- Closing out the year with a further discussion of graduation rates, the Dispatch settled on the topic of charter school grad rates, finding them to be far lower than for traditional district schools. The theme seems to be that charter high schools are obviously worse than traditional district high schools, but Fordham’s Aaron Churchill raises the issue that students who move between school types during their high school career can cause a data hiccup that tends to “disguise” just which school gets credited or debited with “success” or “failure” on behalf of that student. No one asked me, of course, but I might also suggest that some cooking of the books on grad rates (the deuce you say!) might be happening as well. And if so, the putative cooks are probably not the folks whose books look less good. (Columbus Dispatch, 12/26/17)
- A bill has been promised for the new year which would make changes in the state’s school and district report cards. (Gongwer Ohio, 12/28/17) Fordham’s report on the topic of state report cards from earlier this year is alluded to in the Gongwer piece. It is mentioned specifically in this year end education news review courtesy of central Ohio public radio. (WOSU-FM, Columbus, 12/29/17)
- In something of a year-end understatement, Jeremy Kelley says that 2017 was a “wild year” in education news in Dayton, and provides a harrowing list. Worse yet, very few of those particularly troublesome chickens have come home to roost. Bring on 2018, amiright?! (Dayton Daily News, 12/27/17)
- Soup labels, soda tabs, and box tops are all, apparently, heading for the last roundup as means for schools to raise money. Participation is dwindling in all of them and the first two have actually already ended. The third is retrenching for the 21st Century. Is nothing sacred, I ask you? A sad note to end the year of news clips. (Akron Beacon Journal, 12/29/17)
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