2007-08 Ohio Report Card Analysis
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.
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.
It's a cliché, perhaps, but one worth repeating. The real winners in Tuesday's election are the people of Ohio. An incredible number turned out to vote (rivaling the record set in 2004), and a clear majority delivered the state's electoral votes to U.S. Sen. Barack Obama.
If you can't beat ‘em, go around ‘em? That seems to be the latest Bush Administration strategy when it comes to No Child Left Behind. Having spent the better part of four years trying to persuade Congress to reauthorize the act to no avail, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has taken the matter into her own hands. How?
(A guest post from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute's Ohio Education Gadfly)
A post from guest blogger and Fordham Director of Ohio Policy and Research Suzannah Herrmann.
At its meeting this month, the State Board of Education's school funding subcommittee approved for dissemination a draft of Toward Recommendations for School Funding Reform in Ohio (see
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.
A post from guest blogger and Fordham writer and researcher??Emmy Partin.
Andrew J. RotherhamPhilanthropy Roundtable2008
Dr. Suzannah Herrmann will join the Thomas B. Fordham Institute as Director for Ohio Programs and Policy on Sept. 8.
Erin DillonEducation SectorAugust 2008
For the past five years, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute has been analyzing the academic performance of schools in our hometown of Dayton and in other Ohio cities.
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.
Can Gloria Estefan save Miami's schools? In case you haven't heard, despite its subtropical location, the Miami-Dade County school district isn't doing so hot.
What will be the impact of the next president on public education in Ohio? We'll know a lot more about their different plans a month from now after both parties have held their nominating conventions and unveiled their formal platforms.
This month the State Board of Education officially kicked off its search for the state's new superintendent of public instruction. The search is occurring amid continued uncertainty about the actual role and responsibilities of the superintendent if Gov. Strickland gets his way with the creation of a cabinet-level director of education.
There's so much going on this summer: high gasoline and other energy prices, a looming presidential election, the nation's (and in particular, Ohio's) continuing economic problems, and ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In education, Gov. Ted Strickland is gathering input and, likely, putting the final touches on his education-reform ideas.
Once known as the Mother of Presidents, the once-great state of Ohio is getting poorer, older and dumber--and making all the wrong moves to reverse the situation.
Here's an excerpt from a June 24 Gongwer report concerning a Center on Education Policy study showing Ohio's testing and accountability program is working. Terry Ryan, Fordham's Ohio vice president for programs and policy, spars with the Ohio Education Association over the issue of whether the state should hold schools and students accountable for academic results.
-- "[Statewide tests] may be crude, and they should never be the sole means of measuring students' academic abilities and progress. But the accountability they have brought to schools and the statistical guideposts they've established are undeniable benefits. Take, for instance, the reading and math achievement gap between minority and white students.
One might think that leaders of the Buckeye State who have at least one eye focused on education would be struggling to prepare tens of thousands more kids with the skills and knowledge that global competitiveness demands in the 21st century: math, science, engineering, history, languages, and writing as well as prowess in "creative" applications of such skills and knowledge.
In response to a June 4 Gadfly article about Ohio's proficiency standards, State Board of Education member Colleen Grady comments about board members' consideration of student proficiency testing:
Ohio is bracing for an exodus of baby boomers from classrooms as experts sound alarms about whether there will be enough teachers to staff our public schools.
A recent evaluation of proficiency standards asks how well states are doing at setting "world-class" academic expectations (see here). The answer: not great, unless you live in South Carolina, Massachusetts, Missouri, and maybe Hawaii.
Durham, North Carolina, allows its public-school students a variety of educational choices: pupils in the district have been free to apply for any open spot at any public school. But now, it seems, that wise policy may be changed.
The childhood obesity epidemic has lately been much in the news.
A post from guest blogger and Fordham Vice President for Ohio Programs & Policy Terry Ryan .
Terry posted earlier today on the pressure mounting on attorney general Marc Dann to quit office in light of recent scandals. He's just resigned.