- Fordham’s Aaron Churchill is quoted in this Dispatch piece on the topic of rising high school graduation rates. Our research guru warns that giving out unearned diplomas just for the sake of “fairness” can devalue both the piece of paper and the education it is supposed to represent. (Columbus Dispatch, 12/15/17)
- Meanwhile, representatives of some of the state’s public colleges and universities were discussing a similar topic at the City Club of Cleveland last week. Apparently there was widespread agreement—from the perspective of college and career readiness for students—that “many K-12 schools aren't doing their job.” That is despite those rising K-12 graduation rates of which they are all aware. Pretty scathing if you ask me, although the college reps were nice enough to shoulder some of the blame for somehow not communicating with the high schools from which they recruit students what it is they are looking for in their incoming freshmen. I wonder a little how that is possible. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 12/15/17)
- Perhaps the Vindy and Akron City Schools should stop discussing details of their new I Promise School while they are ahead. The more I hear about it, the less special it sounds. Most of the facets originally touted as being “out of the box” have now been undercut. The year round schedule, the only truly original part of the school’s plan, is here specifically noted not to add any days to the school year—just to “rearrange” them. The typical school day will actually be shorter than at other district buildings, starting later but including an extra hour at the end of the day for non-academic stuff. As many of the teachers as possible will come from within existing Akron district ranks. Most of the startup money going into the project will be aimed at adults (teachers, helpers, administrators, trainers, service providers, etc.) And even the trauma-informed practices and family-focused supports which the LeBron James Family Foundation are particularly helping to fund are noted as not unique to this new enterprise but simply more readily available in I Promise compared to other district buildings. No wonder the one parent interviewed for this piece calls it “a leap of faith” to enroll her daughter into I Promise. And now they don’t even get Morgan Spurlock to lead the documentary film crew anymore, although that is not the district’s or LeBron James’ fault. (Youngstown Vindicator, 12/15/17)
- One of the more unique facets of the I Promise School that has yet to be demystified is provision of yoga instruction for students. However, even that is not new. Herewith: the yoga-class-in-lieu-of-detention program in Lancaster High School where kids can opt to swap the traditional punishment for excessive tardies and other infractions for sun salutations. (Columbus Dispatch, 12/18/17)
- We end today with an interesting wrinkle in the ongoing saga of Dayton City Schools’ efforts to deal with its underutilized school buildings. Since the utilization report first surfaced last week, the administration has made changes to the criteria of what proper utilization should be (25 kids per classroom instead of the original 30), which has resulted in three of the original 11 schools being dropped from the list of concern. However, the two least-utilized buildings look even more empty based on the new criteria. Ouch. Closure discussions will continue based on this new data. Union officials are warning the district not to move too quickly on the evaluation/closure process. (Dayton Daily News, 12/15/17)
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