All Over the Map: Comparing States’ Expectations for Student Performance in Science
Michael IshimotoThe Proficiency Illusion, science edition
Checked Out: Ohioans' Views on Education 2009
In partnership with the independent education journal Catalyst Ohio (see here), we resolved to find out, and enlisted the expert help of the nonpartisan FDR Group (see here), a respected survey research firm led by veteran public opinion analysts Steve Farkas and Ann Duffett. The result is Checked Out: Ohioans' Views on Education 2009. This is the third such survey that we at Fordham have undertaken since 2005 on education issues in the Buckeye State. This makes it possible to track some key trends in public opinion over time.
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.
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.
Losing Ohio's Future
Steve Farkas, Ann DuffettThe media is awash with stories about Ohio's brain drain: in 2007, the Buckeye State saw 6,981 more residents between the ages of 25 and 34 leave the state than migrate into it. What's worse, the more education these young people have, the more likely they are to leave. The Thomas B. Fordham Institute seeks to shed light on this important problem--and explore solutions--with this study by the Farkas Duffet Research Group.
Accelerating Student Learning in Ohio
Emmy L. Partin, Terry RyanAs Gov. Ted Strickland concludes his 12-city "Conversation on Education" tour to gather ideas for reforming public education in Ohio, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute has put forth a report of five recommendations designed to keep improvements in the Buckeye State's public schools on track toward three critical goals: 1) maximizing the talents of every child; 2) producing graduates as good as any in the world; and 3) closing the persistent academic gaps that continue between rich and poor, and black and white and brown.
Golden Peaks and Perilous Cliffs
Michael PodgurskyDespite its long history and prodigious size, all is not well with Ohio's teacher pension system. In this Fordham Institute report, nationally renowned economists Robert Costrell and Mike Podgursky illuminate some of the serious challenges facing STRS.
Ohioans' Views on Education 2007
Steve FarkasThis survey covers such topics as school quality and funding, academic standards, school reforms, proposals to improve how the public schools are run, teacher quality, charter schools and school vouchers. It follows up a survey conducted in 2005 and many of the questions are repeated, allowing us to gauge whether attitudes have shifted over time.
Halfway Out the Door
Steve Farkas, Ann DuffettWhat do ordinary Ohioans think about the myriad education reforms enacted in the Buckeye state over the last half-decade? How do parents, taxpayers, and citizens view public schooling in 2005? Do they like these reforms? Seek more or less of them? Have confidence that they'll succeed? Fordham decided to enlist veteran analysts Steve Farkas and Ann Duffett to examine the attitudes of Ohio residents toward their public schools. The results? Ohioans are frustrated with their K-12 education system on a number of fronts, and feel the state is in dire need of stronger, better leadership when it comes to education. Policymakers would do well to pay attention.
Having Their Say: The Views of Dayton-area Parents on Education
Chester E. Finn, Jr., Terry RyanMuch has changed in education in Dayton during the past two years. The remarkable election of a 'reform' majority to the Dayton school board, and the selection of a new superintendent. Passage of a huge levy for school-building construction and renewal. The arrival of the politics-governance Act and Ohio's Senate Bill 1. The dramatic growth of the charter-school sector and of controversy surrounding it. Some ferment on the high-school reform front. And much more. Thus, it seemed time to once again 'take the community's temperature' with respect to a wide array of K-12 education issues. Herewith are the results.
Traditional Schools, Progressive Schools: Do Parents Have a Choice?
Louis ChandlerLouis Chandler, professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, determines how widespread progressive and traditional practices are in public, Catholic, and independent schools in the fairly typical state of Ohio. This report the results of his survey of 336 elementary schools that was conducted in the Buckeye State early in 1999.