Mike Feinberg, co-founder of KIPP, was in Cleveland this week for an event. The folks at public radio’s Sound of Ideas had Feinberg and Breakthrough Schools’ president John Zitzner as guests that morning, talking about the state of Ohio charter schools.
While it seems that the question of “worst-run” state government entity in Ohio has been settled for the time being, maybe “most boring” is up for grabs again? After the Funeral Board went into overload last year, I was pretty sure that the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR) had the title locked down.
Late last week, the Ohio Department of Education announced the first ever recipients of state grants for charter school facilities. Given the stringent quality criteria, we are proud that two schools sponsored by Fordham are among the winners.
Ohio Auditor Dave Yost (yes, him again) convened the first ever statewide Charter School Summit in Columbus last week. There were workshops and keynotes and heavy hitters; it was great to welcome folks the caliber of Geoffrey Canada and Steve Perry to our city. It was, as the auditor said in his opening remarks, a chance to celebrate great charter schools in Ohio.
Today, the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission announced eight winners in the state’s inaugural round of funding to charter schools to purchase, construct, or renovate classroom facilities.
Ohio has developed one of the nation’s best school report cards, packed with data and clear A–F ratings for schools and districts. In this light, the reports that parents receive on their own children’s state exam performance are doubly disappointing.
Ohio Auditor of State Dave Yost calls for “learning-based” funding approach for e-schools
Competency-based education has attracted attention as a “disruptive innovation” that could remake American schools.
Chronic absenteeism among students elicits serious concern for good reason. When pupils miss many days of school, they risk falling behind.
There are five seasons here in central Ohio: winter, spring, summer, back-to-school whining, and fall. Guess which one we’re in now? [OHIO EDUCATION GADFLY PUTS ON SCREECHY VOICE] “The school year is starting toooooooooo early nowadays.
The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) recently reviewed one hundred of the nation’s pre-K teacher prep programs, attempting to answer whether pre-K teacher candidates are being taught what they need to know to be effective in their future jobs.[1] The answer is, largely, no.
It’s Friday. Time to update you on the seemingly-endless kerfuffle between Ohio’s largest online school and the state department of education regarding the school’s ongoing attendance audit.
The Dispatch took a look at Fordham’s latest report – a pretty downbeat assessment of Ohio’s online schools. (Columbus Dispatch, 8/2/16)
We’ve already told you about the compliance portion of Ohio’s newest charter sponsor evaluation process. That flag requirement is always good for a laugh.
Youngstown Schools CEO Krish Mohip reminded them all who’s boss loudly and clearly yesterday in regards to the district’s pending lawsuit against the legislation that brought his position into being. That lawsuit has already cost the district nearly $200,000.
Looks like Youngstown Schools CEO Krish Mohip will not be going home to Chicago this weekend. He has some high-profile visitors to entertain at East High School on Saturday.
In 2000, North Carolina’s university system (UNC) announced that it would increase from three to four the minimum number of high school math courses students must complete in order to be considered for admission. The intent was to increase the likelihood that applicants be truly college-ready, thereby increasing the likelihood of degree completion.
This report from Civic Enterprises and Hart Research Associates provides a trove of data on students experiencing homelessness—a dramatically underreported and underserved demographic—and makes policy recommendations (some more actionable than others) to help states, schools, and communities be
We at Fordham recently released an evaluation on Ohio’s largest voucher initiative—the EdChoice Scholarship.
Ohio’s STEM Learning Network is a statewide consortium of standalone, charter, district, and private schools adhering to STEM learning principals developed by Battelle, the state, and other partners.
Everyone and her brother are talking about Cleveland this week. Can’t figure why. But be that as it may: there is some love for the Breakthrough Charter School Network buried deep in this piece on the Cleveland Plan.
Chad was a guest on a tiny sliver of All Sides with Ann Fisher yesterday. The topic was Ohio’s largest online school, its current tussle with the state over an ongoing attendance audit, and the larger implications for it and others like it depending on the findings.
Not sure why the Dispatch decided to pick on one particular private school in Cincinnati to make its point here, but be that as it may, the paper is not wrong in its analysis. Information on private school quality is hard to come by in Ohio, even for publicly-funded EdChoice voucher students.
The Dispatch published dueling editorials in the wake of Fordham’s new report evaluating the EdChoice Scholarship Program. Well, I say “dueling” but that would imply that the two commentators were actually talking about the same thing.
Another suburban school district has billed the state for a return of “their money”, which went to charter schools because “their students” went to charter schools instead of to them.
A little more coverage of our new report evaluating the EdChoice Scholarship Program.
Only 30 students nationwide were chosen to be pages in the U.S. Senate this year. Dayton Early College Academy junior Jocelyn Martin was one of them. She’s just finished her term (which she could not talk about while it was ongoing) and is now allowed to tell all.
Remember the charter school sponsor evaluations in Ohio from last year? The ones that ended up being rescinded due to questions over online school sponsors? Well, the Ohio Department of Education is still required to evaluate sponsors and the new framework has been in place since around May.
The entity known as META Solutions, a data and financial services support organization for hundreds of school districts and local governments (aka “The Blob”), will undergo something of a shakeup in the coming months.
Maybe THIS will be the final word on this topic.
