Commentary
Commentary
Commentary
The truth about Ohio's NAEP scores: achievement gaps should inform our definition of "success"
Ohioans, for the most part, understand that strong teachers and good schools are a critical investment in our children's and our state's future. Consider that in 2010, the state invested more than $18.3 billion in K-12 public education ??? roughly $2,078 for every adult living in the Buckeye State.
Commentary
A conservative's dilemma: school choice versus fiscal responsibility
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, a prospective 2012 GOP presidential candidate, challenged Republicans to take a critical look at the defense budget earlier this month when he told a reporter in Iowa, “Anybody who says you can’t save money at the Pentagon has never been to the Pentagon.
Commentary
A modest proposal for pension reform
The state budget deficit and collective bargaining reform are consuming much of the energy at the Statehouse, but legislators are also considering much-needed fixes to the state’s public pension systems.
Commentary
New policy shop, Innovation Ohio, producing faulty, partisan research
A new policy and research organization has opened shop in the Buckeye State. Innovation Ohio (IO) bills itself as a “nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting public policy that moves Ohio ahead without leaving some of its people behind.” The organization is led by former deputy chief of staff to Governor Strickland, Janetta King.
Commentary
Ohio legislature paves the way for Teach For America
Last week marked history for the Buckeye State and its low-income children, as well as for the dozens if not hundreds of reform advocates who’ve been fighting to ensure that Teach For America finally grows roots in Ohio.
Commentary
The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Preparing Students for College and Careers
Earlier this month, MetLife released the findings of Part I of their annual education survey, which focuses on what it means to be “college and career ready.” The survey polled middle and high school teachers, students, parents, and Fortune 1000 executives to determine how they feel about the college and career-readiness goal and what students need to do to reach it. Major takeaways
Commentary
A Smarter Teacher Layoff System: How Quality-Based Layoffs Can Help Schools Keep Great Teachers
Moving from quality-blind to quality-based layoffs is integral to today’s education-reform agenda. Yet figuring out how best to pull this off in a productive, teacher-friendly manner has been a whopping challenge.
Commentary
Going Exponential: Growing the Charter School Sector's Best
The authors don’t beat around the bush: Bad charters may exist, but so do excellent ones—and the latter should be supported and scaled to serve exponentially more students. If the top 10 percent of charter schools expanded at a rate similar to other growing industries, we learn from this PPI study, they could reach all children in poverty by 2025.
Commentary
LIFO, teacher bonuses, and good edu-reading
With all the collective bargaining hullabaloo of late, it’s hard to imagine a more opportune time for the release of Terry Moe’s new book, Special Interest: Teacher Unions and America’s Public Schools.
Commentary
The incredible shrinking cities
The 2010 census numbers came out this month and ???shrinkage??? is the defining term for Ohio's cities. Cleveland shrunk by 17 percent over the last decade and fell to 396,815 residents, a 100-year low. Cincinnati lost 10 percent of its population and is down to 297,000 residents, also a 100-year low. Toledo contracted by nine percent and now has a population of 287,208.
Commentary
Commentary
Commentary
Commentary
Monitoring Progress: Response to Intervention's Promise and Pitfalls
RTI may be good, but how good is still in question
Commentary
Projections of Education Statistics to 2019 (Thirty-Eighth Edition)
Peering into the education-statistics looking glass
Commentary
Commentary
Commentary
Commentary
Legislation to bring TFA to Ohio has passed!
Today marks history for the Buckeye State, its low-income children, and its failing schools, as well as for the dozens if not hundreds of education reform advocates who've been pushing for the last decade for Teach For America - Ohio.
Commentary
The Digital Divide and The Knowledge Deficit
To walk from a conversation about the need for a common core curriculum to one about turning schools into digital gaming parlors modeled after Grand Theft Auto ? well, it's what we in the business call a head jerk.
Commentary
Charter Schools
KIPP and Baltimore Teachers Union solve pay dispute
The bickering between the Baltimore Teachers Union and the KIPP charter network involving overtime pay for teachers in two KIPP schools has come to a close.?
Commentary
Kasich educaton budget: Fiscally sound and student-focused, but many details still lacking
Governor Kasich unveiled his much-anticipated biennial budget proposal Tuesday. True to his word, the budget doesn’t raise taxes and will change, in some cases significantly, how Ohio government – including the state’s 610 local school districts – does business.
Commentary
Finn speaks to Dayton Rotary Club
Last week Fordham President Chester E. Finn, Jr. was in Ohio and stopped in Dayton (Fordham’s hometown and his) to give a speech to the Dayton Rotary Club. The speech, Reforming America’s Schools: Where Things Stand in 2011, highlighted the major education reform efforts and struggles associated with them since the mid-1980s.
Commentary
Fordham-authorized Columbus Collegiate Academy wins highest honor for student achievement
Columbus Collegiate Academy, a Fordham-authorized charter school in one of Columbus’s poorest neighborhoods (Weinland Park), has just been awarded the Gold-Gain EPIC award by New Leaders for New Schools for dramatic gains in student achievement.
Commentary
Congratulations to two KIPPsters!
A big congratulations are due to KIPP Journey Academy students McKeala Hudson and Michael Robinson, who were recently accepted into the KIPP STEP Summer Program at Deerfield Academy!
Commentary
Fordham advocates for legislative changes
Over the past several weeks, Fordham staff members have testified before committees of the Ohio House and Senate on several pieces of education-related legislation. You can read more about these testimonies by checking out summaries on Fordham’s blog, Flypaper, which have been excerpted below.
Commentary
Eric Hanushek to Ohio lawmakers: Education policies must incentivize achievement
Last week, economist and education policy expert Eric Hanushek testified in a joint meeting of the Ohio House and Senate education committees.
Commentary
Doing more with less in K-12 education - a timely discussion for Ohio
This week 140+ local school district leaders and members of the business and philanthropic communities gathered in northern Ohio to take part in two Doing More with Less in K-12 Education events. The events, one held at Cleveland State University and the other at <