Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 11/6/23—Real life experiences
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 11/3/23—Shifting responsibility
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 11/1/23—The biggest calamity will befall students’ science education
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full.
Commentary
Governance
Three things Ohio’s revamped education department should prioritize during its first year
If you’ve been following headlines in Ohio, you’ve likely noticed that there’s an ongoing kerfuffle regarding an overhaul of the state’s K–12 education governance system.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 10/30/23—A lesson learned?
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 10/27/23—Not the answer
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 10/25/23—Hope no one throws out an arm patting themselves on the back
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full. Just sayin’.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 10/23/23—That wire is live!
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 10/20/23—Three!
It took a week, but today’s edition finally brings us up to date following our long vacation break, covering 10/14 – 10/20/23.
Commentary
Accountability & Testing
Social promotion returns to Ohio
“Social promotion,” the practice of pushing struggling students from one grade to the next regardless of their academic readiness, can have damaging long-term effects.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 10/18/23—Two…
Today’s edition, the second following a long vacation break, covers news from 10/7 – 10/13/23.
Commentary
Governance
The Washington Post got its facts wrong on Ohio’s school governance debate
Recently, The Washington Post published an article purporting to summarize Ohio's current legal battle over education governance. “Ohio governor and elected education leaders both say they're in charge,” blares the headline.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 10/16/23—One…
Back after two long weeks! Looks like y’all had plenty of ice and fire of your own while I was gone, so we’ll break this down a bit.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
An overview of Ohio’s new teacher apprenticeship program
Teacher shortages have been a hot topic in Ohio for years.
Commentary
Governance
Reforming collective bargaining could put Ohio public schools—and the teaching profession—on top
Public-sector collective bargaining—whereby governments negotiate with employee unions over compensation and management practices—has enabled teachers unions to put a stranglehold on Ohio school districts. Research has clearly established that unions across the U.S.
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, School Finance, Charter Schools, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
Basic facts undermine the arguments of private school choice critics
For nearly two decades, Ohio’s EdChoice program has unlocked private school options for tens of thousands of students by offering state-funded scholarships.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 9/29/23—Ultimate
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full. Just sayin’.
Commentary
Accountability & Testing
Here’s how ADC districts performed on state report cards
Academic Distress Commissions (ADCs) have a long and controversial history in Ohio.
Event
Governance
Is Ohio on the Path to Educational Pluralism? Lessons from Around the World
Ohio has long been a pioneer in school choices for students and families. It is home to one of the nation’s first private-school scholarship programs, focused on Cleveland.
Commentary
Accountability & Testing
Ohio’s urban district and charter school performance, 2022–23
For more than two decades, Ohio’s school report cards have shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of the state’s public schools. This year’s report card is no different.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 9/27/23—Penultimate
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full. Just sayin’.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 9/25/23—Antepenultimate
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 9/22/23—That thing you DEW
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full. Just sayin’.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 9/20/23—DEW or DEW not
How’d the first day of actual school go in Youngstown this week? Or even the second? No one in the local press seems to care since the teachers union is happy with the deal they won, so I have no idea.
Commentary
Governance
As chronic absenteeism rates soar, some Ohio lawmakers want to make it easier for kids to skip school
The negative impacts of chronic absenteeism are well known. In elementary school, truancy can contribute to weaker math and reading skills that persist into later grades.
Commentary
Accountability & Testing
2021 PIRLS test results starkly illustrate global learning loss
The first pandemic-influenced data from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) test are in. Unsurprisingly, an initial analysis says the news is bad.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 9/18/23—It only takes one whammy to make families scramble for solutions
The Youngstown teacher strike seems to be over after a tentative agreeme
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 9/15/23—Seems like all tortoise and no hare
In case you somehow missed it, state report cards were released yesterday.
Commentary
Accountability & Testing
Fordham Institute statement on Ohio’s school report cards
This morning, the Ohio Department of Education released its annual school report cards based on results from the 2022-23 school year. This year’s iteration makes clear that the impacts of the pandemic on student learning are still being felt, especially for students from less advantaged backgrounds.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 9/13/23—A “digestible” counterproposal?
Looks like someone’s been listening to Fordham’s Aaron Churchill, who has been advocating for including party labels for candidates on local school board ballots for many years, with lots of great analysis backing it up.
