Do you want a nitty gritty view of how funding issues and accountability ratings affect local school districts? Then you won't want to miss this week's Ohio Education Gadfly. Mike spends some time with school district officials, who share their views ??on how Gov. Strickland's new "evidence-based" education model will affect their students, their teachers, and their bottom line (fyi, many of them are still in the process of figuring it out). Next, Terry gets controversial when he talks about why Kettering City Schools - who received a "C" grade, even though it met far more academic goals than other "C" districts like Cincinnati Public or Columbus City Schools - reflects what's wrong with Ohio's rating system. Want to witness the controversy? Read the comments after his editorial in the Dayton Daily News.?? In another (not-so-happy) story, Mike looks at closures of preschools and early college academy high schools sweeping the Buckeye State. Emmy reminds us to check out Fordham's sixth annual analysis of Ohio urban school performance, and compiles the excellent media coverage by state newspapers who highlighted our analysis (yes, we're proud of this). Other features include a look at NYC's "School of One" pilot program and a timely review that discusses performance management in school districts (think Los Angeles and New Orleans). And don't miss this week's videos under "recommended viewing" - the first features Fordham sponsored charter school Columbus Collegiate Academy (great job Laura and Eric!), and the second summarizes Terry's thoughts of 2009 report card data. You may event want to embed these puppies into your facebook profile.??
Finally, Fordham-Columbus welcomes Eric Ulas as a Policy and Research Associate! Eric comes to Fordham with several years of teaching experience, and expertise in visual arts/media. You heard it - look out for more awesome videos, photos, and analysis made possible by this Cleveland native.
