Ohio budget bill tugs College Credit Plus in wrong direction
Jessica Poiner, Jeff MurrayNOTE: An addendum to this blog post, incorporating important new information, was published on Ohio Gadfly Daily on 4/17/17.
Reflections on gifted education from the Olympics, part 2: What we can contribute
Throughout the recent Olympic Games, I reflected on the parallels between elite-level athletics and gifted education, and I thought how much we could learn about developing exceptional ability from what we saw during those two weeks.
Bursting the proficiency bubble: How to stop neglecting low-income high achievers
Brandon L. WrightBy Brandon L. Wright
Starting the school year on a positive note: Five key suggestions for parents
The new school year is on the horizon, and you’re already feeling somewhat apprehensive. You know that transitions are a challenge for your gifted child— whether it’s a new school, a new grade level, a new teacher, or all of the above. You want to make sure that your child’s new teacher understands that your gifted child has learning needs that differ from others.
States should use ESSA to do right by high-achieving students
Chester E. Finn, Jr.By Chester E. Finn, Jr.
AP in the Queen City: Blended model can expand access and nudge Ohio policy forward
Jamie Davies O'LearyNew steps to expand AP course access in Cincinnati
National Board Certification and Teacher Effectiveness: Evidence from Washington
Jessica PoinerAre National Board Certified Teachers more effective than their non-certified counterparts?
The promise of mastery grading (continued)
Jessica PoinerPros and cons of mastery-based education
Three problems with teacher licensing in Ohio
Jessica PoinerContent should be king
When the stakes get high, the politics shouldn’t get soft
Aaron ChurchillAn argument against watering down testing and accountability
Differentiated instruction vs. ability grouping: It’s time to toss out “one or the other” thinking
Jeff MurrayHow about a hybrid?
Getting classroom observations right
Jessica PoinerA new Education Next study has implications for Ohio's OTES teacher evaluation protocols.
Spending More of the School Day in Math Class: Evidence From a Regression Discontinuity in Middle School
Laura RobisonWe take a look at the evidence for and against "double dosing" in middle school math.
Visual Environment, Attention Allocation, and Learning
Aaron ChurchillA brief look at a study on visual clutter in the learning environment.
The Icarus Syndrome: Why Do Some High Flyers Soar While Others Fall?
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.Why do many high-achieving students struggle to sustain their academic performance over time? Eric Parsons, an economist at the University of Missouri, takes a crack at finding the answer—and unearths a paradox. In this study, he follows a single cohort of high-performing students in Missouri from grade 3 through grade 9 to see which school factors influence their academic success.
Academic Content, Student Learning, and the Persistence of Preschool Effects
Brandon L. Wright“Shoot for the Moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars”: this clichéd adage, often found on motivational posters, actually has something worthwhile to say. Sometimes where we set goals determines where we end up, even if the goal is seldom met.
Who Rises to the Top? Early Indicators
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.Nearly three decades ago, 320 students below the age of thirteen took the SAT math or verbal test and placed in the top 1 in 10,000 for their math- or verbal-reasoning ability (some called them “scary smart”).
Status quo has got to go
The Education GadflyThe appointment of former educator and experienced administrator Carmen Fariña as the new chancellor of New York City’s one-million-student public school system has been met with cautious optimism from several fronts, spanning from those who hope she will
Losing out on big potential
The Education GadflyEarlier this week, the New York Times featured an editorial on gifted education, noting that even our best students were in the middle of the pack in the recent PISA results.
PISA and Occam’s Razor
Michael J. PetrilliOccam’s Razor is the well-known principle that “among competing hypotheses, the hypothesis with the fewest assumptions should be selected.” Keep that in mind as various pundits hypothesize about why the U.S.
The Algebra Imperative: Assessing Algebra in a National and International Context
Chester E. Finn, Jr.This valuable paper from the Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings sounds an important alarm: “The danger is that grade inflation, the often discussed phenomenon of students receiving higher and higher grades for mediocre academic achievement, has been joined by course inflation.
Testimony to the Michigan House Education Subcommittee on Common Core Standards
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Prepared for Delivery on August 28, 2013
Implementation, Implementation, Assessment, Assessment
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Despite the tireless marriage-wrecking efforts of Common Core opponents and their acolytes and funders, few states that initially pledged their troth to these rigorous new standards for English and math are in divorce mode.
Cliffs ahead: Test scores and the Common Core
Aaron ChurchillNew York made education headlines last week, as its public schools reported substantially lower test scores than in previous years. The cause of the drop?
Cincinnati, the model public school district?
Kevin McDougalA glimpse of the latest Ohio education headlines
Year 3 of Implementing the Common Core State Standards: An Overview of States’ Programs and Challenges
Kevin McDougalThe Center for Education Policy recently released a three-part series of reports reviewing the Common Core State standards implementation with focuses on the federal role, state progress and challenges, and teacher preparation, training, and assessments for the new standards.
We can all have flying cars: Why yearning for the good old days is a waste of time when it comes to education
Jeff MurrayThe collective “we” in education is currently in tatters.
Common Ground: Judy Hennessey
Theda SampsonDr. Judy Hennessey, superintendent of Deca Prep, a K-6 elementary school, discusses Common Core.