Commentary
Topics
Commentary
State of State Science Standards 2012
Ohio came in 13th in the nation with an overall grade of B. While that is better than the majority of other states, it’s nothing to brag about.
Commentary
Charter Schools
Measuring up to the model: A ranking of state charter school laws
Regardless of rankings, Ohio policymakers should continue to seek improvements to Ohio’s charter school program.
Commentary
2011 State Teacher Policy Yearbook
Ohio ranked seventh in the nation with an overall grade of C+, beating the national grade of D+ by a whole letter grade.
Commentary
Commentary
Announcement- Big changes are coming are you ready?
The Ohio Department of Education, along with the State Board of Education, The Ohio Educational Service Association, and the Ohio School Boards Association will host thirteen two-hour meetings across the state to outline the changes coming and what schools can be doing now to prepare.
Commentary
Charter Schools
Noble Charter Schools: A teacher's perspective
A learning specialist with Noble Charter Schools responds to criticism of the organization's controversial discipline policies.
Commentary
Stay out of the classroom, Your Honor
New Hampshire voters may tell the state Supreme Court to butt out of school funding entirely.
Commentary
The conspiracy theory in search of a conspiracy
Instead getting hung up on which government agency is making the rules, let's dig a little deeper into the question of red tape and find out exactly which ties are binding so firmly to mediocrity and entropy.
Commentary
Charter Schools
The “last word” on Milwaukee vouchers should lead us to new debates on standards
The results of a report show a need to further explore the right balance between parental choice and state standards, even if that discussion leaves many voucher proponents with a bad case of heartburn.
Commentary
Getting Common Core implementation right: the $16 billion question
The Pioneer Institute's prediction that the CCSS will require billions in professional development training is based on some shaky assumptions.
Commentary
Charter Schools
Purists vs. hawks in the charter debate
Ohio’s charter school community has been split into two camps since the inception of the state’s first charter law in 1997; purists vs. hawks.
Commentary
Charter Schools
ODE rejects White Hat applications
White Hat Management has been the Goliath of Ohio’s charter school operators since its first schools opened in 1999. The company currently operates 33 schools in the Buckeye State.
Commentary
More lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer for Ohio students?
A bill pending in the Ohio General Assembly would make it possible for students to spend far less time in school than they do now.
Commentary
Some optimism (and caution) on special education funding
New Jersey deserves praise for trying something new in a touchy, costly program area.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Memo to the world: America’s secret sauce isn’t made in our classrooms
Innovation is learned on the weekends
Commentary
Commentary
The 2012 Brown Center Report on American Education: How Well Are American Students Learning?
Close reading required
Commentary
Commentary
School Improvement Grants 2010-2011: The School Improvement Grant Roll Out in America’s Great City Schools
Hard evidence of success: still lacking
Commentary
Rating performance—for teachers, students, and schools—is a tricky business
The week's education news at a glance
Commentary
Commentary
Rating performance is a tricky business
» As Bill Gates opined in this morning’s New York Times, education discourse is better off—and comity about needed reforms somewhat more likely—without teachers’ test scores plastered on front-pages, where legitimate caveats about margins of error and sample sizes are like
Commentary
Bring on the independent validators–just kidding.
A new method for evaluating New York City's teachers is unlikely to do much more than sew more seeds of dissent.
Commentary
What would George, TJ, Abe, Teddy, Ike, and the gang say?
In this Presidents' Day post, Peter analyzes four recent education stories.
Commentary
Cleveland challenging Indy to become the Midwest’s ed-reform capital
Last month I led a delegation of education-reform advocates from the Ohio cities of Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Dayton to spend a day with leaders of The Mind Trust, an education reform nonprofit that is paving the way for transformative change in K-12 education in Indianapolis.
Commentary
No love for Common Core? Why Tom misses the mark with his critique
Standards—no matter how clear or how rigorous—are not a panacea.
Commentary
Utah should go big
The Utah legislature is considering a promising move toward student-based state funding of secondary education.
Commentary
Embracing the Common Core in the Buckeye State
Yesterday the Fordham Institute, Ohio Grantmakers Forum, and Achieve hosted “Embracing the Common Core: Helping Students Thrive” in Columbus.
Commentary
Responding to Diane Ravitch's drive-by shooting of Cleveland’s school-reform plan
Terry Ryan takes on Diane Ravitch's blog from earlier this week on "Desperate Times in Cleveland and Ohio" and points out everything she got wrong.