Here at Fordham, we try to keep our finger on the pulse of what our Ohio readers are interested in. But every year, we are pleasantly surprised when blog posts take on lives of their own.
Herewith, the most-read Ohio Gadfly blog posts of 2017, with some thoughts as to why these pieces caught your attention.
1. The student perspective
Chad Aldis’ daughter Alli had just finished her sophomore year when she wrote “My experience with AP U.S. History: The importance of rigor in bringing history to life” in June. In it, she described how much she disliked the rote memorization and dry recitation of facts that characterized her previous history classes. But all that changed when she enrolled in Advanced Placement. Engaging content, in-class debates, essays, and take-home packets allowed Alli and her classmates to dig deeper into the aspects of American history that they found interesting. It’s hard to say whether it was readers’ own experience of the dry and dusty version of history class or perhaps their own love of APUSH that drew them to this piece; but whatever it was, this was our most-read blog of the year by a very long way.
2. Wishful thinking?
In March, Jessica Poiner and Chad Aldis produced our first blockbuster post of the year—“Ohio: Give up on teacher ‘evaluations’ and focus on teacher feedback instead.” Surely the title alone reeled in some readers, figuring that Fordham had some unexpected epiphany and was joining the ranks of folks calling for an end to teacher evaluation. The authors’ admission that the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System (OTES) has been unsuccessful in fulfilling its intended purposes was likely proof. Wrong! While Chad and Jessica did call for student test scores to be removed from consideration as part of teacher ratings, the recommendations they championed—part of those put forward by Ohio’s Educator Standards Board—called for rigorous observations and a clear rubric for rating teacher effectiveness along with concrete steps for improvement.
3. Show us the money!
Also in March, Fordham released a report with recommendations to improve the state’s school funding system, and we held a panel discussion on the topic in Columbus. We also produced a video that aimed to demystify the labyrinthine nature of school funding, especially when it comes to the state’s charter schools. The blog post that accompanied that video—“Ohio’s method of funding charter schools is convoluted, in need of change”—was steadily popular throughout the rest of the year. We suspect this topic will remain on readers’ minds in 2018.
4. Lunch break
Fordham has a tradition of reviewing research reports through the lens of our mission to support educational excellence for all students. It is gratifying, then, that one such short review, “School Lunch Quality and Academic Performance” by Jessica Poiner, managed to break into our list of most-read posts of the year. Maybe it was the timing of the report release as the school year was winding down; maybe it was the searchbot jackpot of “Trump/Obama/regulations/test scores/lunch”; or maybe folks were just hungry. In any case, the findings, which suggested a healthier lunch increased test scores in study participants, seemed attractive to many readers.
5. How about some b-ball at recess?
In April, Akron City Schools announced that basketball great LeBron James was lending his name—and his foundation’s considerable financial wherewithal—to support the opening of a new school in the district. The I Promise School will begin next year with a specially selected group of second and third graders and plans to expand. With its extended school day and year, a strong focus on mentorship, and a few other off-the-beaten-path features, one would be forgiven for mistaking this trailblazing project for a charter school. Jamie Davies O’Leary said just that in her blog about I Promise—“LeBron James to start a new school in Akron, but it’s not a charter”—and got lots of attention for it.
6. But seriously, folks
Jamie Davies O’Leary shared “Thoughts on educational privilege from a middle-class parent” in early October, discussing the early stages of her process of choosing a school for her child. While personal, such a choice has resonance far beyond her own decision. She will weigh all the available options against her family’s needs and perhaps her family’s choice won’t be second-guessed by others. But that is a luxury not enjoyed by many other parents in Ohio. Clearly, this unfortunate double standard resonated with Ohio Gadfly readers.
*****
There you have it; the top blogs of 2017 from the Ohio Gadfly.
Other popular posts covered Ohio’s ESSA plan, dropout recovery schools, closing dysfunctional schools, and even a couple of additional research reviews.
We produce content designed to address the most important education issues in Ohio and beyond in the most thoughtful ways possible. Thanks for reading and engaging with the issues. Make sure to keep an eye on Ohio Gadfly Daily for more analysis, commentary, reviews, and news coming in 2018. And if you haven’t subscribed to our biweekly email newsletter to have all our great content delivered straight to your Inbox, you can do so by clicking here.
