Gadfly Bites 6/18/25—What’s it going to be: clear-eyed appraisal or spin?

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1. Hmmm…. Following on from Monday, here is yet another story around science of reading implementation that is celebratory in nature but mentions nothing and seems to care nothing about student achievement. Granted the piece is covering a gathering of reading teachers and literacy coaches recapping the work of their recently-completed school year, but surely someone should think to mention the children, especially if they are lauding their implementation work…shouldn’t they? I suspect what we’re seeing here—and in Monday’s SoR piece—is the prelude to report card season. That is, education stakeholders trying to set the narrative ahead of the annual data dump on student, school, and district performance for 2024-25. I am not liking what the early spin seems to be saying. (Morning Journal, 6/17/25)
   
   

2. The clearest evidence so far of report card pre-gaming, though, comes in this piece, in which Cleveland Metropolitan School District officials plop a cold wet blanket on expectations for their overall report card grade this year (remember that last year’s “unprecedented” three star rating set off weeks of celebration across The Land). Pre-emptive blame is placed on the new College, Career, Workforce, and Military Readiness component, which will be added to the mix for the first time this year. CMSD leaders already know their rating on this component is bad—and they’ve got a lot of explanations as to why that’s the case, most of which sound like feeble spin to me—but are tentatively hopeful that other components could be better than expected to perhaps balance things out. We shall see. (Signal Cleveland, 6/18/25)
   
   

3. And for anyone who is still mired in state budget season and too brain-fried to start thinking about report card season yet, this op-ed from a former elected school board member from New Albany has got you covered: It ain’t about money. (Columbus Dispatch, 6/18/25)

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