A statistic from a Fordham study regarding charter school attendance is referenced in this piece looking at education in central Ohio over the last 25 years, including both K-12 and higher ed. Nope. Me neither. (Columbus CEO, 10/9/17)
Most American teenagers plan to head off to college after high school. In my organization’s recent survey of over 2,000 U.S.
In the wake of ECOT’s assertion that it will have to close its doors in January if the clawback of funds by the state continues as planned, the Dispatch wondered what might happen to said clawback if those metaphorical doors – and the funding spigot – did indeed close.
Not much to report today; which is probably fine. The hour-long panel discussion of Lorain’s journey into (and hopefully out of) Academic Distress recorded last week finally aired yesterday on Cleveland public radio’s Sound of Ideas program. Worth a listen.
Another outcome of the report card data this year is that three school districts are another step closer to falling into Academic Distress classification due to two years of bad grades.
I have said it before, but it bears repeating: the reach of Aaron Churchill knows no geographic bounds. Here he is commenting on standardized testing in a Pennsylvania news outlet.
State supe Paolo DeMaria and veteran analyst Howard Fleeter were featured presenters at this week’s meeting of the House Speaker's Taskforce on Education and Poverty.
I was remiss in not clipping this piece from the massive “CBus Next” education package in the Dispatch last week. It is about “the future of education” and talks a lot about technology – robots, combining science with art and history classes, virtual reality, etc.
Two separate stories; a similar theme. That theme is the correlation between test scores and race/income as reflected in state report card data. First up, Aaron is quoted on that topic in the Dispatch.
More on state report cards to start the day. To wit: at least one state legislator is very very unhappy about state report cards, for reasons which are barely articulated in this piece. He’s got some support among the usual statewide public media interviewee pool.
The folks at the Mansfield News Journal were curious as to how the district’s Malabar Middle School earned As on their progress grades (across the board, nice!) while still getting D and F grades in areas of achievement.
A little more on school report cards this morning if you can handle it. First up, Jeremy Kelley took a look at charter schools’ performance in the Dayton area as compared to each other and to local districts. Our own Aaron Churchill is there to help.
In case you missed it, state report card data were released yesterday. Among the things we were looking at: the new two-year value added ratings, charter/district school comparisons, and how schools with large concentrations of poor students fared in serving them.
Editors in Columbus today opined in sunny approval of KIPP: Columbus (and a seemingly random list of a few other local charter schools). Nice. (Columbus Dispatch, 9/13/17)
The D took a look at some new national stats on chronic absenteeism and compared them with central Ohio districts. Some not-so-rosy findings, it seems. (Columbus Dispatch, 9/10/17)
ECOT’s proposal to convert to a dropout recovery school has drawn predictable reaction (using words like “maneuver” and “switch”) especially in terms of the differences in accountability frameworks between general ed charters and dropout recoveries.
Fordham is namechecked in this story about charter school sponsorship in Cleveland. But in a good way.
Tis the season, apparently, for reinvention in Ohio’s charter school sector. One such reinvention has made big news (you know the one I’m talking about), but another has occurred under the radar until now.
Some dude was busted last week for receiving and selling public transit bus passes stolen from Columbus City Schools and intended for students in lieu of yellow bus transportation.
ECOT’s transformation from general online school to dropout recovery school drew some additional ink this week. First up, the Dispatch suggests this is an effort by the school to avoid certain areas of accountability.
Fordham is namechecked in this story noting the first day of school in Columbus. Specifically, the crack journalists at Columbus’s Fox affiliate discussed the new lowered graduation requirements for this year’s seniors.
Lots of folks in the Dayton area seem to be angst-ing over ongoing expansion of the EdChoice Scholarship program to give vouchers to more students from low-income families each year. Even the comments section is more lively than usual for the DDN.
Research continues to point to the correlation between socioeconomic status and educational outcomes. Three new initiatives in the Buckeye State are cause for cautious optimism that old methods of addressing poverty may be giving way to innovation and new promise, especially for our youngest citizens.
Fordham’s Chad Aldis is quoted as saying that online schools are “not going away” in this piece from earlier in the week in which Columbus editors opine in support of Auditor Yost’s (…) recent guidance regarding charter school funding claw backs. (Columbus Dispatch, 8/17/17)
Our own Chad Aldis, an expert in charter school policy if the press it to be believed, is quoted in this new piece regarding pending legislation designed to “return” money clawed back from charter schools to the district schools from which it was “taken”.
July and August might otherwise be sleepy months best reserved for recovering from Ohio’s biennial budget process, lounging beachside, and avoiding one’s smartphone and computer. The downtime also creates space to reflect.
As all my loyal Gadfly Bites subscribers know, your humble clips compiler is consistent in believing that, aside from you, very few others take this little news clips lark seriously (and that both of you should probably find additional hobbies; just sayin’).
In case you missed it, State Auditor Dave Yost (…) issued some guidance this week. What’s the big deal, I hear you ask. Doesn’t he do that literally every week? Well, probably.
But we do. Really.
Somewhere between the right and the left – between the un-nuanced mantras of personal responsibility and big government – lie most of the problems related to poverty, as well as most of the solutions. So said Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance in his opening remarks at a Columbus Metropolitan Club event in Columbus last week.
