Reports

Displaying 91-120 of 129 results
Report
5.16.2013
Accountability & Testing, Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Half empty or half full: Superintendents' views on Ohio's education reforms

Steve Farkas, Ann Duffett

This report is based on the responses to an online survey conducted in Spring 2013 with 344 school district superintendents in Ohio. The survey covered seven education policies, specifically: Common Core State Standards, teacher evaluations, the Third Grade Reading Guarantee, open enrollment, A-to-F ratings for schools and districts, individualized learning (blended learning and credit flexibility), and school choice (charter schools and vouchers). It also included several questions on general attitudes towards school reform in Ohio and two trend items. Download today to discover the key findings!

Report
5.8.2013
Evidence-Based Learning, School Finance, Governance

Limitless: Education, The Reynoldsburg Way

Terry Ryan, Ellen Belcher

The Reynoldsburg City School District, just east of Columbus, is far down the “portfolio management” path – further than probably any suburban school district of its size. This feature article discusses portfolio management and takes readers behind the scenes in Reynoldsburg.

Report
1.9.2013
Accountability & Testing, Advanced Education

Needles in a Haystack

Peter Meyer

Profiles of six public high schools that serve poor and minority students to high levels of excellence.

Report
12.19.2012
Accountability & Testing, Charter Schools, Standards

2011-12 Ohio Report Card Analysis

Aaron Churchill

Our annual analysis of school performance in our home state's major urban areas, plus a projection of proficiency rates when the PARCC exams arrive in 2014-15.

Report
11.13.2012
Accountability & Testing, Charter Schools, Teachers & School Leaders

Moving Up: Fordham's 2011-12 Sponsorship Accountability Report

"Moving Up" is The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation's charter school sponsorship accountability report for 2011-12. Through it, we hope to help readers understand the complexities of charter schools and better appreciate the hard work of the teachers, school leaders, and board members who serve not only the schools we sponsor but also the schools around the state and nation that are working to make a difference in the lives of children. This year's report features an in-depth look at the struggles of two Fordham-sponsored schools in Dayton; it is researched and written by former Dayton Daily News reporter and editor Ellen Belcher.

Report
11.7.2012
Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools

Student Nomads: Mobility in Ohio's Schools

Our data show that students frequently change schools. Should public policies try to slow student mobility? Encourage it? Or make policies better attuned to it?

Report
9.4.2012
Accountability & Testing, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Applying Systems Thinking to Improve Special Education in Ohio

Nathan Levenson

This paper uses systems thinking to provide common sense ideas for saving money while improving special education services to the more than 275,000 Ohio students with special needs.

Report
5.18.2012
Standards, Teachers & School Leaders

Future Shock: Early Common Core implementation lessons from Ohio

With the 2014-15 Common-Core transition looming, we wondered: How are Ohio’s educators preparing themselves for this big change? Who is doing this work and what can other schools and districts learn from the early adopters? What are lessons, hopes, and fears facing those on the frontlines who have to lead Ohio’s embrace of significantly more rigorous academic standards?

Report
12.7.2011
Governance

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.

Report
12.7.2011
Accountability & Testing

Fwd: How Are Dayton's Charter Schools Doing?

Terry Ryan

The 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.

Report
11.22.2011
Charter Schools

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Fordham's 2010-11 Sponsorship Accountability Report

Terry Ryan

The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation is pleased to share its latest annual Sponsorship Accountability Report, Two Steps Forward, One Step Back. The sixth of its kind, the report reflects on Ohio??s charter school policy environment and the performance of Fordham sponsored charter schools ??? in terms of absolute achievement, growth, and adherence to goals set forth in our authorizing contract ??? as well as developments in state law over the year. Despite some tough battles during the state budget as it relates to holding authorizers (and operators) accountable, overall Fordham and its schools had an encouraging year, with Fordham sponsored-charters making achievement gains and positioning themselves to do even better in the future.

Report
10.21.2011
Charter Schools

Ohio's Education Reform Challenges: Lessons from the Frontlines

Mike Lafferty, Chester E. Finn, Jr., Terry Ryan

Fordham has been both an advocate of choice and an authorizer of charter schools serving some of Ohio's neediest students. This book describes and analyzes our efforts, successes and failures, and what we think it means for others committed to school reform.

Report
8.29.2011
Accountability & Testing

The Common Core and the Future of Student Assessment in Ohio

Kathleen Porter-Magee, Jamie Davies O'Leary, Emmy L. Partin

Ohio 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.

Report
8.24.2011
Accountability & Testing

2010-11 Ohio Report Card Analysis

Emmy L. Partin, Terry Ryan, Bianca Speranza

Each 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.

Report
3.3.2011
School Finance, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Yearning to Break Free

Steve Farkas, Ann Duffett

Statewide 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.

Report
3.25.2010
Accountability & Testing, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Needles in a Haystack

Quentin Suffren, Theodore J. Wallace

Despite 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.

Report
8.24.2009
Charter Schools

2008-09 Ohio Report Card Analysis

Emmy L. Partin, Terry Ryan

Each year the Thomas B. Fordham Institute conducts an analysis of urban school performance in Ohio. Read the findings for Ohio's Big 8 schools for the 2008-09 school year.

Report
6.15.2009
Teachers & School Leaders

Losing Ohio's Future

Steve Farkas, Ann Duffett

The 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.

Report
2.17.2009
School Finance

Ohio at the Crossroads: School funding—more of the same or changing the model?

Paul T. Hill

Ohio 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.

Report
11.15.2008
Accountability & Testing, Charter Schools

2007-08 Ohio Report Card Analysis

Emmy L. Partin, Terry Ryan

The Thomas B. Fordham Institute, in partnership with Public Impact, analyzed the 2007-08 academic performance data for charter and district schools in Ohio's eight largest urban cities.

Report
9.15.2008
School Finance, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Accelerating Student Learning in Ohio

Emmy L. Partin, Terry Ryan

As 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.

Report
8.25.2008
Accountability & Testing

Ohio Value-Added Primer

Beginning in August 2008, Ohio's academic accountability system includes a value-added component that measures student academic progress in addition to achievement. Fordham created this short primer on value-added to help business people, lawmakers, policymakers, and others understand this powerful but complex tool.

Report
11.28.2007
Accountability & Testing, Charter Schools

Thomas B. Fordham Foundation Sponsorship Accountability Report 2007

Sheila Byrd Carmichael, Carol Jago, Lucien Ellington, Paul Gross, Sheldon Stern

For information on Fordham's unique role as a charter school sponsor in Ohio, there's no better source than The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation Sponsorship Accountability Report 2006-07. The report offers a comprehensive account of Fordham's sponsorship policies and practices-as well as individual profiles of all Fordham-sponsored schools. Included in the profiles are descriptions of each school's educational program, school philosophy, and overall academic performance.

Report
8.15.2007
Accountability & Testing, Charter Schools, Standards

2006-07 Ohio Report Cards

Emmy L. Partin, Terry Ryan

Despite a decade of significant school reform efforts in Ohio, students in the state's largest cities still struggle mightily to meet basic academic standards and are nowhere close to achieving the goals set by the federal No Child Left Behind law, according to an analysis of the latest Ohio school report-card data.

Report
6.7.2007
School Finance, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Golden Peaks and Perilous Cliffs

Michael Podgursky

Despite 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.

Report
5.24.2007
Charter Schools, Governance, Private School Choice, Standards

Ohioans' Views on Education 2007

Steve Farkas

This 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.