Commentary
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 6/4/21—What a difference a month makes
Sometimes this clips gig is fun; sometimes it lands somewhere south of that.
Commentary
Accountability & Testing
Yes, the House’s proposed school rating labels are “actively misleading”
After months of debate, state lawmakers continue to mull significant changes to Ohio’s school report card system. Two vastly different proposals to overhaul the report card framework have emerged (House Bill 200 and Senate Bill 145).
Commentary
School Finance
Testimony given before the Senate Finance Committee on HB 110—6/3/21
NOTE: On June 3, 2021, the Ohio Senate’s Finance Committee heard testimony on House Bill 110, the state budget bill.
Commentary
School Finance
Media statement on the Ohio Senate’s K-12 education proposals
Today, the Ohio Senate released its version of the biennial state budget (House Bill 110). As a sizeable portion of overall state expenditures, K–12 education funding has rightly been subject to much debate since Governor DeWine and the Ohio House unveiled their budget proposals earlier this year.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 6/2/21—The rubber hits the road
Our own Jessica Poiner had an op-ed published in the Enquirer last week arguing for keeping Ohio’s universal college admissions testing requirement.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
What’s next for College Credit Plus?
Back in 2014, Ohio lawmakers overhauled the state’s dual-enrollment program that gives students opportunities to take advanced courses through two- or four-year colleges.
Commentary
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 5/28/21—Worthy of note
Back in September in these very Bites, we were cheering because Lima private school Golden Bridge Academy was on the grow and moving to a new and prominent location on the town square. What was not, apparently, worthy of note in that piece at the time was that the school was changing its name and “going public”!
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 5/26/21—“I was skeptical... And it caused me to dig deeper into my data.”
Only one clip of note today, but that’s OK. I’m still resting up from Monday’s exertions. Plus, this is a weirdly interesting one.
Commentary
Career & Technical Education
The Senate should say no to making driver’s licenses count as industry-recognized credentials
The state budget has long been the primary vehicle for instituting sweeping education policy changes in Ohio. Amidst all the hustle and bustle and debate, it’s easy to forget that standalone bills are still being proposed. In fact, given the high stakes, it may even seem wise to focus solely on the budget.
Commentary
Governance, Advanced Education
Gadfly Bites 5/24/21—Perhaps they are referring to the party game?
This headline, as with almost every legislation-related headline that includes it, misuses the term “limbo” in referencing the topic of education funding reform. (13ABC News, Toledo, 5/22/21)
Commentary
Accountability & Testing
The third grade reading guarantee might be working after all
First implemented in the 2013–14 school year, Ohio’s third grade reading guarantee has aimed to ensure that all children have the foundational reading skills needed to navigate more chall
Commentary
Commentary
School Finance
Cupp-Patterson funding plan falls short on open enrollment and guarantees
Over the past two years, the Cupp-Patterson school funding plan has received tremendous attention in the media and at the statehouse. Currently, House lawmakers are considering what changes might be made to the plan, as laid out in House Bill 1.
Commentary
Accountability & Testing
Academic distress commissions just might be improving student achievement
Gallons of ink, some on this blog, have been spilled about what Ohio should do about academically troubled school districts.
Commentary
Accountability & Testing
Sidestepping accountability, the sequel: The sad similarities between graduation requirements and academic distress commissions
Ohio education policy has seen its fair share of controversy in recent years, but there are two policies in particular that have dominated news cycles: graduation requirements and academic distress commissions (ADCs).
Commentary
School Finance
Reliably identifying low-income students should be a priority
This spring’s school funding debates have revolved around the needs of poor students. Governor Mike DeWine has proposed a significant bump in state spending targeted at low-income students.
Commentary
Commentary
Charter Schools
For Ohio districts with vacant buildings, sharing isn’t caring
Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece that charged school district officials in various cities with attempting to stall the growth of school choice b
Commentary
Accountability & Testing
Ohio’s rushing to include alternatives to assessments in its graduation requirements
In August, the Ohio Department (ODE) of Education and the State Board of Education (SBOE) released their five-year strategic plan for education.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 8/27/18 – Putting fort the effort…or not
Round two of the Dayton Daily News series The Path Forward dropped over the weekend, another huge set of articles trying to get to the heart of why Dayton City Schools’ academic success rate is so poor and how to turn that around.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 8/24/18 – All the makings of a mob
Members of the elected board of Lorain City Schools got some hard numbers this week on budget and student enrollment. Both seem pretty good, so why do they all sound so miserable in this piece?
Commentary
Charter Schools
Ohio Charter News Weekly - 8/24/18
2018 EdNext Poll shows increased support for charter schools
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 8/22/18 – I remember when they called it a cheat sheet
As a sort of follow up to Monday’s story about lowered remediation rates among Ohio’s colleges over the last few years, here is a somewhat more dour look at dual credit programs.
Commentary
Accountability & Testing
Ohio could learn from Kentucky’s newly proposed graduation requirements
By Jessica Poiner
Commentary
Governance
Keeping up with Ohio education news
As the new school year gets underway across the state, there is a constant stream of news, views, and commentary on education issues. If you want to keep up, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute has you covered!
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 8/20/18 – Good news, bad news
We start today with the good news. Briefly mentioned in Friday’s Gongwer news roundup was the seemingly super-important tidbit that college remediation rates across Ohio dropped significantly between 2010 and 2016. Tell us more, y’all. Please! (Gongwer Ohio, 8/17/18)
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 8/17/18 – Low levels
In case you didn’t know it, discussion of Ohio’s graduation requirements is still front-burner stuff for some folks.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 8/15/18 – Friends of the friends of the court
Our own Chad Aldis was a guest on All Sides yesterday, talking about the moldering corpse of ECOT and trying to get folks to understand what the real lessons of this story are. I’m not sure anyone on the panel was listening. (WOSU-FM, Columbus, 8/14/18)