Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 3/31/25—100 Day Dream School
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Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 3/28/25—I don’t write ‘em, I just compile ‘em
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Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 3/26/25—A tiny bit miraculous
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Commentary
Governance
Governor DeWine doubles down on cellphone bans in schools
Last spring, Governor DeWine used his state of the state address
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 3/24/25—Seeing the data and responding to the data are two different things
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Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 3/21/25—Data and words…but mostly data
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Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 3/19/25—Show your work, people
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Commentary
Governance
Comparing the mental health impacts of schools' restrictive and permissive cellphone policies
School systems across the country (and world) have been implementing limitations or outright bans on student smartphone use during the school day in an effort to improve the educational experience for young people. Improvements have been predicted along many dimensions: attention span, academic achievement, mental wellbeing, disciplinary referrals, and even absenteeism.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 3/17/25—Multiple topics
Bom dia, y'all! Gadfly Bites is back from vacation and our first catch up edition covers important clips from March 3 through March 14.
Commentary
School Finance, Governance
The cost of “updating inputs,” plus other notes on the state budget
Debate on the biennial state budget is in full swing, as Governor DeWine has unveiled his proposals and House lawmakers are now holding committee hearings. Through the amendment process, the chamber is expected to put forward its plan in April and send the legislation over to the Senate.
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, School Finance, Governance
Governor DeWine is right: Ohio must stop funding “empty desks”
School funding guarantees have been a much-discussed element of Governor DeWine’s proposed
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance
Here’s how to make Governor DeWine’s proposed career planning requirement work better for students
Last year, during his state of the state address, Governor DeWine called on the legislature to “make a very simple fix in statute to insert career planning into existing graduation plan requirements.” The
Report
Governance
Ohio Education By the Numbers—2025 Edition
The brand new and fully updated eighth edition of our Ohio education guidebook is out now. It offers policymakers, journalists, and civic and business leaders easy-to-use statistics—sans commentary—about Ohio’s K-12 schools and the students they serve.
Commentary
Governance
DeWine’s state budget overhauls Ohio’s absence intervention framework
Years after the resumption of “business as usual” schooling, chronic student absenteeism stubbornly remains higher than it was before the pandemic. The governor’s budget offers a new approach to tackle this persistent problem.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 3/3/25—Whack-a-Mole
Gadfly Bites is taking a vacation break for a bit. Back with you on Monday, March 17; hopefully rested, refreshed, and ready to rumble once again.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 2/28/25—Not enough learning leads to not enough earning
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Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 2/26/25—Pancakes, basketball, and agriscience
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Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 2/21/25—Blame game
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Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 2/19/25—The awesomeness of school choice
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Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 2/17/25—Fitting the description
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Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 2/14/25—Putting the “lord” in “landlord”
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Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 2/12/25—Please won’t you be my neighbor?
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Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 2/10/25—Cryptic little nugget
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Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 2/7/25—Headscratchers
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Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 2/5/25—Vigor
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Commentary
Governance
Two ways state leaders could lead the charge on chronic absenteeism
There’s no silver bullet for combating chronic absenteeism. Ohio has made some strides, but the needle hasn’t moved enough. We look at two simple, relatively inexpensive options from other states for Ohio leaders to consider.
Commentary
Governance
Findings on homeschool persistence can help researchers going forward
Conducting empirical research on homeschooling is complicated by two factors. One is the overall lack of longitudinal data on the topic—especially data not reported by survey or other voluntary means.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 2/3/25—The bulk
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Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 1/31/25—Take the necessary steps
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Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 1/29/25—No matter
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