The State Board of Education met this week and, among other things, members got an update on the graduation readiness of the Class of 2018.
Today, Representative Bill Reineke (R-Tiffin) announced that he’ll be introducing legislation to significantly change the way Ohio governs public schools. The proposal calls for the creation of the Ohio Department of Learning and Achievement, which will focus on aligning Ohio’s education system to better prepare the workforce of tomorrow.
By Jack Archer
As teacher evaluation systems evolve around the nation—decreasing the importance of student growth scores in favor of more reliance on classroom observations—how best to support principals in observing and giving feedback on teacher performance will gain importance.
It has been said (mostly by me, probably) that there are only three seasons in Ohio – budget season, campaign season, and summer vacation. I invite all five of my loyal Gadfly Bites subscribers (yes, it’s been a successful couple of months) to guess which one we’re in right now.
Campaign season in Ohio is in full swing.
I think this story is probably just as cute and benign as it comes across, but just for kicks I’m going to try to be needlessly provocative in clipping it.
Ohio Representative Andrew Brenner has introduced legislation described on the General Assembly’s website as an effort to “revise school funding.” If there were an award for understatement of the year, that might win the prize.
Northeast Ohio’s own version of the Loch Ness Monster has reared his head again, and it looks like he might want to stick around a while this time. Denessie Kucinich says he’s running for governor, you see, using lots of the same rhetoric and ideas that he’s floated before.
Not much to report on today that isn’t shameless politicking or overt criminality. So what does that leave us with? John Kasich, that’s what. Mr.
By Jonathan Plucker, Ph.D.
By Chester E. Finn, Jr. and Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.
Editors in Toledo this week offered their opinion on the closure of ECOT. It’s generally what you’d expect, but it curiously includes something of a warning that might seem a little odd at first blush, but will not be that big of a surprise for all of my loyal Gadfly Bites subscribers.
Much attention is fittingly paid to race- and income-based achievement gaps in K-12 schools. But research has also documented similar and worrying gender-based gaps in college classes on high-stakes science tests.
It’s always interesting when education stories are covered in unconventional outlets.
Over the past few years, there’s been a lot of talk about changing the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System (OTES).
Columbus City Schools is, apparently, facing a budget shortfall within two years, and the initial discussions about solving it involve closing it down immediately so it can repay lost revenue to the state of Ohio the elimination of up to 163 positions.
With ECOT closed, a special master appointed by the court to help oversee things like records transfer and asset management, and families working to find new schools that are at least the second-best fit for their kids, it seems there is little else for education reporters
Earlier this week, Chiefs for Change (CFC) announced that Ohio’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, Paolo DeMaria, joined their network.
The 2018 Quality Counts ratings are out and very little has changed for Ohio from the previous year. Doesn’t stop folks from trying to spin those results into a vision of speculative doom. Our own Chad Aldis is quoted in this piece as the voice of anti-spin.
Changes are coming to the popular College Credit Plus program as early as this summer, courtesy of the Chancellor of Higher Education (at the request of the General Assembly).
Creating school funding policy is a delicate juggling act for state leaders. Contentious issues include deciding the responsibilities of local and state governments; determining efficient and fair ways to allocate funds; and ensuring economically friendly tax policies while raising sufficient revenue.
We should probably start with the big ECOT news, I guess. Did you see that ECOT’s request to become a dropout recovery school was rejected by the Ohio Department of Education yesterday? No? How on earth did you miss that? Wonder what else was screaming off the headlines that took your attention?
By Jessica Shopoff, M.Ed. and Chase Eskelsen, M.Ed.
Editors in Akron opined in favor of revamped state report cards for schools and districts, opining in favor of Fordham’s recent report on same along the way.
