Ohio's education reforms have received a generally favorable review from Quality Counts at 10, the Education Week annual report released last week, but there is still significant room for improvement. Ohio received an overall reform grade of B-. The state received high marks for policies related to standards and accountability (A-), and decent marks for efforts to improve teacher quality (B). Its grades for school climate and resource equity were middling (C+ and C respectively). There is much here for Ohio to take pride in, but two items in particular are worrisome. The first is the relative dearth of Ohio high school students taking upper level classes in math and science—only 60 percent took courses in math, while a meager 28 percent took science coursework. This is bad news for a state's long-term economic well-being. The second bit of bad news is that Ohio is one of only three states that saw its achievement gaps between blacks and whites, and between rich and poor, widen over the past decade. The causes of the increasing gap may not rest completely with resource disparity, which critics of Ohio's funding system are quick to blame (Ohio ranked 26th nationally in Resource Equity). But, surprising to many, the Quality Counts report offers no evidence that there is a correlation between states with high marks on resource equity and success at closing the achievement gap. Nor is there correlation between states with the lowest resource equity ratings and a failure to close the achievement gap. In short, this substantial report offers no evidence that funding equity alone closes achievement gaps, and for Ohio this finding is eye-opening. To see the Quality Counts report for yourself surf to www.edweek.org/ew/toc/2006/01/05/index.html [subscription required].
To see Ohio newspaper coverage of the report, check out:
"Tests' clear standards aided state, study says," by Ellen Jan Kleinerman, Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 5, 2006
"Ohio scores above average," by Mark Fisher, Dayton Daily News, January 5, 2006