WESTLAKE, Ohio -- Most students in northeast Ohio head back to school this week and they won't get a report card for a while; but their schools' grades will come out on Tuesday.

A few area school districts will see their state rankings go up a notch because of a new measurement the state is using, reported NewsChannel5.

Lakewood, Bedford and Ashtabula School Districts went from continuous improvement to effective.

Lorain Schools join Cleveland falling from continuous improvement to academic watch. Other area schools still in academic watch are Warrensville Heights and East Cleveland.

As teachers set the table for another school year in Westlake, the district -- already rated excellent by the state -- gets a new ranking: excellent with distinction.

State school board member Virgil Brown Jr. said the state report card now measures student growth over a school year.

"Rather than just measure the test score of a particular day, the value added measures the movement of the student in the time the teacher has with him," said Brown.

The value-added measurement helped Westlake schools meet adequate yearly progress for special education students, who didn't hit the mark on reading tests.

"They need to have a certain percent pass reading and math tests, and if they don't reach that percentage, you are not considered meeting AYP. So the growth model helped us to meet AYP by showing these students made growth," said academic services director Pam Griebel.

Westlake is just one of the northeast Ohio school districts that will benefit from the new measurement.

In fact, at least two districts will actually see their state ranking go up. Starting next year, the growth measurement could bring state rankings down, as well.

Brown said it's all going to improve Ohio schools.

"We are now ranked seventh in national test scores instead of in the middle of the 50 states. So we have made progress and we're continuing that path," said Brown.

The state still measures test scores, too; the growth measurement is in addition to that.

For more information, visit the Ohio Department of Education.