- The elected school board of Warren City Schools “commended…students’ academic achievements” at their board meeting this week, as presented by the district’s Chief Academic Officer. Take a read of this, especially the focus on credit recovery for juniors and seniors and see what you think. Me? I know the state allows these certificate-based graduation pathways, but seriously: How rigorous can a certification effort be if it can be started and completed in less than three weeks? And, just how well does a CPR cert (or whatever “absorbing foundational skills” is) really prepare a graduate for the work world? (Tribune-Chronicle, 7/19/23)
- Last week, we talked about a couple of Toledo area school districts that were really interested in finding out whether the new third grade reading provisions enacted in the state budget—namely, the elimination of mandatory retention for students who were not proficient in reading—applied retroactively to the kids who had just finished third grade. This week, the Ohio Department of Education issued guidance that concurred with their interpretation. That is, they can all stop worrying about trying to get those kids to pass the third grade reading test over the summer just so they won’t be held back. yay. (Gongwer Ohio, 7/19/23) The full guidance is here, in case you’re interested in that stuff.
- Speaking of summer programming (were we, really?), here’s a cool sounding summer camp (with a city planning theme!) for fifth- to eighth-grade students in Mahoning and Trumbull Counties. It ends this week with a huge street festival including presentation of student projects. Pretty swanky. (Mahoning Matters, 7/19/23)
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