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- Sorry to have missed you all on Monday. No clips of note, no Bites. So simple, yet so sad. But we’re back today with two pieces of interest. First is Spectrum News, reporting that over 36,000 students are enrolled in online charter schools this year, the third straight year student numbers have grown and representing a 13 percent increase in enrollment since “the end of the pandemic”. A spokesperson at Ohio Connections Academy extols the virtues of flexibility and individualized education that can be strong incentives for families. Fordham’s Aaron Churchill is by the numbers (see what I did there?), noting the ongoing poor academic performance of online charters. “The average student loses ground when they attend an online school,” he says, and urges those schools to up their academic game if they’re going to continue on the grow. (Spectrum News 1 Ohio, 11/10/26)
- Lastly, we have an interesting update on the state testing anomalies flagged in one Cleveland Metropolitan School District building. Kudos to Fox 8 News for continuing to ask the questions and to district officials for responding. The news is threefold: a) Specific issues cited at this school were “students taking breaks while testing,” “activities occurring in separate rooms… (for one) testing session,” and “incomplete … training attendance records and testing documentation.” b) CMSD’s own investigation “found no evidence that testing irregularities affected student assessment outcomes” in this school. c) Outside investigators are being engaged both by CMSD (to review their “overall testing security procedures”) and by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. More news to come, I hope. (Fox 8 News, Cleveland, 11/9/26)
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