Gadfly Bites 12/22/25—Right to Wariness Week

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1. There was a bit of paradox in the findings of the state’s audit of reading curricula used in Ohio teacher preparation programs which we didn’t talk about last week: Some of the institutions that were not in compliance with state laws actually met most or all of the 73 metrics on which they were being adjudicated. That is, they included everything they were supposed to to comply with science of reading best practices, but also failed to exclude one or more of the low-quality pedagogical practices specifically banned by state law. (You know the ones I’m talking about.) Hence the failing grade. Editors at the Toledo Blade are all in for all of it, even though local flagships University of Toledo and Bowling Green State University were on the list of those institutions that failed. The editors are confident those schools will purge the bad stuff (or have already done so) and that doing so is as imperative as incorporating all the proven methods to help students learn to read. A very succinct way of eliminating the questions around the paradox. (Toledo Blade, 12/21/25)
   
   

2. Meanwhile, on the topic of reasons we should remain a little wary, here’s a look at Mad River Local Schools in the Dayton area. They have, teachers and administrators say, made great progress in boosting the percentage of third graders that are at or above grade level in their reading ability. And provide data to back themselves up. But, while they claim that they’ve been doing this work for 10 years—“far before the state’s mandated changes”—those data seem to me to show that it's only since the start of Gov. DeWine’s comprehensive push to make science of reading the law of the land (see above) that substantive improvement was really recorded in Mad River. Given that reality, I’m not sure why it was necessary for anyone involved in this piece to claim (or to publish on the record) that the district’s efforts pre-dated state mandates. Feels like everyone could take proper credit for whatever improvements have occurred without that caveat, thus it makes me wary that someone insisted it needed to be there. (Dayton Daily News, 12/20/25)
   
   

3. Fittingly for the final edition of Bites for the year, here’s a look at the life and work of current Kettering Mayor Peggy Lehner, who will retire from a lifetime of public service on December 31. This included two stints in the Ohio Senate and one in the Ohio House of Representatives. As Senate Education Chair, she was known for her deep knowledge of K-12 policy and willingness to roll up her sleeves and tackle the toughest issues. This is probably best exemplified by her tireless leadership championing successful charter school reform, by which we mean House Bill 2, enacted in 2015 and still powering important changes in the sector today. Farewell and best wishes for retirement to an exemplary public servant. (Dayton Daily News, 12/19/25)

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