Gadfly Bites 4/27/20 – Strong guidance

1. We’re leading with the punchline a bit in today’s clips, but our own Aaron Churchill has got an op-ed in the Dispatch today and we should definitely have that in the top spot for clips! In it, he argues for extended time for this year’s seniors to remain in school—perhaps even an entire additional school year—to make sure that they have mastered what they need to know and are truly ready to move on to the next step in their lives…  (Columbus Dispatch, 4/27/20)
   
   

2. …you know: instead of being given their diplomas out of a misguided sense of compassion on behalf of educators during a chaotic time. (Toledo Blade, 4/26/20)
    
3. As we have noted here, true online education does not seem to be within the wheelhouse of many schools and districts across Ohio. Certainly the speed of the required transition has something to do with it, but I personally think that many districts didn’t really embrace data technology and internet-delivered content all that much to start with. Have you seen your resident district’s website recently? You get a glimpse of what I’m suggesting in this piece, which lauds a Dayton tech firm for helping lots of schools “transition” to online education. But their definition of “education” seems to hew mostly to document compliance. Which sounds about right. (Dayton Daily News, 4/25/20) The digital divide is also a legitimate source of difficulty in schools transitioning to true online learning. The number of students without high speed Wi-Fi and without the needed devices at home is not only well known, it’s also very old news. Research has pointed out this divide across the country since at least the time when the Blue Man Group was flogging Intel Pentium 3 processing chips on TV. Despite years of this foreknowledge; despite two months of rapid, practical on-the-ground efforts; and despite the hundreds of thousands of tax dollars and charitable donations thrown at the obvious-as-the-nose-on-your-face gaps; the Ohio Education Association says it still ain’t enough. “We’ll need time to assess the needs of all students…” including those lacking technology among a litany of other stuff “…and work together to support them in the best way possible.” (Columbus Dispatch, 4/25/20) This piece from the Dayton Daily News asks two questions in its headline. The second one is “What will school look like in August?”. We’ll get to that in a second. But the lead question is more germane for this clip: “Are kids learning right now?” The short answer is no, for all of the reasons enumerated in the foregoing discussion – both said by the spokespeople out loud and via my own interpretation thereof. But the main reason for me to clip this is to ask—and answer—a rhetorical question of my own: Why didn’t anyone ask—or care—about that question back in January when the answer was also a resounding “no”? Also of interest in this piece: The similarities between Dayton and Oakwood City Schools in the way they would “typically” get their not-on-track-to-graduate seniors across the line. Hint: it involves the same for-profit company which, surprise surprise, provides home Wi-Fi, a computer, and a coach to each student. Almost like they knew what to do long before now. (Dayton Daily News, 4/26/20)
    
4. Before we get to discussion of next school year, let’s look at what remains of this one. There are numerous outlets reporting on the Ohio Department of Education’s guidance to districts to hold virtual graduations as close as possible to the originally planned date, rather than postponing dates into July in hopes of holding a live in-person event. Something about having to keep shifting dates or something. Only this coverage, from tiny Galion, Ohio, includes the phrase “the sooner the better” in relation to those ceremonies. Odd (Galion Inquirer, 4/27/20) Why is that odd? Because ODE has also issued what is termed “strongly worded guidance” that stops Yellow Springs City Schools and others from shortening their school year, in opposition to YS’s stated plan from last week to lop two weeks off. Guess ODE really wants schools to stick to their regular schedule. “I assumed that parents and families by mid-May might have reached capacity for remote learning,” said the YS supe (perhaps a little mopily, do I detect?) in a letter reversing the plan. (Yellow Springs News, 4/25/20)
    
5. So, about next school year in Ohio. The superintendent in Gallipolis City Schools, whose district was said by a (non-teacher) parent to have been unprepared for distance learning, was spitballing about next year and he posited the idea that the kids who most needed in-person teaching (students on IEPs and students without internet or proper devices) would be the only ones actually in classes come August due to the need for continued social distancing. (ABC6, Columbus, 4/25/20) The folks who run tiny Wellington Exempted Village Schools envision “a mix” of online and in-class learning, but the only kids who are singled out as really needing in-class learning are those studying specific areas at the local vocational school. (Elyria Chronicle, 4/24/20) Finally, the superintendent of Olmstead Falls City Schools isn’t making predictions so much as he is predicting that there will still be a lot of moving parts to consider well into next school year. But it does seem like this year’s work—and grading—will be continuing into next school year. At least, I think that’s what he’s saying here: “You’ll have kids with really high grades, but won’t have an understanding as far as how they’ve achieved. So we’re going to have data as students go into next school year based on their completion. That will be the grade.” (Cleveland.com, 4/27/20)

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