So many remarkable encomia appeared within hours of Bill Buckley's death yesterday that we dare not try to rival them for appreciation of his wit, his erudition and personal charm, his generosity of spirit and peerless sense of humor, his intellectual versatility, his amazing vocabulary or his enormous and lasting place in contemporary American conservatism.
Jon Husted of the Ohio State Senate is talking about setting high academic standards:
Sue Pimentel of StandardsWork gives advice about creating standards and assesments: 1) Ask up front about non-negotiables.
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and the National Association of Charter School Authorizers have joined the chorus of charter school advocates and others who are calling for the Ohio Senate to fix the charter provisions o
Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) has the highest number of teachers with certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (139) of any Ohio district, but the way these teachers are distributed across the??district threatens to undermine CPS' mission to improve learning for all students.??
For the first time since its inception five years ago, Ohio's EdChoice Scholarship program (the state's targeted school voucher program) has reached its legal
Earlier this week The Thomas B.
The schools that serve Ohio's poor, urban youngsters overwhelmingly fall short when it comes to academic performance. But there are a small handful of schools that buck these bleak trends and show serious achievement for disadvantaged youngsters from depressed inner-city communities.
The other day the Columbus Dispatch ran an article assessing Gov. Strickland's school funding plan and the extent to which he's kept his 2006 campaign promise to fix school funding in Ohio.
Yesterday's Columbus Dispatch featured a compelling story about the worst-performing middle school in all of Ohio, Champion Middle School located on Columbus's Near East Side (Mike
To be eligible for a portion of $200 to $400 million in Race to the Top money (that is, if Ohio wins ???
This week, Mike and Rick discuss Fordham and Northwest Evaluation Association's latest report, The Accountability Illusion (after John Cronin, one of the authors and studio guest, gives us a Research Half Minute), what to make of Arne's $650 million, and Milwaukee's flirtation with mayoral co
The Gates Foundation is looking for a Senior Policy Officer for Education who will manage the foundation's public policy, government relations and community outreach efforts in five to eight states. For more information or to apply, surf to www.gatesfoundation.org/aboutus/employment.
In last week's short review of the Annual Privatization Report 2008, Gadfly misspoke; as one careful reader of this publication pointed out, there is no Southfield, Minnesota. The Southfield in question is located in Michigan.
Arne Duncan landed in New York’s state capital [this week] but it wasn’t to boost the spirits of the city’s “heroic” education reformers or stop by the state’s first all-girls charter high school (which was celebrating its opening). Nope.
The Massachusetts Department of Education has developed a new (draft) curriculum framework for history and social science. This 60-page document summarizes what the Commonwealth thinks students should learn about history, geography, economics, and civics in each grade.
The National Association of Charter School Authorizers is looking for a new Vice President of External Affairs, who would be based in their headquarters in Chicago. This person should be a flexible leader who’s excited to work for a singular organization involved in charter authorization.
We’ve been no fans of the Columbus City School District’s treatment of charter schools within its boundaries.
Three cheers for Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson for winning Harvard University's Innovations in American Government Award, a prestigious prize that comes with a $100,000 check for his city. Peterson took an immense political risk when he asked for, and in 2001 was granted, a mayor-controlled charter school system in Indianapolis.
The Pisces Foundation hopes to recruit an Associate Director of Policy to focus on its policy, research, evaluation, and advocacy efforts. This innovative and courageous education-centered foundation is probably best known for its support of KIPP schools across America and its widening interest in charter schooling and better teachers. What's more, it's based in San Francisco.
The National Council on Teacher Quality is looking for motivated, detail-oriented college graduates to work as research fellows in its Washington, D.C., office. The fellowship will last approximately four months and will focus on research using NCTQ's collective bargaining website.
Fordham and AEI are teaming up on an exciting new event entitled, “A Penny Saved: How Schools and Districts Can Tighten Their Belts While Serving Students Better.” An all-day conference on January 11, 2010 at the world-famous Mayflower Hotel, this will b
With a financial squeeze ('strangle hold' might actually be more accurate) on the horizon for Ohio, voters are eager to hear how soon-to-be elected officials will handle the state's mammoth budget hole.
This week, Mike and Rick talk about educating through humiliation, removing poor kids from good schools, and why grades don't matter. Checker Finn and his granddaughter Emma stop by to talk pre-K and such, and Education News of the Weird is Too Close To the Sun. Click here to listen through our website and peruse past editions.
While Gadfly has been sunning its wings in the summer sun, we have been hard at work pulling together the latest education policy papers and reports. We're pleased to bring you this special issue of the Ohio Education Gadfly with recommendations for your end-of-summer reading list.
The superintendent of Ohio’s largest school district is recommending that her school board sock away its $7.9 million in “Edujobs” funding in preparation for what is sure to be a tough budget next y
Ohio recently announced the 42 schools who won School Improvement Grants (SIGs) to fund efforts to turn themselves around. …the vast majority of schools opted for the transformation model….
In Fordham’s customary role as a bumptious ed-reform think tank and advocacy shop, it’s unusual to engage in the real work of transforming schools and educating children.
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland's office recently shared his "Roadmap for Academic Reforms," which appears to be the forerunner or prelude to the governor's long-awaited plan for renewing and strengthening K-12 education in Ohio.
Ohio education policymakers seem to have a split personality when it comes to what they say they care about and what they fund.
