Common Core implementation: Let’s not lose the forest for the trees
Let's not gloss the challenges of transitioning to Common Core
Let's not gloss the challenges of transitioning to Common Core
Ohio's districts are shrinking from competition with parochial schools through expanded voucher programs.
The Proficiency Illusion, science edition
Recent news that White Hat, the big, Ohio-based, profit-seeking charter school operator, faces financial problems was surely received as an early Christmas present by many long-time charter opponents, particularly within the Buckeye State. The company?s founder and leader, Akron industrialist David Brennan, has been a larger-than-life-target for school choice foes since Governor George Voinovich appointed him in 1992 to head a commission intended to advance choice in Ohio k-12 education.
Since 2005, Fordham has been working in Ohio to recruit high quality charter schools to neighborhoods badly in need of better schools. During our six-plus years of effort as a charter authorizer we have managed to recruit just two high-performing models to Columbus (KIPP and a BES school).
My husband and I have to decide in the next year where our 4-year old son will go to school and it is a daunting decision.
View the footage from the Fordham & CEE-Trust charter incubation panel discussion, "Driving Quality."
It's too early to tell
In partnership with the independent education journal Catalyst Ohio (see here), we resolved to find out, and enlisted the expert help of the nonpartisan FDR Group (see here), a respected survey research firm led by veteran public opinion analysts Steve Farkas and Ann Duffett. The result is Checked Out: Ohioans' Views on Education 2009. This is the third such survey that we at Fordham have undertaken since 2005 on education issues in the Buckeye State. This makes it possible to track some key trends in public opinion over time.
Robin Lake looks at the lessons from the Fordham and CEE-Trust policy brief.
Fordham's Terry Ryan and CEE-Trust's Ethan Gray explain the potential of the charter incubation model and the characteristics of incubators.
Guest blogger Stuart Buck explains the virtues of the Arizona Empowerment Scholarship program and the legal obstacles it faces.