Our analysis of Ohio report card data

Here in Ohio, the annual report card release from the Ohio Department of Education is like Christmas.

Analysis of Local Report Cards: Ohio Urban School Performance for 2008-09

Since 2003, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute has been analyzing the academic performance of schools in our hometown of Dayton and in other Ohio cities. We continued that analysis this year, taking a close look at the local report card data released by the Ohio Department of Education yesterday (see here).

Pictures: The first days of school

Teachers and administrators arrive at Columbus Collegiate Academy by 7am.

Obama & Duncan: Democrats after my own heart

Winning the award for pretty much the least surprising news ever is that the National Education Association (NEA) has slammed President Obama's Race to the Top (RttT) initiative, a $4.35 billion competitive grant program fo

Smart anti-choice strategies emerging

School-choice foes in the Buckeye State are getting smarter about the strategies they employ to undermine the choice movement.???? Since the birth of charters here in 1998 and vouchers in 2005, opponents--namely Democrats, teacher unions, and the education establishment--have fought a "districts = good, choice = bad" fight.????

Absence of TFA in Ohio has larger implications

An editorial in the Dayton Daily News from this Monday argued that Ohio should bring Teach For America (TFA) into the state.

Survey says -- Ohio AP science students score well nationally

 Ohio may be lagging in the numbers of students taking Advanced Placement courses, although students who do take the AP science tests are among the top scorers nationally, according to a recent survey.

Hard work with Ohio's charter schools paying off

 The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) recently released a report, Quality, Diversity and Choice: the Value of Multiple Charter Authorizing Options (see here), which outlines various types of charter school authoriz

Debunking the demonizers of student testing

An op-ed by Cleveland State University education professor Karl Wheatley in the August 9 Cleveland Plain Dealer argues that the pursuit of improved student achievement in our public schools is largely a waste of time (see here).

Ohio's K-12 cyber-learning community is an emerging landscape

 While Ohio's higher education cyber-learning landscape is firmly established (see here), the K-12 cyber-school landscape is still in its infancy. Of Ohio's 1.7 million students, 23,000 were enrolled full-time in one of the state's 28 cybercharters in 20-2008.

Save the date: World-Class Academic Standards for Ohio

 The Thomas B. Fordham Institute and the Ohio Grantmakers Forum, with the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, are hosting a one-day conference, "World-Class Academic Standards for Ohio," in Columbus October 5.

Hard work with charter schools is paying off

From Stumbling to Sprinting- Ohio Senator Calls for Charter Improvements

Ohio intern Rachel Roseberry wrote this guest post.

Preparing the Workers of Today for the Jobs of Tomorrow

Executive Office of the President, Council of Economic AdvisersJuly 2009

Am. Sub. H.B. 1: The 2010-'11 Ohio budget's successes and failures

By guest blogger Ohio Policy & Research Intern Matt Walsh

Buckeye State sell out

The dust has finally settled on a long and contentious legislative battle over education reform in Ohio.

Achievement Gaps: How Black and White Students in Public Schools Perform in Mathematics and Reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress

Alan Vanneman, Linda Hamilton, Janet B. Anderson, and Taslima RahmanNational Center for Education StatisticsJuly 2009

Teacher Quality in Educational Production: Tracking, Decay, and Student Achievement

Jesse RothsteinPrinceton University and National Bureau of Economic ResearchFebruary 2010 (anticipated)

Today's Quotable and Notable

Quotable

From sunset to sunrise

Sometimes you have to take one step backward to go two steps forward. That's more or less what happened in New York State when the clock struck midnight on July 1, the long-scheduled date for "sunset" of mayoral control of Gotham's schools.

Fixing Tenure: A proposal for assuring teacher effectiveness and due process

Joan Baratz-SnowdenCenter for American ProgressJune 2009

Video: Losing Ohio's Future: A discussion about Ohio's "brain drain"

Part 1:

Not just an Ohio problem

Who better to report on the ???????brain drain??????? than college students themselves?????

If Ohio ends up getting "race to the top" funds...

Consider that these sorts of politics might be in play. There's little doubt that the Obama political operation will want Governor Strickland to still be Governor Strickland in 2012. And there's little doubt that Governor Strickland sure could use several??

On tap in today's Ohio Gadfly

Today's Ohio Education Gadfly is our last regular issue before a short summer break, so you don't want to miss it.????

Ohio's catch-22 on standards

Policies aimed at creating and implementing better academic standards are spreading across the nation like a firestorm. Ohio is no exception to these winds of change. In the Buckeye State, the governor's budget proposal and the House-passed version of H.B.

Ohio undergrads tell state leaders what's on their minds

The Fordham Institute's latest report on how young Ohioans view their state-it's really nice but they are looking for jobs and Ohio is hurting on this front-has received an astounding reception.

The end of free public schools?

Tough economic times mean looking for creative ways to stay in the black. For schools short on options, this often means simply asking parents to pitch in a few coins, a practice widely seen on both sides of the Atlantic. Unfortunately, some British parents say these "voluntary" contributions are not voluntary at all--and they're feeling bullied by the schools' heavy-handed tactics.

Don't count Ohio out just yet

The "Great Recession" has been painful for all Americans, but especially cruel for Ohio cities like Youngstown, Toledo, Canton, and Fordham's hometown of Dayton.

The Nation's Report Card: Arts 2008

Institute of Education SciencesJune 2009