Gadfly Bites 6/2/23—“Threatened with the crushing threat”

1. Jessica and Aaron teamed up for a nice op-ed published in the ABJ this morning, noting the findings of our recent report on teacher preparation programs and the quality of their instruction in the science of reading. The piece focuses on northeast Ohio colleges, naturally, and I for one am glad to see that Youngstown State’s “A” rating is highlighted…even if the headline focuses on Kent State’s somewhat lower rating. (Akron Beacon Journal, 6/2/23)
   
   

2. Speaking of teaching students how to read, a report was released yesterday by Ohio Excels and the Ohio Education Research Center looking at the academic impact of retaining students under Ohio’s Third Grade Reading Guarantee and providing them with extra support. Topline findings: Quick and substantial academic progress among those students who repeated third grade, which persists at least through seventh grade. Unfortunately for Ohio’s kids, skepticism seems to persist based upon my quick reading of this piece. (Cleveland.com, 6/1/23) The skepticism is a bit less pronounced in this coverage, but it’s definitely still there by my reckoning. (Toledo Blade, 6/1/23) Gongwer, thematically, leans on the battle metaphor in its coverage, concluding with a quote from Senator Romanchuk who “summed up the challenge for lawmakers…by acknowledging that both sides of the debate argue that the research supports their position. ‘What are we to believe?’, he asked.” Indeed, sir. Indeed. (Gongwer Ohio, 6/1/23)
   
   

3. Speaking of the Ohio General Assembly, Gongwer has two additional pieces of interest to us me. First up: SB 104, heard in a Senate committee earlier this week, proposes some changes to College Credit Plus. All of them seem reasonable and student/family friendly. The changes are based on findings of the recent CCP performance audit conducted by the Auditor of State. Hopefully no one will hold that against the bill, but…you know…Ohio. (Gongwer Ohio, 5/31/23) Second: Senate President Matt Huffman says he is looking to eliminate at least one category of school funding guarantees—supplemental targeted assistance—which currently applies to low-wealth districts whose student count has fallen a certain distance below a previously-established mark. Huffman calls such guarantees an adulteration of the new school funding plan’s aim to base funding on the actual costs of educating students. No offense to the Senate prez, but it feels like I’ve been hearing Aaron say the same thing for years. Let’s see how it goes. (Gongwer Ohio, 6/1/23)
   
   

4. This story detailing the school year at Akron City Schools’ Helen Arnold Community Learning Center—and specifically, staff efforts to raise the school’s performance score from the lowest five-percent in the state—is important. And seems generally pretty good. The school was lauded earlier this year by Governor DeWine for their early adoption of the science of reading (“I knew the way we were teaching reading wasn’t working”), which should pay some dividends in terms of performance. However, even if the tremendous effort documented here achieves its goal of avoiding state intervention, the academic outcomes of Helen Arnold’s students will still likely lag behind more than 90 percent of all other students in the entire state. If there’s one thing that’s made abundantly clear by this story, all of those students and parents deserve far more than that. (Akron Beacon Journa, 6/1/23) I get the same vibes out of this piece. Canton City School’s McKinley High School has a “graduation coach”. Terrance Jones sounds like a great guy with a good heart, the right ideas, and a solid approach to supporting students and keeping them on track to graduate. But shouldn’t that work start earlier? I am pretty sure it does so in New Albany and Mariemont and Solon. And, honestly, shouldn’t it really be baked in to every adult interaction with students and not necessarily require one single person to be that resource for everyone right at the very end? Thing bigger for your kids, guys. Think better. (WKYC-TV, Cleveland, 5/31/23)
   
   

5. Finally this week, Springfield native and [checks notes] former Ohio State University football standout Braxton Miller was on hand for the unveiling of a new charter school to open this fall in his hometown. Appropriate because Springfield Sports Academy will feature a unique sports-centric education model as described in this piece. Interestingly, while this is Miller’s first foray into the education sphere, it sounds like it definitely won’t be his last. (Springfield News-Sun, 5/31/23)

Did you know you can have every edition of Gadfly Bites sent directly to your Inbox? Subscribe by clicking here.