In March 2020, a group of researchers and economists led by Peter Q. Blair of Harvard University published a working paper exploring the idea that on-the-job skills acquisition could be just as valuable as a bachelor’s degree, or more, in helping workers move up the career ladder to higher-wage work.
It might seem far away, but the 2021–22 school year is just around the corner. In a few short months, students will be gearing up for summer break—and using that time wisely has never been more important. This fall will be similarly significant.
Charters and the incoming presidential administration
I won’t call them silver linings—waaaaaay too soon for that (thanks to my cousin for schooling me on that, painful as that conversation might have been)—but it seems like certain adaptations to the pandemic could benefit students far beyond 2020.
Approximately 85,000 Ohio students use interdistrict open enrollment to attend a neighboring school district.
The federal government continues its spending spree aimed at ameliorating the effects of the pandemic.
Elected school boards across Ohio are holding their organizational meetings in the early part of January, with varying levels of drama emanating from them and into the pages of the local news.
Most Ohioans likely didn’t notice the passage of House Bill 409 a few days prior to Christmas. That’s understandable, given the ongoing pandemic and the hustle and bustle of the holidays.
No students in Columbus City Schools have attended in-person learning since March of 2020. Sports have been on hold since mid-November.
NOTE: We’re back from the holiday break. Today’s special edition covers news from 12/19 – 12/31/20. This first regular edition of 2021 will be published tomorrow and will catch up on news from 1/1 – 1/8/21.
NOTE: This is our first regular Gadfly Bites edition for 2021, covering clips from 1/1 through 1/6/21. Huge thanks for reading and subscribing!
NOTE: We’re back with a catch up edition covering clips from 12/23 – 12/31/20. Hope you missed me! Wednesday’s edition will catch us up with clips from 2021 so far. Fingers crossed for sanity!
At this point, we’re all tired of hearing the word “unprecedented.” But clichés are clichés for a reason, and 2020 has certainly been an unprecedented year. Many of us would like nothing more than to leave this difficult year in the rearview mirror. Unfortunately, the events of 2020 seem likely to stretch into the new year.
Only a glutton for punishment would want a rehash of the biggest K–12 education stories of 2020. They are no secret—and frankly depressing: widespread school closures, predictions about massive learning losses, and students going M.I.A. from remote learning.
It’s that time of year again when we at Fordham are forced to ask ourselves, “What were they thinking?” The “they” in question is you, our readers and subscribers.
The Fordham Institute has built its reputation over the years on the strength of its commentary and research. We’ll leave the former for another blog, but given all of the newsworthy events, you may have missed one of our research studies released in 2020.
NOTE: This is the last edition of Gadfly Bites to be published in 2020. We’re back on January 4, 2021 with a wrap up of 2020 stories. Regular service for 2021 will resume on January 6. Thank you so much for reading and subscribing!
While there isn’t anything good—if you ask me (which, thankfully, no one ever does)—about the plan to induce school districts across the state to pay a bunch of lawyers to execute what will likely be a years-long court battle against school choice, the launch of the public induction effort to that en
NOTE: This is the last edition to be published this year. We’ll return with a final look at 2020 stories on Thursday, January 7, 2021; regular service for 2021 resumes on Friday, January 8.
We’ll start today with my favorite riddle (heard here many times before). When is a charter school not a charter school? When an Ohio newspaper wants to say something nice about them!
Peter Greene gets a twofer in swiping at standardized testing and Ohio’s
A new report from Portland State University sociologist Dara Shifrer digs into the value-added data of thousands of teachers who switched schools and concludes that value-added measures reflect the socio-economic status of students and thus cannot be used to accuratel
School funding has been front-and-center over the past month in Ohio with the high profile Cupp-Patterson plan driving media coverage.
Remember back before the pandemic when school districts were being overly cautious about the student wellness funding approved in the last biennial budget?
Fordham’s Chad Aldis was quoted on the importance of conducting state tests this school year.
It’s been a busy lame duck session in Ohio.
Preble Shawnee Local Schools failed to pass a levy in November, the latest in a long line of renewal failures over the last five years.
