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- Back in July, our Aaron Churchill published a blog post titled “It’s time to dump Reading Recovery.” A whole lot has happened since then—from podcasts to research reports to legislation to lawsuits—and this coverage from a Georgia perspective includes that post (which it calls “scathing”) as part of the accumulation of antipathy toward RR and its ilk. (Atlanta News First, 12/10/24) Aaron’s July piece is here, if you would like to read it again.
- Going even further back, our Chad Aldis was among the panelists at an Urban League event on the future of assessments and accountability in Ohio, which was held in Cleveland back in June. This new summary of the event tells us that Chad’s panel was called “Demystifying Assessments and Accountability” and that the “essence” of the discussion was captured in a line drawing created live as the panelists talked. You should take a look. No offense to my boss, but that’s clear as mud to me. Honestly, I’m not sure how valuable any of this was based on this recap. As a single example (there are more, as I’m sure you expected), I will note that a rep from Lorain City Schools told the audience—following discussion that her district was put under the auspices of an Academic Distress Commission after years of extreme academic suckitude—that Lorain has “taken a new approach to education”. To wit: “In our school district, we are trying to tell our staff we’re not worried about test scores. We’re not worried about assessments. If we can’t take care of the socioemotional aspects of our students first, then learning cannot begin. Often, people make choices and never listen to the people in which we serve. As a school district, we are stewards of the people, and listening to the parental and student voices are the greatest two voices we can hear.” The future sounds just like the past to me. (National Urban League, 12/11/24)
- In case you missed it, we have been told that the elected school board of Columbus City Schools is likely to vote on a proposed school closure plan at its meeting next week. So far in the run up to the vote, the Dispatch op-eds are running 2-to-1 against closing anything. Here is a typical anti-closure opinion piece, generally citing the “sloppiness” of the process, from a very prominent district parent. (Columbus Dispatch, 12/11/24) Meanwhile, a member of the facilities commission is in the pro-closure camp, explaining in detail about how the combo of lower enrollment, aging facilities, inefficient use of resources, and the like are the vital components informing his stance on the issue. (Columbus Dispatch, 12/12/14)
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