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- Fordham’s Aaron Churchill was on the radio Monday, talking about Science of Reading implementation in Ohio. Also on the guest list: the curriculum director of a small local school district. Everyone sounds really enthusiastic and positive about the switch away from the bad old ways of attempting to teach young kids to read and expresses confidence in better reading achievement to come. (WVXU-FM, Cincinnati, 8/12/24) Also on Monday, the Reading Recovery Council of North America filed an objection to a magistrate’s earlier ruling that denied a preliminary injunction to stop the switch to SoR. So the legal tussle drags on. Classic. (Gongwer Ohio, 8/12/24)
- Also classic: Folks grouching that voucher expenses in the first year of Ohio’s EdChoice expansion to near-universal eligibility will likely end up costing not only less than budgeted, but also less than projected six months ago. I feel like it’s also noteworthy that both the original EdChoice Scholarship—for students attending low-performing district schools—and the Autism Scholarship both seem to have incurred more costs than that near-universal expansion the grouchers are hating on. But that’s just me. (Cleveland.com, 8/13/24)
- Take it from somebody who knows—a school leader who didn’t close any schools during his tenure—it’s hard to close schools for so very many reasons. (Spectrum News 1, 8/12/24)
- This piece on chronic absenteeism seems to me a bit more valedictory than it probably should. I look forward reading the full version of the yet-to-be-published research report that seems to indicate that the problem has been pretty well licked in some Ohio schools. (The Conversation, 8/13/24)
- In Spanish: ¿Por qué no ha sucedido esto antes? In English: Why hasn’t this happened before? That is the somewhat uncomfortable question that lurks at the heart of this otherwise great story about the opening day of Painesville’s first Spanish/English bilingual charter school. That day is today—only a decade or two late given the reality of life in the area. Among the good stuff in this brief piece: the K-5 school is looking to have 100 students enrolled by the end of the first week; staffing is fully complete; most of the staff are fully bilingual; and the sky appears to be the limit for expansion of grades and services for families. ¡Fantastico! (News 5 Cleveland, 8/13/24)
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