- Up to fifty-three staff members could be let go in Cleveland Municipal School District (that’s teachers and other staff) at the end of the school year, out of an initial sixty-eight identified as underperforming by building principals. The details of the process are fascinating and instructive, but this is proof-positive that CEO Eric Gordon is serious about the reforms he championed in the district, including supporting his principals in weeding out bad performers.
- Lorain City Schools was one of many districts around the Buckeye State to pilot the new PARCC exams last month. There were far fewer technological snags than most had predicted, and teachers in Lorain have no fear that they can teach their students all they need to meet and beat the higher expectations of the Common Core–aligned tests.
- The Cleveland Plain Dealer ran an excellent series of articles last week looking at the state-of-play in many suburban school districts with regard to the Third Grade Reading Guarantee: where they stood after the fall test, what results they expect from the impending spring test, and what they plan to do with the rest of the school year and into summer to make sure their third graders test proficient and move on to fourth grade. To show the diversity of the series, officials in the tiny Mayfield Schools say they expect no third graders to be held back when all is said and done; in contrast, officials in the inner-ring Cleveland Heights–University Heights Schools won’t venture a number but have serious plans in place for those students who they know will need extra help to pass the summer test.
