Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 6/26/17 - The "flush with money" edition
Not much going on in education news over the weekend, but what there is of it revolves around money. Of course.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 6/23/17 - "On a scale of 9 to 10, how awesome would Moe be as CEO?"
Patrick O’Donnell took a look at the latest CREDO study of charter management organizations, showing that several CMOs with schools in Northeast Ohio are performing very well indeed. John Zitzner of Breakthrough Schools calls their results “mind-boggling”.
Commentary
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 6/21/17 - The hyperactive hyphenation edition
Our own Jessica Poiner, in a blog posted Monday, “blasted” Ohio’s efforts to lower graduation requirements and reduce the state’s high school diploma to an Oprah-like certificate of participation. (“Everybody gets a diplomaaaaaaaa!”).
Commentary
ESSA
Ohio’s history of sidestepping accountability
When it comes to high standards and accountability, Ohio talks a pretty good talk. Many of the most popular education reforms of the day have already been proposed or passed in the Buckeye State, and a few have even been hailed as best in the country.
Commentary
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 6/19/17 - Chad Aldis talks open enrollment
Our own Chad Aldis was a guest on the State of Ohio news program on Friday.
Commentary
Accountability & Testing
Social studies exams shouldn’t be first on the chopping block
Some Ohio lawmakers and educators recently proposed to roll back the state’s social studies exams, which presently include tests in fourth and sixth grade and end-of-course assessments (EOCs) for high-school students in both U.S. history and government. The proposals come from two avenues.
Commentary
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 6/16/17 - The "credit where credit is due" edition
We start today with a feel good story of high schoolers beating the odds to graduate and go on to college. All have earned scholarships for that accomplishment. The main story is of a young Columbus woman who has, indeed, survived war and other hardships.
Commentary
Governance
Guest Commentary: Ohio can improve the equity of its funding system
NOTES: The Thomas B. Fordham Institute occasionally publishes guest commentaries on its blogs. The views expressed by guest authors do not necessarily reflect those of Fordham.This piece was first published in a slightly different form on EdBuild’s blog.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 6/14/17 - The "no surprise there" edition
In a surprise to no one, the state board of ed this week voted to order the state’s largest online school to repay something like $60 million in regard to the ongoing kerfuffle between the state and the school over its recent attendance audit.
Commentary
Charter Schools
Education savings accounts: The future of school choice in Ohio
NOTE: The Thomas B. Fordham Institute occasionally publishes guest commentaries on its blogs. The views expressed by guest authors do not necessarily reflect those of Fordham.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 6/12/17 - The State of Preschool in the CLE is somewhat gloomy
I don’t usually clip blog posts, but this seemed fairly significant. The learned Dr.
Commentary
Governance
The State of Preschool
Since 2002, the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) has published yearbooks on the state of preschool education.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 6/9/17 - All of Dayton wants to know: "What's really going on?"
We start today in Fordham’s birthplace of Dayton, which as you will recall, may be facing a summer of strife over teacher contract negotiations or lack thereof. Jeremy Kelley this week dug deep into the state of play in the stalled negotiations and tried to discover what is at issue.
Commentary
Teachers & School Leaders
Ohio teacher preparation programs shine in new ranking
For years, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has released reports that rate and compare hundreds of teacher preparation programs across the country.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 6/7/17 - "Copiously" wasn't a good enough answer, I guess
In case you missed it, Fordham yesterday released a first-of-its-kind analysis of interdistrict open enrollment in Ohio – a look at the districts and the students utilizing it this popular and widespread school choice program and the academic outcomes attained.
Commentary
Accountability & Testing
Four questions to answer before “fixing” Ohio’s graduation requirements
NOTE: The Thomas B. Fordham Institute occasionally publishes guest commentaries on its blogs. The views expressed by guest authors do not necessarily reflect those of Fordham.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 6/5/17 - Youngstown shows us all how to run a summer school program
It’s the end of the traditional school year across Ohio and that means only one thing: a dearth of actual education news in publications far and wide. As you can see.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 6/2/17 - The view from Goodnewsville
We start today with an opinion piece from the PD in which education professionals attempt to dispel misconceptions abou
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 5/31/17 - Lorain officials share their hopes and fears (mostly the fears) for their new Distress Commission
The CEO-style Academic Distress Commission is on the mind of the PD’s Patrick O’Donnell this week. Fist up, he took a look at the hopes and fears of officials in Lorain as said CEO-style ADC ramps up there. Mostly at the fears, though.
Commentary
Teachers & School Leaders
Three problems with Ohio’s performance-based funding for schools
Performance-based funding in the public sector has begun to take root in recent years, most prominently in higher education and in merit-pay plans for some teachers.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 5/26/17 - Suburban problems
We start today out in the ‘burbs. (I know, right!) First up is a lengthy piece about some “options” for suburban kids for whom the traditional classroom route just doesn’t seem to work.
Commentary
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 5/24/17 - The Surreal Life
We begin today talking about school districts and “their” money. But honestly, when aren’t we talking about that? Editors in Columbus opined in favor of more state money for school districts. Especially for Columbus City Schools.
Commentary
Governance
School Lunch Quality and Academic Performance
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 was intended to improve student health and reduce childhood obesity by increasing the minimum nutritional standards that schools must meet.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 5/22/17 - The sadly underwhelming edition
We start out with two weekend editorials. First up, editors in Columbus opined in favor of a bill to open up all state funds spent by charter schools to full public view.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 5/19/17 - Chad Aldis plows his own furrow
Our own Chad Aldis often plows his own furrow (so to speak) when it comes to certain aspects of education policy in Ohio, sometimes confounding those trying to define the narrative around those issues. Yet another case in point occurred this week in the wake of testimony on the topic of charter sponsor evaluations contained in the state budget bill.
Commentary
Governance
Text of testimony given before the Senate Finance - Primary and Secondary Education Subcommittee 5/17/17
NOTE: The Ohio Senate Finance Committee’s Primary and Secondary Education Subcommittee is hearing testimony this week on the education portion of Ohio's next biennial budget. Below is the written testimony that Chad Aldis gave before the committee today.