- Aaron Churchill is quoted extensively, and the report’s findings discussed at a decent amount of length, in this piece on the recent NCTQ/Fordham report digging into teacher prep programs in Ohio and how their grads learn to teach reading. (Statehouse News Bureau, 6/19/23)
- Speaking of the state budget bill (were we?), this discussion of voucher expansion proposals is unnecessarily framed as a zero-sum battle between two local parents. It’s actually kind of ridiculous how inappropriate the structure is. (News 5 Cleveland, 6/16/23) Staying on topic, the adults who run Lorain City Schools are still jubilant as the budget finish line approaches. (WKYC-TV, Cleveland, 6/16/23) However, even that immaculate get out jail free card for Lorain isn’t enough to make the editorial board of the Chronicle say nice things about the budget bill. (The Chronicle-Telegram, 6/20/23)
- It is a very long way between today and April 8, 2024. This is unfortunate, because I see that am going to be annoyed many many times between now and that date. Why? Because that’s when a rare solar eclipse will be visible across northern Ohio and instead of using the big event as an avenue to really ramp up astronomy education over the intervening months, many schools are instead ramping up their Chicken Little rhetoric. All of the “potential dangers” of the event listed here, to which schools are responding with closures, sound exactly like what we heard in the run up to Y2K. (Possibly spotty Wi-Fi?! Well of COURSE we have to be closed!) And you know how that turned out. (Toledo Blade, 6/19/23) I do not expect things to get better, either, especially when the only argument needed to shut down Mansfield City Schools for that whole day is “We’ll be letting out at the time” when the four minute eclipse occurs. Y’all can’t just stay in school for another hour? Maybe with a science teacher doing some interesting stuff? Do better, educators. (Richland Source, 6/20/23)
- There’s some uninspiring discussion of CTE pathways for middle schoolers in that Mansfield City Schools story, above. (Which tracks with the paucity of scientific interest demonstrated.) And here’s some more uninspiring discussion related to middle schoolers, this time on dual enrollment pathways, from Dayton City Schools. At least the headline here is properly equivocal. (Dayton Daily News, 6/19/23)
- And speaking of equivocation: Lakewood High School student Sophia Kowalski is, it seems, an awesome young baker and will soon be competing in a national contest to prove just how awesome she is. Why, then, does the chef in charge of the West Shore Career and Technical Program’s culinary training, where she honed her craft, decide to equivocate about the value of his program (“We teach a lot of responsibility and work ethic and things to build you to be a good employee of any kind.”) even while lauding Ms. Kowalski’s achievement? Like, look, I understand that not every kid who comes in there wants to be the next Carla Hall. But shouldn’t the message be “If you want to, we can help”? Anything else seems to indicate that she is an outlier and that your impact on her trajectory was minimal at best. Not exactly a rousing sales job, chef. What am I missing here? (News 5 Cleveland, 6/20/23)
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