, the state’s teachers tied for fifth in the nation.

According to the NCTQ, Ohio teachers earned a “C+” for 2011 in biennial report. The state had received a “D+” two years ago, making it one of the most improved states according to the most recent study.

Ohio was lauded for its steps to expand its pool of potential teachers, teacher preparation, identifying effective teachers and removing ineffective ones.

Centerville Superintendent Tom Henderson said he believes the state has gone up in the rankings because there is increased accountability in all realms of education.

“The research is pretty clear that great teachers do great things,” Henderson said. “Getting to the heart of everything, the literature is just very clear that highly qualified teachers make a difference.”

The state lost ground on the NCTQ study only in the category of retaining effective teachers. This reflects the reduction in teaching staffs in the wake of state funding cuts, as well as the increasing retirements among veteran teachers concerned about proposed changes to the teacher pension system.

In the two recent studies concerning performance and policy, Ohio also ranked high.

According to Patrick Gallaway of the Ohio Department of Education, the Quality Counts Report Card is the more recognized barometer. It has been published by Education Week since 2008.

The Quality Counts index, as previously reported by the Dayton Daily News, put Ohio at 10th in the nation, with an overall grade of “C+.”

That study has Ohio slightly improving from its 11th-place finish last year, although the state earned a “B-” for 2010. The discrepancy was due to the fact that most states’ overall scores went down slightly.

The nation as a whole received a “C” from Quality Counts for 2011.

The second performance study was conducted by the American Legislative Exchange Council. It was released Tuesday and has Ohio coming in 21st for its K-12 performance, progress and reform. ALEC also gave Ohio a “B” for its access to high-quality education.

ALEC, which calls itself a nonpartisan group of conservative state lawmakers, based its findings primarily on results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress exams. These tests are administered uniformly across the country to select urban districts.

Dave Myslinski, director of education task force at ALEC, said Ohio jumped from 21st from 35th, reflecting positive changes being made by the state.

“Our data is very sensitive to minor changes because they are based on improvements,” he said.

Although ALEC has a reputation for being pro-charter school, Myslinski said, “we’re all for improvement in all schools — we’ll take whatever.”

Massachusetts ranked first for student performance in the ALEC study, while Missouri had the highest education reform grade. West Virginia placed last in both categories.

Gallaway said it is important to keep all rankings in context, and focus on the work ahead.

“While Ohio continues to rank better than most states in the 2011 reports, our goal remains to be the best education system in the nation as measured by this and future reports,” he said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7325 or jikelley@DaytonDailyNews.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.