Education policy wonks (and I can speak as an outsider, having come to Fordham after a long career in journalism) can get so wrapped up in their great ideas for saving the nation's schools that it's easy to forget there are other people with ideas that are far removed from the most timely education reform debates.
Ohio education policymakers seem to have a split personality when it comes to what they say they care about and what they fund. The frequency and impact of this disconnect make it all the more frightening.????????
A bill has been proposed in the Ohio House of Representatives (HB 319) that would require parents of students who attend school districts rated Continuous Improvement (a "C" rating) or lower to attend a parent-teacher conference.
This week's edition opens with a timely look at Senate Bill 180 - a pending piece of legislation that would make Ohio more competitive for Race to the Top dollars (you'll definitely want to check out Terry's testimony, as well as testimony from two dynamic Teach For America alu
This conversation about churches authorizing charter schools has raised my hackles.
I'll take??Emmy's bait. I have no objection to churches working as authorizers, if they can do it well.
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute and others voiced support yesterday for Senate Bill (SB) 180 (see here) that would strengthen Ohio’s position in the federal Race to the Top sweepstakes through:
A central Ohio church has appealed the Ohio Department of Education's denial of its application to become a charter school authorizer (more on the story here, subscription required):
Core Knowledge and Joanne Jacobs both picked up on a blog this week by Linda Perlstein, who says that Obama is "wrong" to suggest that teachers are the single most imp
Fordham, along with Catalyst Ohio and the FDR Group, conducted a survey this past spring that measured Ohioans' attitudes on a variety of education issues (note: the sample was 1,002 randomly selected Ohio residents and was the third of its kind -??following 2005 and 2007 surveys).
Here's an interesting article about Harlem Success Academy, a??New York City charter school whose kindergarten field trip to a farm is more than a cute story about pumpkins and cows.
I'm usually not the first person to throw my hands up in response to extracurricular programming being cut from schools.
While we at Fordham view the results of the much talked about Hoxby charter study as encouraging and a good rebuttal to charter critics, here's a reminder of the antagonism towa
Ohio's school district rating system has been getting criticism lately, and for good reason: the category of Continuous Improvement (a "C" rating) is so broad that it is nearly meaningless.
Not long ago we presented a graphic illustrating the gross discrepancy between Ohio's achievement test scores and those from NAEP.
Tomorrow Duncan will deliver a speech to NASBE members on the role of the federal government in education reform.?? I agree with K-12 Politics that this part of Duncan's prepared remarks is refreshing:??
In this week's edition Jamie evaluates a report calling for Ohio to scale back its charter school program because charters allegedly get a "head start" with kindergarteners who are more prepared for school.
Ohio has been handed a bucket of lemons when it comes to the economy and its impact on the state’s finances. But, state leaders have the opportunity to make lemonade if they work together around education in the coming weeks… Read the full post here.
Top-notch academic standards will fail without good teachers, academically oriented administrators, and citizens who hold education dear, according to experts who headlined a conference on world-class academic standards in Columbus last week (see video of the conference here).
For its recent report analyzing the readiness of kindergarten students entering traditional district, charter, and magnet schools in seven Ohio urban districts (see here), Policy Matters Ohio deserves credit for selecting an important research question: are charter students fundamentally different from those attending distr
David Driscoll, former Massachusetts education commissioner, sat down with the Ohio Gadfly last week after the “World-Class Academic Standards for Ohio” conference. Driscoll is now a member of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and Foundation board of trustees.
Sec. Arne Duncan made the first (of three) speeches intended to recruit an "army of great teachers" when he spoke to UVA's Curry School of Education last Friday.
Video is now available from our recent event, World-Class Academic Standards for Ohio, which was held October 5 in Columbus, Ohio.
The question of whether schools and districts should play a role in battling childhood obesity has been prevalent in the news lately.
Ohio is on board with the NGA/CCSSO Common Core State Standards Initiative, ostensibly agreeing to adopt 85 percent of the standards that result from the effort.????
Our event "World-class academic standards for Ohio" just started and you can follow the action on Twitter.
Ohio has been handed a bucket of lemons when it comes to the economy and its impact on the state's finances. But, state leaders have the opportunity to make lemonade if they work together around education in the coming weeks.
Check out this week's Ohio Education Gadfly to read about our upcoming conference, "World-Class Standards in Ohio." We're excited to welcome an impressive lineup of education experts and state leaders, who will discuss Ohio-specific standards issues (timely, since the state is mandated to revise i
