The Ohio Senate does report card reform right
Annual school report cards play an important role in healthy, accountable K–12 education systems.
Annual school report cards play an important role in healthy, accountable K–12 education systems.
For more than two decades, report cards have offered Ohioans an annual check on the quality of public schools. They have strived to ensure that schools maintain high expectations for all students, to provide parents with a clear signal when standards are not being met, and to identify high-performing schools whose practices are worth emulating.
NOTE: On March 16, 2021, the Ohio Senate’s Primary and Secondary Education Committee heard testimony on HB 67, a bill which would, among other provisions, make changes to the state’s graduation requirements in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Concerns over the increased potential for cheating are front and center in debates
Improving the technical skills of Ohioans to meet changing workforce demands has been a priority for Governor DeWine since taking office in 2019.
Last week, the Ohio House passed legislation (HB 67) that addressed graduation requirements and a few other issues in K–12 education.
With Covid-19 cases dropping, teachers getting vaccinated, and new data and guidance coming in all the time showing th
Last week, the Ohio House unveiled House Bill 110, the legislative vehicle for Governor DeWine’s budget proposal.
NOTE: On Tuesday, February 23, 2021, members of the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee heard testimony on House Bill 67 which would seek to waive testing in Ohio’s schools for the 2020–21 school year.
Last spring, Governor DeWine signed legislation that eliminated state tests and paused school accountability sanctions for the 2019–20 school year. Efforts by the education establishment to extend these changes through the 2020–21 school year began almost immediately.
Under pressure from the school establishment and teachers unions, Ohio lawmakers recently filed bills that seek to cancel state assessments this spring.
It’s no secret that the pandemic has been extraordinarily difficult on education. Reopening decisions, complex in-person safety protocols, virtual school, and the specter of learning loss have made the past year tough.
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.
In March 2020, a group of researchers and economists led by Peter Q. Blair of Harvard University published a working paper exploring the idea that on-the-job skills acquisition could be just as valuable as a bachelor’s degree, or more, in helping workers move up the career ladder to higher-wage work.
It might seem far away, but the 2021–22 school year is just around the corner. In a few short months, students will be gearing up for summer break—and using that time wisely has never been more important. This fall will be similarly significant.
A new report from Portland State University sociologist Dara Shifrer digs into the value-added data of thousands of teachers who switched schools and concludes that value-added measures reflect the socio-economic status of students and thus cannot be used to accuratel
Earlier this week, the Senate Education committee passed Substitute Senate Bill 358, legislation that would extend temporary waivers from state laws that were granted earlier this year in response to the pandemic and school building closures.
Correction (12/17/20): A previous version of this article incorrectly indicated that the income-based EdChoice program was renamed the Buckeye Opportunity Scholarship.
In the last week, there’s been a flurry of discussion around what the incoming Biden administration could do for student loan borrowers.
The Ohio House and Senate have each approved legislation, Senate Bill 89, which significantly changes the state’s EdChoice Scholarship program. The EdChoice Scholarship, Ohio’s largest voucher program, has been a topic of robust debate for the past year as lawmakers argued over what state report card measures should determine if a school is considered low-performing.
In the waning days of October, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released guidance that outlines the flexibilities states have under federal law to modify their accountability systems for the current school year (2020–21).
The fiscal woes of state pension systems are regularly in the news.
This week, Fordham released its latest report, an analysis of the three retirement options available for Ohio teachers.
In policy circles, school choice and desegregation discussions often stop at the schoolhouse door.
Though not widely known, Ohio teachers have three retirement options: a traditional pension plan, a 401(k)-style defined contribution plan, and a hybrid plan that combines features of both. A large majority of teachers are in the pension plan—the result of either an affirmative choice or by default, not having selected a specific plan at the beginning of their careers.
It’s been over two years since the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act was signed into federal law with overwhelming bipartisan support. The law is a reauthorization of the Carl D.
Last year, hundreds of business and industry leaders, educators, state policymakers, and advocates gathered in downtown Columbus for Aim Hire, a day-long conference focused on workforce development hosted
In the last decade, Ohio leaders have advocated for an increased focus on career and technical education.
Research has shown that the human visual system is generally better at processing information that’s oriented in the horizontal and vertical planes—that i
Over the last few years, states have attempted to offer a clearer picture of how well high schools prepare students for the future by measuring college and career readiness (CCR), instead of just student achievement and graduation rates.