Displaying 301-330 of 337 results
Commentary
5.29.2013
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Advanced Education

Standing athwart the Internet, yelling Stop!

The Education Gadfly

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed legislation last week that places a one-year moratorium on new virtual charter schools outside Chicago and directs a state commission to study the effects and costs of virtual charters.

Report
5.16.2013
Accountability & Testing, Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Half empty or half full: Superintendents' views on Ohio's education reforms

Steve Farkas, Ann Duffett

This report is based on the responses to an online survey conducted in Spring 2013 with 344 school district superintendents in Ohio. The survey covered seven education policies, specifically: Common Core State Standards, teacher evaluations, the Third Grade Reading Guarantee, open enrollment, A-to-F ratings for schools and districts, individualized learning (blended learning and credit flexibility), and school choice (charter schools and vouchers). It also included several questions on general attitudes towards school reform in Ohio and two trend items. Download today to discover the key findings!

Commentary
5.1.2013
Curriculum & Instruction, Advanced Education

Pearson crosses a line

Kathleen Porter-Magee

It’s open season on Pearson, the corporation everyone loves to hate—but this time, though they have crossed a serious line, far too many state leaders and reformers are holding their fire

Commentary
4.10.2013
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Advanced Education

Failing the gifted—and everyone else

The Education Gadfly

The Obama administration’s budget proposal was late to the par

Report
1.9.2013
Accountability & Testing, Advanced Education

Needles in a Haystack

Peter Meyer

Profiles of six public high schools that serve poor and minority students to high levels of excellence.

Report
12.19.2012
Accountability & Testing, Charter Schools, Standards

2011-12 Ohio Report Card Analysis

Aaron Churchill

Our annual analysis of school performance in our home state's major urban areas, plus a projection of proficiency rates when the PARCC exams arrive in 2014-15.

Commentary
12.12.2012
Advanced Education

The costs of action and inaction

The Education Gadfly

Everyone and their mothers are talking about the so-called “fiscal cliff”—the automatic budget cuts and tax increases that will affect all federal discretionary spending programs, cut you off in traffic, steal an old lady’s handbag, and wreak general havoc if lawmakers don’t co

Report
11.13.2012
Accountability & Testing, Charter Schools, Teachers & School Leaders

Moving Up: Fordham's 2011-12 Sponsorship Accountability Report

"Moving Up" is The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation's charter school sponsorship accountability report for 2011-12. Through it, we hope to help readers understand the complexities of charter schools and better appreciate the hard work of the teachers, school leaders, and board members who serve not only the schools we sponsor but also the schools around the state and nation that are working to make a difference in the lives of children. This year's report features an in-depth look at the struggles of two Fordham-sponsored schools in Dayton; it is researched and written by former Dayton Daily News reporter and editor Ellen Belcher.

Commentary
10.9.2012
Advanced Education

Young, gifted, and neglected

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

We need to raise the ceiling for Ohio's highest-performing students

Report
9.4.2012
Accountability & Testing, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Applying Systems Thinking to Improve Special Education in Ohio

Nathan Levenson

This paper uses systems thinking to provide common sense ideas for saving money while improving special education services to the more than 275,000 Ohio students with special needs.

Commentary
12.21.2011
Advanced Education

Unsolved problems—and signs of hope—as 2012 dawns

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

The central problem besetting K-12 education in the United States today is still—as for almost thirty years now—that far too few of our kids are learning nearly enough for their own or the nation’s good. And the gains we’ve made, though well worth making, have been meager (and largely confined to math), are trumped by gains in other countries, and evaporate by the end of high school.

Report
12.7.2011
Accountability & Testing

Fwd: How Are Dayton's Charter Schools Doing?

Terry Ryan

The second edition of Fwd: Arresting Insights in Education summarizes Ohio state report card data for Dayton's district and charter public schools. Despite some recent gains, the phrase academic emergency continues to characterize the majority of Dayton's public schools. Also, youngsters in Dayton's charter schools outperformed their district peers on the 4th and 6th grade proficiency tests -- a finding that flies in the face of recent assertions that charter school students are learning less.

Report
8.29.2011
Accountability & Testing

The Common Core and the Future of Student Assessment in Ohio

Kathleen Porter-Magee, Jamie Davies O'Leary, Emmy L. Partin

Ohio adopted the Common Core standards in ELA and math in June 2010, but now stands at a crossroad in making sure statewide assessments are aligned to those standards. Ohio is a participating member in two federally funded assessment consortia—the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) and the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC)--but is a decision-maker in neither. This primer outlines both consortia and suggests that Ohio make a decision soon to begin the massive reboot required to realign assessments, professional development, and accountability systems to match the Common Core.

Report
8.24.2011
Accountability & Testing

2010-11 Ohio Report Card Analysis

Emmy L. Partin, Terry Ryan, Bianca Speranza

Each year, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute conducts an analysis of student achievement in Ohio's Big 8 urban districts and charter schools. 2010-2011's analysis looks at performance, growth (as measured by value-added), growth over time, comparisons between students in district schools, charters (and charters by type and authorizer type), e-schools, and more.

Report
3.25.2010
Accountability & Testing, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Needles in a Haystack

Quentin Suffren, Theodore J. Wallace

Despite the overall dismal performance of schools serving Ohio's poor, urban youngsters, there are a handful of schools that buck these bleak trends and achieve significant results for their students. This report examines eight of these schools.