Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 5/7/18 - Not to worry
Chad Aldis is on hand to discuss the 2018 Ohio gubernatorial primary with The 74 in this piece. At least, an aspect or two of them.
Commentary
Governance
Six habits of highly effective turnarounds
Last month, Paymon Rouhanifard announced that he would be stepping down from his position as the superintendent of Camden Public Schools in New Jersey at the end of the school year. Though leadership changes are nothing new in urban districts like Camden, his decision is newsworthy because of the positive academic results he’s leaving behind.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 5/4/18 - First worst
The Beacon Journal’s editorial board opined following that story from earlier this week about Akron City Schools’ potential for a stratospheric jump in their graduation rate.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 5/2/18 - "Dreaming big"; well, dreaming
Before we start our clips today, I want to address the elephant in the room. Yes, tens of thousands of Ohio kids having been taking AIR tests online this week and no glitches have been reported. That’s right, not a single explosive story of log-in fails or authentication errors in any newspaper in Ohio. It was certainly huge news statewide last week when there was a glitch.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 4/30/18 - And by perfect, I mean a giant disaster
Data from Fordham’s new 2018 edition of Ohio Education by the Numbers is quoted in this piece which discusses a proposed moratorium on imposition of new Academic Distress Commissions in Ohio—no matter how low a district’s performance sinks.
Commentary
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 4/27/18 - But really, how coherent are they usually?
A weird and less-coherent-than-usual set of clips to end the week. First up, a middle school track meet was postponed this week after aggressive geese, protecting their nest on the infield near Lane 1, could not be moved.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 4/25/18 - It's your dime
We start today’s clips with some good news—and about the cutest, nerdiest sibling rivalry video you’re likely to see today.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 4/23/18—Very confident
Regular Ohio Gadfly readers will already be aware of the education positions of the various gubernatorial candidates here in Ohio. But the Dispatch went right to the sources for the info instead of scouring papers like we had to and got some more thorough details by doing so.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 4/20/18 - This craze for "steam power" will never last
In case you missed it, panic ensued in schools newsrooms across the state on Wednesday when a glitch in the AIR login process required rescheduling tests in a number of school districts. Things were back to normal on Thursday; at least at the schools.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 4/18/18 - There's no business like shoe business
Can you stand hearing more about A-to-F grading for Ohio’s schools? Me too! This piece posits two factions competing to redesign report cards before the overall A-to-F grading of schools and districts is implemented. One is the General Assembly via HB 591. The other is the State Board of Education via a lot of review panels.
Commentary
Commentary
Governance
John Kasich’s education legacy
John Kasich is wrapping up his second term as Governor of Ohio and likely his career in public service. In a moment of reflection, he recently quipped, “I've tried to change two institutions during my career. One is the Pentagon and the other is the education system.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 4/16/18 – Do they matter or don’t they?
As you may recall from last Wednesday’s Bites, there is was a new bill introduced in the House that proposes to sweep most current aspects of school report cards right out the door in favor of a “dashboard” type rating system instead, and I use the term “system” loosely. Judging from this Gongwer piece, the multi-headed hydra known as BASAOASBOOSBA—a.k.a.
Commentary
Governance
Ohio’s Democrat candidates for governor weigh in on education
In case you missed the memo, early voting for the May 8 Ohio gubernatorial primary started this week.
Commentary
Governance
Ohio’s Republican candidates for governor weigh in on education
In case you missed the memo, early voting for the May 8 Ohio gubernatorial primary started last week.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 4/13/18 - The high cost
We start today with more discussion of Ohio’s NAEP results, including perspective from Chad Aldis. (Dayton Daily News, 4/12/18)
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 4/11/18 – “We are working with a change agent.”
The Plain Dealer was quick out of the gate with coverage of Ohio’s NAEP data, including a quote or two from Fordham’s Chad Aldis putting the new numbers into perspective. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 4/10/18)
Commentary
Accountability & Testing
Fordham Institute media statement on Ohio’s 2017 NAEP results
Today, the U.S. Department of Education released results from the 2017 round of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Given every two years, this assessment is administered in all 50 states to a random sample of fourth and eighth grade students in reading and math.
Commentary
Commentary
Governance
Moving to prosperity but leaving big questions behind
The Move to PROSPER project is a new initiative by a consortium of organizations led by the Ohio State University to provide a path to stability for some of the least stable families in central Ohio—namely, low-income single-parent households with one or more school age children.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 4/9/18 – Negotiation
We start the week with good news—Dayton’s bus drivers appear to have overwhelmingly agreed to a new contract with the district. Barring anything unforeseen, that is.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 4/6/18 - With friends like these...
You may recall a breathless flap earlier this year over third grade reading test scores which were suspected of being mis-graded by a computer. It was hard to miss, seeing as how is it was all over the news. What was not all over the news at any point since then was how the human regrading of those third grade tests turned out.
Commentary
Commentary
Governance
3 things to like (and 3 not to like) about Ohio’s education deregulation bill
Scrapping regulations that burden schools, have little to do with student learning, and restrict local flexibility and autonomy is a worthy undertaking. Over the past few years, Ohio legislators have taken small but commendable steps in providing regulatory relief for public schools.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 4/4/18 - Yay and yawn
Herewith: the new leader (and the revamped mission) of FutureReady Columbus. (Columbus Monthly, 4/2/18)
Commentary
Governance
Reflections on the K-12 education policy world (and goodbye)
Like any life transition, preparing for a new job and saying farewell to colleagues and allies offers a bittersweet window of time to reflect. I’m sitting in that window now. Having finished almost a decade in the Ohio K–12 education policy space and my second stint at Fordham Ohio, I’m shifting into the early childhood policy domain.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 4/2/18 - No foolin'
I believe there is a headline error in this piece looking at the precarious state of play in Trotwood Schools after several years of poor report cards and attempts to remedy that problem. See if you can spot it. (Dayton Daily News, 4/2/18)
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 3/30/18 - Advanced brain drain
It’s spring break in Dayton City Schools, but that doesn’t mean things are quiet in the district.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 3/28/18 - Candor
Well, well, well. Nothing official here, but it is nice to hear the President of the Ohio Senate say that Ohio’s current participation-trophy graduation requirements should not be extended to the Classes of 2019 and 2020. Without “a good reason”, that is. (Gongwer Ohio, 3/26/18)