- Ahead of this week’s state board of education meeting, the Dispatch took a look at the issue of graduation requirements, sure to be a highlight of the agenda. If the one board member quoted here is anything to go by, extending the no-competency diploma pathways to the Classes of 2019 and 2020—two new fronts in the state’s War on Knowing Stuff—is a slam dunk. Fordham’s Chad Aldis tries to be the voice of reason here, but is buried at the bottom of the story as apparently befits someone who is one of the “select few” trying to turn back the tepid tide of this wretched war. (Columbus Dispatch, 1/6/18) At the same time as the board has been waging its War on Knowing Stuff (a.k.a. – tweaking graduation requirements in order to deemphasize mastery of academic things), members have been engaging in a larger conversation to define “the characteristics and attributes that a graduating senior should have in order to make a successful transition to adulthood.” You guessed it: knowing actual stuff is a minor part of what has been discussed thus far. (Columbus Dispatch, 1/7/18)
- I have been enjoying some classic game show episodes from my youth in recent weeks, thanks to GSN being on a retro kick. That is probably why I pictured representatives of local school districts with their hands poised over big red prize buttons shouting, “Big bucks! C’mon… Biiiig bucks!!” as I read this ECOT piece. That is, of course, followed by the talismanic, “No Supreme Court Whammies… Stop!!!” The part of Peter Tomarken was played by Aaron Rausch in my imagination. (Columbus Dispatch, 1/7/18) I jest, of course. Should the Ohio Supreme Court rule against ECOT and give Big Bucks to school districts like Columbus and South-Western, obviously all those districts’ problems would go away and all kids in them would live happily and educatedly ever after. (That’s more barb than jest, for all you sticklers out there.) However, the question of how we got in this predicament in the first place would still need to be solved. “The fact is,” says House Education Committee Chair Andy Brenner, “we need better definitions of what a full-time equivalent student is for traditional hours, blended learning and e-schools going forward so everyone understands what it is and there’s no ambiguity.” To that laudable end, he hopes to introduce legislation later this year to ensconce such definitions in state law. (Columbus Dispatch, 1/7/18)
- According to this piece, the board and administration of Dayton City Schools are “aiming at student learning” as a goal for the remainder of the school year. That of course begs the question of what on earth they were aiming at before. (Dayton Daily News, 1/5/18)
- Unfortunate mindset or poor wording? Read and decide for yourself. SPOILER ALERT: I have already done so. This is a story about a new “parent training program” getting underway in Summit County. Its stated goal is to teach parents how to “control” their “difficult” kids and how to “bring love back into the parent-child relationship”. The organization in charge of this effort is looking for a critical mass of money and parents so they can get on the road to solving school discipline problems and the opioid crisis too. Lotsa luck. (Akron Beacon Journal, 1/7/18)
