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- Here is Exhibit A as to why right-sizing Ohio districts in response to decades of declining enrollment and efficient redistribution of remaining students around a district continues to be so glacial (or, indeed, non-existent). The impediments include “memories”, “history”, and other hazy concerns of self-interested adults—many of whom don’t even have kids in the system. Efficiency, stewarding taxpayer funding, and…you know…reality don’t seem to matter to them at all. (Akron Beacon Journal, 12/12/23)
- Meanwhile, Ohio did receive some national kudos this week. In a time when it feels like some states are playing keep away with student test results, the executive director of the Collaborative for Student Success says in an opinion piece that he’s “encouraged” by the fact that the Ohio General Assembly passed a law that requires state testing results be released no later than June 30 each year. Nice! (The 74, 12/12/23)
- No kudos here: Students in districts across Ohio have fallen far behind in math achievement since pandemic school closures, with Columbus City Schools showing the biggest decline. Students here are approximately 1.15 grade levels behind where they were in 2019. Stéphane Lavertu, Ohio State professor and Fordham Senior Research Fellow, is among the voices trying to put context to the numbers in this coverage. “There are some districts that did well in terms of helping students recover, regardless of their socioeconomic status or racial or ethnic identification,” he said, looking to provide evidence counter to the too-simplistic “blame poverty” narrative that is out there. Columbus City Schools, unsurprisingly, is not one of those districts. “It’s not looking and doing math,” said the district’s Director of Secondary Curriculum and Instruction by way of explaining how “recovery” is being approached there, “but actually talking about the math and how we go about making math happen.” I hope he figures out how real fast for the sake of all his kids, but my optimism is not high. (WOSU-FM, Columbus, 12/11/23)
- Meanwhile, a high-performing charter school here in Columbus (it’s in the name, folks: A+ Arts Academy) is celebrating math knowledge and students’ hard work with a school-wide, day-long “math battle” that looks like a great time to me. “We want it to be fun,” said principal Richard Davis. “We want it to be competitive, and we want them to see the value in it and to see the excitement in math.” Watch the video, too, y’all. It’s awesome. (ABC6 News, Columbus, 12/11/23)
- New state supe just dropped. Did he make a noise? (NBC4i.com, 12/12/23)
- Meanwhile, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce is moving forward with creating the Student Voice Workgroup, a sounding board of the most important education stakeholders which will help advise the department on policies, practices, resource needs, and more. The new workgroup will include charter school students, as it should, and here’s a look at the selection of Ayshia Jackson of Heir Force Community School in Lima to the panel. School director Willie Heggins called the selection “a tremendous honor not only for herself, but for the school and her family.” He noted that “her voice matters because they’re going to be talking about issues such as literacy, student safety and life after graduation” and praised the department for being “forward-thinking” to include young people who can help determine the future of education for themselves and for other students coming after them. An awesome note to end on today! (Lima News, 12/13/23)
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