Commentary
Teachers & School Leaders
The impact of phonics instruction in England
Back at the turn of the millennium, we at Fordham published a paper that urged a stronger focus on phonics.
Topics
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 5/18/18 - Go Mercenaries!
In case you missed it, Chad Aldis published an op-ed on Ohio’s graduation requirements in the ABJ this week. Why the ABJ?
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 5/16/18 -- "Two steps backward and one step forward"; or "Shameless"
News was a little scarce out of this week’s meeting of the state board of education, but here’s what we’ve got.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 5/14/18 - How many strong options are there, Supe?
The tiny Sandusky school district in northern Ohio is home to a new(ish) charter school within its borders, and at least one person seems pretty steamed. Unfortunately, that person is the one writing about it in the Register.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 5/11/18 - Epic Bites
We start today with two awesome student stories. They are both a little off the beaten path for Gadfly Bites, but were too great to pass up. The first one comes from the sports page: Cin’Quan Haney just graduated from The Ohio State University with a degree in physics and is headed to a great job and what seems to be a very bright future indeed.
Commentary
Accountability & Testing
Why Ohio should stick with A–F school grades
The debate around Ohio’s school report cards continues to simmer. An outspoken critic since last year’s report card release, Representative Mike Duffey recently unveiled House Bill 591.
Commentary
Teachers & School Leaders
Teacher appreciation
NOTE: In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, Fordham Ohio staffers will be blogging about teachers, principals, and guidance counselors who made a positive difference in their schooling and in their lives. This is the third post.
Commentary
Teachers & School Leaders
Small town, great expectations
NOTE: In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, Fordham Ohio staffers will be blogging about teachers, principals, and guidance counselors who made a positive difference in their schooling and in their lives. This is the second post.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 5/9/18 - Probably wise to leave the cowboys out of it this time
Chad’s recent blog comparing the education reform paths taken by Florida and Ohio through the lens of NAEP scores became news this week in Cincinnati. Justifiably so, given its quality and depth.
Commentary
Teachers & School Leaders
One of the teachers who changed my life
NOTE: In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, Fordham Ohio staffers will be blogging about teachers, principals, and guidance counselors who made a positive difference in their schooling and in their lives. This is the first post.
Commentary
Teachers & School Leaders
What’s with the fixation on educator certification in Lorain?
Last week, the Elyria Chronicle published a piece headlined “Another Lorain Schools hire lacks state certification.” The hire in question is Scott Dieter, who has been selected by CEO David Hardy to serve as the
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 5/7/18 - Not to worry
Chad Aldis is on hand to discuss the 2018 Ohio gubernatorial primary with The 74 in this piece. At least, an aspect or two of them.
Commentary
Governance
Six habits of highly effective turnarounds
Last month, Paymon Rouhanifard announced that he would be stepping down from his position as the superintendent of Camden Public Schools in New Jersey at the end of the school year. Though leadership changes are nothing new in urban districts like Camden, his decision is newsworthy because of the positive academic results he’s leaving behind.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 5/4/18 - First worst
The Beacon Journal’s editorial board opined following that story from earlier this week about Akron City Schools’ potential for a stratospheric jump in their graduation rate.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 5/2/18 - "Dreaming big"; well, dreaming
Before we start our clips today, I want to address the elephant in the room. Yes, tens of thousands of Ohio kids having been taking AIR tests online this week and no glitches have been reported. That’s right, not a single explosive story of log-in fails or authentication errors in any newspaper in Ohio. It was certainly huge news statewide last week when there was a glitch.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 4/30/18 - And by perfect, I mean a giant disaster
Data from Fordham’s new 2018 edition of Ohio Education by the Numbers is quoted in this piece which discusses a proposed moratorium on imposition of new Academic Distress Commissions in Ohio—no matter how low a district’s performance sinks.
Commentary
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 4/27/18 - But really, how coherent are they usually?
A weird and less-coherent-than-usual set of clips to end the week. First up, a middle school track meet was postponed this week after aggressive geese, protecting their nest on the infield near Lane 1, could not be moved.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 4/25/18 - It's your dime
We start today’s clips with some good news—and about the cutest, nerdiest sibling rivalry video you’re likely to see today.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 4/23/18—Very confident
Regular Ohio Gadfly readers will already be aware of the education positions of the various gubernatorial candidates here in Ohio. But the Dispatch went right to the sources for the info instead of scouring papers like we had to and got some more thorough details by doing so.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 4/20/18 - This craze for "steam power" will never last
In case you missed it, panic ensued in schools newsrooms across the state on Wednesday when a glitch in the AIR login process required rescheduling tests in a number of school districts. Things were back to normal on Thursday; at least at the schools.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 4/18/18 - There's no business like shoe business
Can you stand hearing more about A-to-F grading for Ohio’s schools? Me too! This piece posits two factions competing to redesign report cards before the overall A-to-F grading of schools and districts is implemented. One is the General Assembly via HB 591. The other is the State Board of Education via a lot of review panels.
Commentary
Commentary
Governance
John Kasich’s education legacy
John Kasich is wrapping up his second term as Governor of Ohio and likely his career in public service. In a moment of reflection, he recently quipped, “I've tried to change two institutions during my career. One is the Pentagon and the other is the education system.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 4/16/18 – Do they matter or don’t they?
As you may recall from last Wednesday’s Bites, there is was a new bill introduced in the House that proposes to sweep most current aspects of school report cards right out the door in favor of a “dashboard” type rating system instead, and I use the term “system” loosely. Judging from this Gongwer piece, the multi-headed hydra known as BASAOASBOOSBA—a.k.a.
Commentary
Governance
Ohio’s Democrat candidates for governor weigh in on education
In case you missed the memo, early voting for the May 8 Ohio gubernatorial primary started this week.
Commentary
Governance
Ohio’s Republican candidates for governor weigh in on education
In case you missed the memo, early voting for the May 8 Ohio gubernatorial primary started last week.
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 4/13/18 - The high cost
We start today with more discussion of Ohio’s NAEP results, including perspective from Chad Aldis. (Dayton Daily News, 4/12/18)
Commentary
Governance
Gadfly Bites 4/11/18 – “We are working with a change agent.”
The Plain Dealer was quick out of the gate with coverage of Ohio’s NAEP data, including a quote or two from Fordham’s Chad Aldis putting the new numbers into perspective. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 4/10/18)
Commentary
Accountability & Testing
Fordham Institute media statement on Ohio’s 2017 NAEP results
Today, the U.S. Department of Education released results from the 2017 round of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Given every two years, this assessment is administered in all 50 states to a random sample of fourth and eighth grade students in reading and math.