In 2022, the first year Samantha Eischen used Amplify CKLA, a reading curriculum based in the Science of Reading, the second-grade teacher at Escuela SMART Academy in Toledo was sold.
Student math and reading achievement continue to lag in schools across Ohio. Governor DeWine is proposing numerous initiatives to address this issue via the state budget. Yet lawmakers can and should go further in the following ways.
Our latest report is an evaluation of the high-quality charter funding program. It finds positive results: The additional dollars have allowed charters to boost their teachers’ salaries, reduced staffing turnover, and driven student learning gains.
Last year, during his state of the state address, Governor DeWine called on the legislature to “make a very simple fix in statute to insert career planning into existing graduation plan requirements.” The
If policymakers are serious about improving student achievement, Ohio needs to double down on the literacy efforts already underway and add numeracy to the mix. Here are four provisions in the proposed state budget that can help.
While many fret over the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI), the jury is still out regarding its benefits and drawbacks for K–12 education, and researchers are trying to catch up to the rapidly-expanding technology.
NOTE: On February 11, 2025, the Ohio Senate Education Committee heard testimony on Senate Bill 19.
Surprising as it may seem, high-ability students often end up falling short of their potential.
Dual enrollment, which allows students to complete college coursework and earn transferrable credits while still enrolled in high school, is a popular and growing pathway into postsecondary education.
Ohio is in its early literacy era. Last year, policymakers established a statewide science of reading initiative that champions high-quality instructional materials and professional development for teachers. To support this effort, legislators set aside approximately $169 million.
Through its science of reading initiative, Ohio is devoting significant resources to strengthening literacy across the state. Boosting reading proficiency is essential, and this ambitious effort holds great promise to do just that.
The number of English learner (EL) students enrolled in public schools has grown substantially in the United States over the past two decades. How has this impacted non-EL students in those schools? New research aims to find out.
Last year, Ohio policymakers established a statewide science of reading initiative. And this year, that initiative is well underway.
The term “citizen science” refers to research in any field conducted with participation from the general public and/or amateur researchers—a way of crowd-sourcing data in more volume through observations or experiments conducted outside of a lab.
Last week, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (DEW) released updated school report cards that offer a
When Ed Kurt came home to Margaretta Local School District in the summer of 2020, it was his second tour as superintendent. He had left the district six years earlier to lead Findlay City Schools.
Ohio elementary schools are moving to the Science of Reading, an approach that emphasizes phonics along with vocabulary- and knowledge-rich content. Keen on learning what this transition looks like inside classrooms, we asked Ellen Belcher, a former journalist with the Dayton Daily News, to visit Northridge Local Schools to shine light on their literacy practices. Our latest publication details Northridge's approach to updating their reading curriculum and instruction.
Dual enrollment (DE) is a catch-all term for the means by which students earn college credit while still in high school (or middle school). But that singular term covers a number of pathways with varying structures and delivery models. Do those differences impact student outcomes? And can program structure help ensure quality?
Ensuring rigorous implementation of the science of reading in Ohio's public schools is a heavy lift, but the payoff for success will be huge for students. Here's a look at three more important areas where implementation is underway.
Earlier this year, the Louisiana Department of Education launched a Let Teachers Teach workgroup. More than two dozen educators were tasked with identifying “common classroom disruptions and unnecessary bureaucracies” and then brainstorming solutions.
Ohio is making bold moves to center its early literacy instruction fully on the Science of Reading. Our latest report examines one of the key implementation steps in the effort: Creating a state-approved list of high-quality literacy curricula and instructional materials.
In 2023, Sarah Stitzlein—professor of education at the University of Cincinnati—asserted that “the health of our democracy in the United States depends directly on our public schools.” Her assessment summed up decades of thought and scholarship on the subjec
Evidence from the state’s largest school district indicates that there are some potential pitfalls facing Ohio on its road toward improved reading achievement that policymakers should keep an eye on.
NOTE: Today, the Ohio House Higher Education Committee invited testimony from state and national policy leaders as part of their exploratory
In addition to my passion for all things curriculum policy, I’m also a fervent foodie. When we eat out, I’m reminded of how my husband and I have very different palates. My go-to’s are seafood and pasta while he’s more of a meat and potatoes guy.
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full.
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full.
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full.
Last year, Ohio lawmakers enacted bold reforms that push schools to follow the science of reading, an instructional method that teaches children to read via phonics and emphasizes
Over the course of the pandemic, the number of chronically absent students in Ohio skyrocketed, as it did nationally.
