- CREDO released a report yesterday looking at performance of e-school students in 17 states and the District of Columbia. I can’t speak to the level of surprise with which individual readers greeted the generally-awful findings. Ohio was one of the states under the microscope and the dismal results are particularly piquant here in the wake of a landmark charter law reform bill (which, coincidentally, went to Governor Kasich for signature yesterday). Chad is quoted on that very issue in all of these pieces. To wit: "While Ohio has a jumpstart on improving its online charter schools (because of HB2), these findings should serve as a clarion call for policymakers, pundits, taxpayers, and school choice advocates that more work remains." Check out coverage of the CREDO results in the Plain Dealer (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 10/27/15), the Dispatch (Columbus Dispatch, 10/27/15), and Gongwer (Gongwer Ohio, 10/27/15).
- Speaking of report releases, Patrick O’Donnell got an early look at NAEP data set for full release this week and has already published his first story. Why the rush? There appear to be some small but significant NAEP gains for students in the CLE. These are specifically newsworthy in light of the general downward trend for Ohio and the nation. He promises more on this topic later today and the rest of the week. I know you can take that promise to the bank. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 10/28/15)
- A surprising development in what appeared to be the inevitable pay increase for teachers in the recently-flush Toledo City Schools: the board of ed voted down that pay raise (sorry, restoration of previous pay cuts) by a vote of 3-2. Guaranteed we’ll hear more on this soon as well. (Toledo Blade, 10/28/15)
- Here’s a look at the newest member of the state board of education – former Ashland University Provost Frank Pettigrew. Says he: “I don't think anybody (on the board) has had the level of experience of higher education and understanding that process of training teachers that I have, so I'm hoping to bring some of that to the table and have some focused discussion on some of those things.” Nice. (Gongwer Ohio, 10/26/15)
- Also, if you missed our latest Ohio Education Speakers Series event, on the difficulty of recruiting and retaining great school leaders, you can check out Jessica Poiner's recap here.
