Ohio Department Of Education

The Ohio Department of Education (ODE), registered with the federal government since February 2004 and headquartered in Columbus, is the state educational agency responsible for overseeing K-12 education and supporting educational services across Ohio. As a U.S. state government entity, ODE serves as the primary administrative hub for implementing federal education initiatives, managing education programs, and coordinating educational services with local educational agencies, school districts, charter schools, and community organizations throughout the state. The department functions as both a direct recipient of federal funding and a conduit for distributing federal resources to numerous sub-recipients across Ohio's educational system.

Ohio Department of Education has demonstrated significant engagement with federal contract opportunities, most notably through a definitive firm-fixed-price contract valued at $2,210,330 awarded by the Institute of Education Sciences beginning April 1, 2025 and extending through March 31, 2035. Under this contract, ODE serves as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) State Coordinator for Ohio, providing critical support services for participation in national educational progress assessments and managing related data analysis services across Ohio's schools and educational agencies. This substantial long-term contract was awarded without any set-aside designation and represents ODE's technical capacity to manage complex, multi-year federal education assessment initiatives at the state level. The contract demonstrates ODE's role in supporting national educational measurement efforts while maintaining state-level coordination and administrative oversight.

Ohio Department of Education has been the recipient of extensive federal grant funding across multiple programs and funding agencies, positioning it as a major conduit for federal education resources to Ohio's local educational agencies and school districts. ODE received substantial formula grants supporting core education programs, including Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies (exceeding $650 million in recent awards from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education), Special Education Grants to States (over $520 million), and Career and Technical Education Basic Grants to States (approximately $52-72 million). The department has also administered significant formula grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Child Nutrition Division, including the National School Lunch Program (totaling approximately $178-217 million), Child and Adult Care Food Program (approximately $1.3-2.3 million), Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (approximately $6.5 million), and various other nutrition and food service initiatives. Beyond formula grants, ODE has received project grants supporting specialized initiatives such as the School Safety National Activities grant ($4.8 million) focused on training school psychologists in Appalachia Ohio, the Ohio Charter Schools Program ($20.2-104.9 million), Twenty-First Century Community Learning Centers ($46-91 million), Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants ($76-89 million), and the STOP School Violence Program ($1.99 million) supporting behavioral threat assessment in schools. Additional grant programs administered by ODE include English Language Acquisition State Grants ($13.7 million), Education for Homeless Children and Youth ($4.5 million), Migrant Education ($969,403), Grants for State Assessments and Related Activities ($10.3 million), Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants ($48 million), and numerous child nutrition technology and training initiatives. ODE distributes these federal grant awards to hundreds of local educational agencies, school districts, charter schools, educational service centers, nonprofit organizations, and community partners across Ohio, enabling the delivery of comprehensive educational services ranging from academic instruction and special education to student support services, professional development, nutrition programs, and mental health initiatives.