Researching recent history
The National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice (REACH) is the latest organization to release a detailed analysis of how America’s schools responded to pandemic-mitigation building closures. Their new report includes detailed documentation of a nationally representative sample of 3,511 school websites—including traditional public schools, private schools, and charters—throughout the month of May in order to capture information about personalization and engagement in instruction, progress monitoring, breadth of service, and equity of access among others. Charter schools fared particularly well in REACH’s analysis, especially in the areas of personalization and engagement outside of class and in progress monitoring.
Queen City charters plan for reopening
Kudos to WCPO-TV in Cincinnati, who took a detailed look at the reopening preparations ongoing in three local charter schools. All three appear to be offering flexible options for students based on the continuing uncertainty of what the pandemic status will be in the fall, and all three are allowing families to choose their preferred option.
Getting charter students to school
We learned more this week about Dayton City Schools’ new transportation plan for the fall, which will see all non-district students offered RTA passes (and dedicated routes?) rather than provided yellow bus transportation. Despite last week’s pointed reminder from ODE that districts cannot prioritize their own students over those utilizing school choice options, parents and charter school leaders in Dayton are decrying the situation. Not only do they feel a sense of unease about the safety and efficiency of the plan but also concern about the ongoing lack of clarity and communication from the district.
Ohio’s online charter school options
Knowing that many parents would prefer certainty over changeable options and hybrid “experiments”, Emily Bamforth of Cleveland.com took a generally well-balanced look at Ohio’s existing online charter school options. The distinction between dropout recovery schools and more traditional e-schools could probably have been more pronounced, but overall the piece should serve to provide parents with valuable information at a very important time.
