A 'third way' for Arne Duncan?

On Tuesday, President-Elect Obama ended weeks of speculation by selecting Chicago schools CEO Arne Duncan to be his secretary of education.

No money, no standards?

Here's an original (and fallacious) thought: when times get rough, absolve children of the need to learn math. That, at least, is the story coming out of Oregon, where budget woes have allegedly forced the state to drop its brand-new graduation requirements in algebra, geometry, and statistics.

A Child-Centered Solution to School Finance in Ohio

Brian GottlobThe Buckeye InstituteDecember 2008

Republic of Scarsdale?

It's no new news that Scarsdale, NY has long disdained tests and suffered from an inflated ego on this topic as well. Its latest ploy to distinguish itself from the pack?

Weighted student funding in Ohio

Facing the Future: Financing Productive Schools

Center on Reinventing Public Education, School Finance Redesign ProjectPaul T. Hill, Marguerite Roza, and James HarveyDecember 2008

Abbott & Costello

Here's a travesty: the perpetuation of the notorious funding adequacy case Abbott v. Burke. On Monday, the New Jersey Supreme Court decided 5-0 to, in effect, not decide, again, on the fate of this 27-year long effort to enhance the budgets of 31 poor and low performing districts in the Garden State.

Obama and Ohio's Dems race to victory--now they must get along

It's a cliché, perhaps, but one worth repeating. The real winners in Tuesday's election are the people of Ohio. An incredible number turned out to vote (rivaling the record set in 2004), and a clear majority delivered the state's electoral votes to U.S. Sen. Barack Obama.

The last hurrah

If you can't beat ‘em, go around ‘em? That seems to be the latest Bush Administration strategy when it comes to No Child Left Behind. Having spent the better part of four years trying to persuade Congress to reauthorize the act to no avail, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has taken the matter into her own hands. How?

Ohio Governor's Roadmap for Academic Reforms, translated by the Ohio Education Gadfly

(A guest post from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute's Ohio Education Gadfly)

A state perspective: the School Finance Redesign Project findings and Ohio

A post from guest blogger and Fordham Director of Ohio Policy and Research Suzannah Herrmann.

More ideas for funding Ohio's schools

At its meeting this month, the State Board of Education's school funding subcommittee approved for dissemination a draft of Toward Recommendations for School Funding Reform in Ohio (see

Five ways to do right by Ohio's students

A post from guest blogger and Fordham writer and researcher??Emmy Partin.

Achieving Teacher and Principal Excellence: A Guidebook for Donors

Andrew J. RotherhamPhilanthropy Roundtable2008

Leading for Learning

Education WeekSeptember 10, 2008

Herrmann to join Fordham-Ohio policy team

Dr. Suzannah Herrmann will join the Thomas B. Fordham Institute as Director for Ohio Programs and Policy on Sept. 8.

Plotting School Choice: The Challenges of Crossing District Lines

Erin DillonEducation SectorAugust 2008

Hope for charters in Ohio

A post from guest blogger and Fordham writer and researcher Emmy Partin .

Analysis of Local Report Cards: Ohio Urban School Performance for 2007-08

For the past five years, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute has been analyzing the academic performance of schools in our hometown of Dayton and in other Ohio cities.

1-2-3

Can Gloria Estefan save Miami's schools? In case you haven't heard, despite its subtropical location, the Miami-Dade County school district isn't doing so hot.

The next president will matter to education in Ohio

What will be the impact of the next president on public education in Ohio? We'll know a lot more about their different plans a month from now after both parties have held their nominating conventions and unveiled their formal platforms.

Ohio ed. policy remains a hot summer topic

This month the State Board of Education officially kicked off its search for the state's new superintendent of public instruction. The search is occurring amid continued uncertainty about the actual role and responsibilities of the superintendent if Gov. Strickland gets his way with the creation of a cabinet-level director of education.

We're back for a brief visit

There's so much going on this summer: high gasoline and other energy prices, a looming presidential election, the nation's (and in particular, Ohio's) continuing economic problems, and ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In education, Gov. Ted Strickland is gathering input and, likely, putting the final touches on his education-reform ideas.

Wake up, Ohio

Once known as the Mother of Presidents, the once-great state of Ohio is getting poorer, older and dumber--and making all the wrong moves to reverse the situation.

Fordham and OEA differ in Gwonger

Here's an excerpt from a June 24 Gongwer report concerning a Center on Education Policy study showing Ohio's testing and accountability program is working. Terry Ryan, Fordham's Ohio vice president for programs and policy, spars with the Ohio Education Association over the issue of whether the state should hold schools and students accountable for academic results.

Some final food for thought

-- "[Statewide tests] may be crude, and they should never be the sole means of measuring students' academic abilities and progress. But the accountability they have brought to schools and the statistical guideposts they've established are undeniable benefits. Take, for instance, the reading and math achievement gap between minority and white students.

Ohio goes squishy

One might think that leaders of the Buckeye State who have at least one eye focused on education would be struggling to prepare tens of thousands more kids with the skills and knowledge that global competitiveness demands in the 21st century: math, science, engineering, history, languages, and writing as well as prowess in "creative" applications of such skills and knowledge.

about Ohio's proficiency standards

In response to a June 4 Gadfly article about Ohio's proficiency standards, State Board of Education member Colleen Grady comments about board members' consideration of student proficiency testing:

Ohio needs to get serious about the looming teacher shortage

Ohio is bracing for an exodus of baby boomers from classrooms as experts sound alarms about whether there will be enough teachers to staff our public schools.

Ohio's proficiency standards far from "world-class"

A recent evaluation of proficiency standards asks how well states are doing at setting "world-class" academic expectations (see here). The answer: not great, unless you live in South Carolina, Massachusetts, Missouri, and maybe Hawaii.