Gadfly Bites 3/16/20 – Cobbling together
Jeff MurrayIn case you may have missed it somehow, Governor DeWine told the whole world over the weekend that Ohio’s school year may already be over.
Gadfly Bites 3/13/20 – Ish
Jeff MurraySchool’s out. What? Y’all expected me to clip that for you? Not a chance.
Gadfly Bites 3/11/20 – The true curmudgeon likes and dislikes in equal measure
Jeff MurraySorry to miss out on a Monday edition, but now we’re back with lots to catch up on.
Ohio has a responsibility to raise red flags when schools are failing
Aaron ChurchillIt’s no secret that tough accountability measures are out-of-fashion in education circles these days.
Gadfly Bites 3/6/20 – Bits and Bobs
Jeff MurrayIt’s one of those days where the clips don’t seem to want to cohere into a story of their own, so how about the story of same news, different day? With a side order of “perhaps Murray’s been doing this too long”.
Gadfly Bites 3/4/20 – Voucher Grouchers 13: Expedition
Jeff MurrayAs previously threatened, state supe Paolo DeMaria created Ohio’s “working definition for competency” (that’s definitely code for something) by setting the new graduation
Gadfly Bites 3/2/20 – Vouchers? What vouchers? No one’s talking about vouchers!
Jeff MurrayAnother day, another charter school story that’s so good they didn’t have room to fit the words “charter school” in the printed story.
Surveying parent-school communications
Jeff MurrayEffective communication is a two-way street that involves not only sending and receiving information, but also understanding it. Breakdowns can occur at any point. A new report from the Center for American Progress digs into the state of school-to-family communication, looking for strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities in this important endeavor.
Improving Ohio’s measure of English language progress
Dr. Sara WatsonNOTE: The Thomas B. Fordham Institute occasionally publishes guest commentaries on its blogs. The views expressed by guest authors do not necessarily reflect those of Fordham.
Gadfly Bites 2/28/20 – It’s a riddle
Jeff MurrayIn case you missed it, Chad was a panelist at a recent Cleveland event discussing Ohio’s voucher program.
Gadfly Bites 2/26/20 – Dismantling
Jeff MurrayStill in something of a holding (our breath) pattern on EdChoice in Ohio, so let’s talk about some other stuff first. Big news from the world of student wellness funding. Governor DeWine says more money’s coming.
Gadfly Bites 2/24/20 – Flat, dead facts
Jeff MurrayToday’s clips are a side trip inside the universe of the voucher grouchers saga; since many of the grouchers are otherwise occupied and we are in something of a lull. Maybe think of it like the gap between production of Return of the Jedi and Phantom Menace.
Gadfly Bites 2/21/20 – Voucher Grouchers 12: Blink
Jeff MurrayIn EdChoice news: [Sung to the tune of that Hamilton! song] Here Comes the Governor! (Gongwer Ohio, 2/19/20) Seriously, thou
Gadfly Bites 2/19/20 – Voucher Grouchers 11: The Treadmill of Tedious Temerity
Jeff MurrayThe endless hours of EdChoice testimony continued—including this past Saturday and a nearly 10-hour marathon on Presidents Day.
Here’s what parents think about Ohio’s school report cards
Jessica PoinerFor the past several years, there has been a steady push by traditional education groups in Ohio to weaken state accountability and school report cards in particular.
Gadfly Bites 2/14/20 – Voucher Grouchers 10: Other Shoes
Jeff MurrayUpdating the voucher groucher saga, the other shoe finally dropped earlier this week when the Senate at last refused to concur in the House’s Christmas stocking full of g
Gadfly Bites 2/12/20 – Voucher Grouchers 9: Slogging through Eternity
Jeff MurrayAs sagas go, today’s voucher groucher update feels more like the laggy parts near the middle where the themes are expounded on but not much plot actually happens.
Gadfly Bites 2/10/20 – Lucre
Jeff MurrayWhile we will be talking about Ohio’s EdChoice program today and all the folks working mightily to make changes to it, we’ll take a break from the official Voucher Grouchers saga since things are reasonably quiet on that front for the moment. I guarantee that will change soon enough.
Gadfly Bites 2/7/20 – Voucher Grouchers 8: Christmas in February
Jeff MurrayWhen last we updated the voucher groucher saga, we noted that families and private schools had attempted to take the initiative by suing nearly everyone in state government due to the legislated delay in opening the EdChoice application process.
Gadfly Bites 2/5/20 – Voucher Grouchers 7: It’s About Time
Jeff MurrayAgain due to the publication timeline of Bites, I am lagging behind the biggest news.
Transforming a state and a profession: Third revision of the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System
Bryan Drost, Ph.D., Lisa Shoaf, Ph.D.NOTE: The Thomas B. Fordham Institute occasionally publishes guest commentaries on its blogs. The views expressed by guest authors do not necessarily reflect those of Fordham.
Gadfly Bites 2/3/20 – Voucher Grouchers 6: The Fermata
Jeff MurraySo, as you probably know, the General Assembly voted to hose families interested in getting a voucher kowtow to the voucher grouchers rather than enacting some kind of quick fix to something that wasn’t broken or indeed rather than standing pat and letting the voucher program go forward as per
Gadfly Bites 1/31/20 – Voucher Grouchers 5: The Neverending Story
Jeff MurrayBefore we get to the actual news you probably came here for, how about a related side trip?
Gadfly Bites 1/27/20 – Voucher Grouchers 3: A lose-lose win-win
Jeff MurrayWe’re back! With lots to talk about. But we’re not going to start where you might expect. Let’s hit some reality first.
Gadfly Bites 1/22/20 – Voucher Grouchers 2: Rise of the Have-Nots
Jeff MurrayColumbus City Schools is apparently hanging on to an eyesore/money pit of an empty, derelict school building.
Ohio’s college remediation numbers need more and better context
Jeff MurrayAgainst the backdrop of Ohio’s Attainment Goal 2025, the state’s annual report on college remediation rates—the number of first year college students requiring remedial courses before beginning credit bearing work—has taken on a greater
Gadfly Bites 1/17/20 – Voucher Grouchers
Jeff MurrayRepetitive, soundbite-friendly carping about the EdChoice voucher program continues apace.
Gadfly Bites 1/15/20 – Is it “war” in Bridgeport?
Jeff MurrayAs dedicated Gadfly Bites subscribers will no doubt recall, your humble clips compiler is of the opinion that a) the EdChoice voucher program is not “broken” (it is operating as designed, including a boost in the number of eligible students based on school report cards, which has happened before), an
Gadfly Bites 1/13/20 – Refutation
Jeff MurrayApparently, the feared “loophole” around additional charter school funding that we discussed last week has been avoided.