A new evaluation system that rates sponsors of Ohio’s charter schools found many sponsoring agencies lacking, including some with schools in the Toledo area.

The Ohio Department of Education on Thursday released results of the review, which produced an overall rating of “ineffective” for 39 of 65 sponsor agencies for the 2015-2016 year. At least six of those “ineffective” sponsors are linked to Toledo charter schools.

Sponsor agencies include educational service centers, public school districts, nonprofit corporations, and other entities. The institutions have the ability to establish charter schools and are to provide oversight.

No sponsors in the state achieved an overall “exemplary” rating — the top designation in a four-tier rating system that then drops to “effective,” “ineffective,” and “poor.”

Five sponsors, including at least three with Toledo schools, were rated effective.

Twenty-one sponsors, most of whom were school districts, received a “poor” rating, including Oregon Schools. The district sponsors the Oregon Eagle Learning Center, an online-based, dropout recovery school.

Sponsors that receive an overall “poor” rating are subject to revocation of their sponsorship authority, but they can appeal, according to the state.

An Oregon schools representative could not be reached for comment late Thursday.

The overall ratings are based on three components — academic performance, including on state tests; compliance with state law and rules; and how well sponsors follow standards that have been accepted as best practices.

The evaluations were an outcome of legislation aimed at reforming charter schools, officials said.

“The ratings received by charter school sponsors in Ohio are a symptom of a broken system that is being improved thanks to reform efforts,” said RaShaun Holliman, president of the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools, in a written statement.

Sponsors of Toledo schools that received an “ineffective” overall rating include Bowling Green State University, Educational Service Center Lake Erie West, North Central Ohio Educational Service Center, Ohio Council of Community Schools, Toledo Public Schools, and the Office of School Sponsorship — the office within the state education department that directly sponsors a couple dozen charter schools.

An “ineffective” overall rating prohibits sponsors from sponsoring new schools and those agencies must have a plan to improve quality, according to the education department.

BGSU sponsors just one charter school, Toledo School for the Arts.

Dawn Shinew, dean of the college of education and human development at BGSU, said the new evaluation represents a dramatic change in the way the state reviews sponsors. This year, BGSU and other sponsors were required to submit more than 100 documents within a short time frame.

Ms. Shinew said Bowling Green “will be in a better position” to show its success to the state in future years and expects its ratings to improve.

TPS sponsors Phoenix Academy, an alternative to traditional high schools that uses an online curriculum, and Polly Fox Academy, a school for girls who are pregnant or parenting.

Sponsors rated as “effective” with ties to Toledo schools include Buckeye Community Hope Foundation, Educational Service Center of Central Ohio, and St. Aloysius Orphanage — sponsor of Madison Avenue School of Arts.

Chad Aldis, a longtime charter school supporter who works on policy and advocacy for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, said he expects the ratings to improve in coming years. He added this year’s ratings can be interpreted as “a warning sign” for struggling sponsors.

“Sponsors are going to get better as a result of this, and that’s why you have an evaluation system,” he said.

Contact Vanessa McCray at: vmccray@theblade.com or 419-724-6065, or on Twitter @vanmccray.

First Published October 14, 2016, 4:00 a.m.