- The state board of education is this week discussing whether to move forward on “safe harbor” provisions allowed in the recent MBR - giving a year's grace to districts' report cards based on the new PARCC exams. We'll see how that goes, but there has also been some discussion as to whether “safe harbor” provisions should be extended to teachers in the wake of the new exams as well. Delaware City Schools has already moved ahead with changing their teacher evaluations, tying 50% of a teacher’s “grade” to student-growth measures. “Students who perform well on tests are most likely performing well in the classroom,” the Supe reasons. (ThisWeek News/Delaware News)
- Must be the season for moving alternative schools and programs around. We told you about one last week and here’s another. The Madison-Champaign ESC is moving its hybrid program for students at risk of dropping out from a classroom in Urbana to a modular space in Bellefontaine 25 miles away. (Springfield News Sun)
- A giant embezzlement case involving the Springboro Athletic Boosters organization dating back nearly five years is having continuing consequences for the district. The group still has not won back its 501c3 status and therefore cannot function without strict district oversight. The district is ready to end its scrutiny, but cannot do so until the group is back in the IRS’ good graces. (Dayton Daily News)
- This is a curious piece. Editors in Columbus took the occasion of an impending visit by author Wes Moore (The Other Wes Moore) to opine on what they think Columbus could and should do moving forward in the wake of the district’s data-scrubbing scandal – or, as they put it, “fak[ing] progress rather than actually doing a better job educating kids.” Oh, and go see Wes Moore in November. (Columbus Dispatch)
