Welcome to Common Core Watch!
Kathleen Porter-MageeEditor Kathleen Porter-Magee introduces Fordham's new center for commentary and analysis on standards, curriculum, and instruction: the Common Core Watch blog.
Common Core implementation: Let’s not lose the forest for the trees
Kathleen Porter-MageeLet's not gloss the challenges of transitioning to Common Core
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.
All Over the Map: Comparing States’ Expectations for Student Performance in Science
Michael IshimotoThe Proficiency Illusion, science edition
Fwd: How Are Dayton's Charter Schools Doing?
Terry RyanThe 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.
Schooling in the Workplace: How Six of the World’s Best Vocational Education Systems Prepare Young People for Jobs and Life
Laura JohnsonAmerica: Take notes
How about better parents? Ask Clarence Lee
Peter MeyerPeter Meyer reflects on Tom Friedman's column about parents and education.
Teacher Prep Falls Short
Terry RyanTo improve student learning in Ohio, and in other states, we need to improve the quality of our teaching force.
The Common Core and the Future of Student Assessment in Ohio
Kathleen Porter-Magee, Jamie Davies O'Leary, Emmy L. PartinOhio 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.
2010-11 Ohio Report Card Analysis
Emmy L. Partin, Terry Ryan, Bianca SperanzaEach 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.
After the Budget, What Next? Ohio's Education Policy Priorities
To what extent have Ohio's leaders met the challenges and opportunities before them in K-12 education? What needs to happen next?
Yearning to Break Free
Steve Farkas, Ann DuffettStatewide survey of Ohio school district superintendents (and other education leaders) on the most critical issues facing K-12 education in the Buckeye State, including budgets, school effectiveness, and troublesome laws.
Education Imperatives for Ohio: K-12 Policy Priorities for the New Biennium
Ohio Education GadflyIn this policy brief, Fordham gives its advice to Governor-elect Kasich and the incoming leaders of the Ohio House and Senate as it relates to the future of K-12 education policy in the Buckeye State.
Congratuations to Andy Boy!
Congratulations to Andrew Boy, the co-director and founder of Columbus Collegiate Academy, one of the six charter schools Fordham authorizes.
Needles in a Haystack
Quentin Suffren, Theodore J. WallaceDespite 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.
Ohio superintendent under fire for asking teachers to do lesson plans
Emmy L. PartinThe superintendent of Ohio's Twin Valley Community Local School District has come under fire in his first year on the job from the local teachers union for, among other grievances, trying to mak
Surprise, Surprise? Not in Ohio's NAEP reading results
The 2009 NAEP reading scores were released this morning with little fanfare for Ohio. There has been virtually no growth in the Buckeyes State's NAEP reading results, with only 36 percent of fourth graders and 37 percent of eighth graders in Ohio proficient or above in reading.
Bottom-up creation of new teacher evaluation systems unlikely in Ohio
Jamie Davies O'LearyBrookings' Brown Center on Education Policy just released a proposal for ???America's Teacher Corps,??? a federally funded program that would recognize highly effective teachers in Title I schools, award them a salary bonus ($10,000), and give them a ???portable credential???
Today's Ohio Education Gadfly: find out why Ohio might be a trailblazer in charter accountability
This week's edition kicks off with a great piece by Terry discussing the unprecedented move by the Ohio Department of Education to close a charter school sponsor (aka authorizer) for fiscal mismanagement.
The latest Ohio Education Gadfly ?????' who knew decreasing class size was so expensive?
It's no surprise that Ohio's economy is in crisis, but you might be amazed at the price tag for some of Gov. Strickland's new education mandates. Terry points out the implications of decreasing class size in grades K-3 alone (to 15:1), which will cost $784 million per year by 2014.
Teach For America's new book offers timely data on teacher effectiveness
Jamie Davies O'Leary???Teacher effectiveness??? has made its way to the top of the education policy agenda, supplanting the focus on ???highly qualified???
Did you Know: Cincinnati educators admit there are very poor performers in their ranks
Jamie Davies O'LearyThis week The New Teacher Project (TNTP) unveiled its Cincinnati-focused report on human capital reform.
Video now available from ???World-Class Academic Standards for Ohio'
Video is now available from our recent event, World-Class Academic Standards for Ohio, which was held October 5 in Columbus, Ohio.
Ohio's "Common Core" conundrum
Emmy L. PartinOhio is on board with the NGA/CCSSO Common Core State Standards Initiative, ostensibly agreeing to adopt 85 percent of the standards that result from the effort.????
Taking a stand for Rhee -- catering to "learning styles" can help students get engaged
Jamie Davies O'LearyA Core Knowledge blog this week criticizes the concept of "learning styles" and educators' acceptance of this "unquestioned dogma." Specifically under critique is Michelle Rhee, whose DC Public Schools
Ohio scraps social studies testing
Jamie Davies O'LearyOur friends at the State of Ohio Education blog rightly call Ohio's recent move to eliminate social studies tests in grades five and eight a "short-sighted decision," not just because a basic understanding of history, geography, civics, and current events is critical, but because Ohio students h
Sage policy advice from the Ohio Education Gadfly
Don't miss this week's special edition of the Ohio Education Gadfly! One year ago, the Fordham Institute released a report titled Accelerating Student Learning in Ohio.
Ohio at the Crossroads: School funding—more of the same or changing the model?
Paul T. HillOhio Governor Ted Strickland's education plan calls for modernizing Ohio's K-12 education system, including the state's school-funding system, but the plan's so-called "evidence-based" approach would actually scuttle any modernizing efforts, argues this study issued by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.