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Preview for a movie we don’t want to see
Cleveland Metropolitan School District is supposed to announce plans for dispensation of 12 of its 18 recently-closed school buildings sometime today. As of this writing, those plans are not available, but given that the United Schools charter network has apparently already been rebuffed in their effort to locate in one of the buildings—per this preview—we can all likely predict how this is going to play out. A small sliver of hope: The Ohio Attorney General’s office says they will be “monitoring” the district’s dispensation effort. Hopefully we’ll have all the gory details next week.
Digging into state testing data
Dozens of charter schools across Ohio were among those flagged for “anomalies” in their spring state testing data. As we await more details from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, reporters are digging in to the story and speaking to charter leaders. This Dayton Daily News piece includes responses from two area schools. “We are eager to assess the anomalies and resolve any concerns in full cooperation with the Department,” says one. “Student achievement and integrity are core tenets of our educational mission and testing protocols, and we have full confidence in the veracity of our quality student achievement results.” This Signal Cleveland piece also includes a northeast Ohio school’s response: They have “no evidence that improper testing practices occurred and [remain] fully confident that the Spring assessment scores accurately reflect…students’ achievement levels.”
Dayton celebration
Here’s a nice look at Emerson Academy, a charter school in Dayton celebrating an improved (and asterisk-free) report card this year. Principal Nia Hogue says that data, culture, and accountability are the keys to better outcomes. This includes a weekly staff review of data to determine which lessons students understood and which need more work. The extra work comes via Friday afternoon and even weekend study hours at the school. And Emerson’s new parents’ academy will help instill their culture of academics in the home as well as the classroom.
Investing in success
Kudos to Mahoning Matters for this detailed look at Towpath Trail High School, a dropout recovery charter school with several campuses in northeast Ohio. It celebrates past successes in helping students who have not fared well in previous schools to complete their education and to graduate with a plan for future careers, and explains how Towpath’s new Charter Schools Program award will help them expand to serve more young people going forward.
Big national news
A federal judge in Oklahoma ruled this week that an online charter school operated by a Jewish-affiliated foundation could legally operate in the state, reversing the decision of the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board. “The court’s ruling today affirms that religious charter school applicants should not be excluded from consideration simply because of their religiosity,” said the school’s attorney, A.J. Ferate, after the verdict. An appeal is guaranteed.
New research of note
Interesting new research from the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) surveys a number of authorizers in four states that allow varying lengths of charter renewals. Their focus: What different terms are used, why, and what are the pros and cons of longer and shorter lengths. The report concludes that the length of charter renewal terms should be determined through a deliberate, performance-based process, and not by default or tradition. You can read a review at the link above, and the full report is available here.
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