What Drives Our Research
Fordham Ohio advocates for policies that advance educational excellence for all Ohio students. High-quality research and analysis—conducted in-house and by external researchers and experts—helps us advance that goal by framing key issues with sound data.
Ohio Education By the Numbers
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute is pleased to present Ohio Education By The Numbers, which is an impartial, fact-based overview of K–12 education in the Buckeye State. We hope these data will inform conversations about improving education throughout the state.
Ohio charter schools after the pandemic: Are their students still learning more than they would in district schools?
One of the most routinely debated questions is whether charters provide a superior education when compared to the district alternative. Just prior to the pandemic, Fordham research showed that students attending brick-and-mortar charters in Ohio made significantly greater academic progress than their peers attending nearby district schools. Our latest research brief provides an updated analysis of brick-and-mortar charter school performance in the years after the pandemic (2021–22 and 2022–23).
Evaluation of Ohio’s EdChoice Scholarship Program: Selection, Competition, and Performance Effects
Shortly after Ohio lawmakers enacted a new voucher program in 2005, the state budget office wrote in its fiscal analysis, “The Educational Choice Scholarships are not only intended to offer another route for student success, but also to impel the administration and teaching staff of a failing school building to improve upon their students’ academic performance.” Today, the
Pathway to Success: DECA prepares students for rigors of college, realities of life
Too much of what we hear about urban public schools in America is disheartening. A student’s zip code—whether she comes from poverty or economic privilege—often predicts her likelihood of educational (and later-life) success.
Facing facts: Ohio's school report cards in a time of rising expectations
A deep dive into the performance of Ohio’s public schools, statewide and in its eight largest urban areas
2015 Fordham Sponsorship Annual Report
The 2015 Fordham Sponsorship Annual Report is our opportunity to share the Fordham Foundation’s work as the sponsor of eleven schools serving approximately 3,200 students in five cities, and our related policy work in Ohio and nationally.
Quality in Adversity: Lessons from Ohio's best charter schools
Though charter schools are fiercely debated in Ohio, too rarely are the voices of charter leaders actually heard. This report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute surveys the leaders of the highest-performing Buckeye charters to take stock of their views on sector quality, accountability, and replication and growth.
Policy Brief: Pathways to Teaching in Ohio
A thorough overview of how teachers are trained and licensed
Establishing a baseline: Ohio’s education system as it enters a new era
Like other states, Ohio has over the past few years put into place a standards a
Policy Brief: The Ohio Teacher Evaluation System
A thorough overview of Ohio's teacher evaluation framework
Getting Out of the Way: Education Flexibility to Boost Innovation and Improvement in Ohio
For the past year, Ohio policymakers have been grappling with the issue of deregulating public schools. But what does deregulation mean--and how should policymakers go about doing it?
School Closures and Student Achievement: An Analysis of Ohio’s Urban District and Charter Schools
School Closures and Student Achievement: An Analysis of Ohio’s Urban District and Charter Schools examines 198 school closures that occurred between 2006 and 2012 in the Ohio ‘Big Eight’ urban areas (Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo, and Youngstown). The research included 120 closed district-run schools and seventy-eight closed charter schools.
The Road to Redemption: Ten Policy Recommendations for Ohio's Charter School Sector
Latest report from Bellwether Education Partners.
Charter School Performance in Ohio
Charter schools are quickly becoming a defining feature of Ohio’s public-education landscape, educating over 120,000 children statewide. The “theory of action” behind charters is fairly simple.