Academic distress commissions just might be improving student achievement
Gallons of ink, some on this blog, have been spilled about what Ohio should do about academically troubled school districts.
Gallons of ink, some on this blog, have been spilled about what Ohio should do about academically troubled school districts.
Across the nation, headlines have trumpeted soaring high-school graduation rates. Ohio is no exception. Lofty rates leave the impression that the vast majority of students are ready to take their next steps in life. But the truth is that too many students exit high school not fully prepared for college and career.
According to a recent What Works Clearinghouse review, the most effective dropout-prevention strategy is to directly connect schoolwork to students’ career aspirations.
Ohio education policy has seen its fair share of controversy in recent years, but there are two policies in particular that have dominated news cycles: graduation requirements and academic distress commissions (ADCs).
Creating smart, coherent education policy is painstaking work; there are technical, budgetary, and political challenges at almost every turn. But it is some of the most important work that state leaders can undertake.
Today, approximately 340 public charter schools educate 105,000 Ohio students. Authored by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University, this report contains a rigorous analysis of the state’s charter schools using data from 2013-14 through 2016-17.
"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts." -- Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. That sentiment has never been more profound and applicable than it is today.
All students deserve equal access to an excellent K–12 education. The quality of their educational opportunities shouldn’t hinge on zip codes, family backgrounds, or the type of school they attend.
Automatic charter closure questioned
One of Ohio’s oldest public charter schools, Toledo School for the Arts (TSA) was forged from concerns about the state of arts education, especially performing arts and dance.
Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece that charged school district officials in various cities with attempting to stall the growth of school choice b
The 2017-18 school year saw our sponsorship portfolio grow from 4,100 students in 2016-17 to 4,800 students across five Ohio cities: Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Portsmouth. We're also honored to have been recognized by the National Association for Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) as part of NACSA's Quality Practice Project.
Since 2005, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute has published annual analyses of Ohio’s state report card data, focusing on district and charter schools in Ohio’s Big Eight urban areas: Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo, and Youngstown.
In August, the Ohio Department (ODE) of Education and the State Board of Education (SBOE) released their five-year strategic plan for education.
In Ohio today, approximately 250,000 students—rich and poor alike—are formally identified as gifted. These “high flyers” have tremendous potential to become the entrepreneurs, scientists, and engineers, as well as the civic and cultural leaders of the future.
2018 EdNext Poll shows increased support for charter schools
By Jessica Poiner
Governor Kasich signs HB 87 and SB 216 into law
You’ve probably heard by now that basketball superstar LeBron James opened a school for at-risk kids in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. Called I Promise School (IPS), it’s a joint effort between the I Promise Network, the LeBron James Family Foundation, and Akron Public Schools.
I recently wrote about some big changes that are coming for Ohio’s dropout prevention and recovery schools (DPRS), thanks to recent adjustments made by the State Board of Education. This piece examines the potential impacts of those changes.
At the most recent State Board of Education meeting, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) reported preliminary test results from the 2017–18 school year. The numbers still need to be verified by districts before they can be used to calculate report cards, which will include more detailed data and be disaggregated by subgroup.
No two charter public schools are alike and the guiding purpose of the Pathway to Success series is to highlight the breadth of quality options available to parents and students across Ohio.
With college tuition at an all-time high, Ohio families are increasingly interested in finding ways to save on costs. Dual credit is a promising solution because if offers students the chance to earn high school and college credits simultaneously. Ohio has a plethora of dual-credit options, but some are better known to families than others. Here is a quick overview of the offerings.
Over the past month, local newspapers across Ohio have blasted headlines such as “Local schools lost millions to ECOT” and “Study: Now-defunct ECOT siphoned $2.6 million from
A-to-F school rating systems have come under fire in Ohio and remain a hotly debated topic elsewhere.
State report cards are a hot topic in Ohio, but most of the attention has been focused on the system used for traditional district and charter schools. Many Ohioans are unaware that state law requires the State Board of Education to have a separate report card system for dropout prevention and recovery charter schools (DPRS).
In a pattern now becoming all too familiar, the State Board of Education recently got spooked by the prospect of tougher standards and delayed action on lifting grade-promotion standards under the Third Grade Reading Guarantee for 2018–19.
If kicking the accountability can down the road were an Olympic sport, Ohio policymakers would win the gold medal. The latest example comes from the State Board of Education, which recently recommended that the state legislature again push back the overall A–F rating to fall 2019.
In a recent analysis of the Academic Distress Commission (ADC) system currently in place in Youngstown City Schools, my colleague Jessica Poiner shows significant deviations from the six habits<
NOTE: The Education and Career Readiness Committee of the Ohio House of Representatives today heard testimony on HB 591, a proposal that would make changes to Ohio’s school report cards. Fordham’s Chad Aldis was a witness at this hearing and these are his written remarks.