Gadfly Bites 4/22/24—Connecting the dots

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It’s nice to know that editorial boards read their own papers, I reckon. The good folks overseeing The Blade in Toledo certainly do, because they saw two separate stories published last week—Governor DeWine’s visit to Frogtown extolling the benefits of the science of reading and a new push by Mayor Kapszukiewicz to put free universal pre-K on the ballot—and decided this was an obvious two-fer worth opining on. (Toledo Blade, 4/21/24)
Speaking of money to support kids (no, you’re right; I didn’t spell that out in the clip above, but honestly when are we not talking about that anymore?), there’s state grant funding available to help high school teachers become certified to teach college classes through College Credit Plus. It was interesting to me to hear the superintendent of the Montgomery County ESC discuss the results of a recent focus group of high school juniors and seniors, in which “most of them were clear” that they preferred to take their CCP classes in this manner—at their high school, taught by familiar high school teachers. These are still kids, the boss says, and they want to be able to do high school activities, like go to the pep assembly and hang out with their friends. (Dayton Daily News, 4/20/24)
In the previous CCP clip, the ESC boss noted that “the schools that took advantage of these courses the most were already wealthy districts”. Meaning, in my mind, that the guiding principles for the entire program (as espoused by Madam Superintendent) are based on what those folks want, need, and ask for. I say all this as preamble for this clip, discussing the current cause célèbre in education policy everywhere: cellphone bans. The story is about how well a new ban is going in one school in Cincinnati these days. (Well, they always had a prohibition in the rule book, they say, but apparently no one really followed it until this year. Makes you wonder what other rules folks may be skating on at Cincinnati Country Day School, doesn’t it?) The main data provided here is that the kiddos are “cool with it” and, secondarily, one girl points out that she gets all her homework done during the school day now because she ~~cannot make~~ is not making TikTok videos during her Advisory period. Seriously? That’s it? Literally every action shot illustrating the story shows kids interacting with Chromebooks and wearing Apple watches. What, exactly, have they banned in this place, and, frankly, who cares? The Upper School tuition for this place averages $29K—going up to $30K for next year, so budget wisely Mom and Dad—and they do not appear to accept EdChoice vouchers. As good as this school may be, it does not, to my humble eyes, seem like someplace we should readily use as an exemplar for much of anything. Just sayin’. (Cincinnati Enquirer, 4/21/24)
Staying in the (somewhat similar) private school universe, here’s a story about Chaminade Julienne High School in downtown Dayton (annual tuition $14,100, EdChoice vouchers accepted—it’s only fair to compare, right?), which is raising funds for the next phase of its campus upgrades. The planned work will complete efforts of modernization, expansion, and consolidation of student services and will position the school for an expected increase in students. Expected because several affiliated K-8 Catholic schools in the area are already seeing big enrollment boosts. Just out of curiosity, I looked for info on their cellphone policy; didn’t find it, but I’m sure it’s there somewhere. (Dayton Daily News, 4/22/24)
Finally today, here’s a quick look at the 2024 Regional FlexFactor competition, a multi-disciplinary geekathon held last Friday at Sinclair Community College. FlexFactor is funded by the Department of Defense and “aims to improve critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative skills, while informing students about career pathways in STEM…as well as advanced manufacturing.” Sounds like an awesome mash up of Science Olympiad, mathletics, and a job fair to me! Whatever it is, I came away curious to know how students got involved in order to compete. Teams this year came from one Dayton City Schools building, one county career center, one (the only one nearby) regional STEM school, and a bunch of suburban districts. Feels like there could be tons of other Future Dorks of America around (said with love, y’all, from this giant dork to all the others out there) who would probably love to strut their stuff. Here’s hoping they all get a chance someday soon! (Dayton Daily News, 4/19/24)