Governance Options, a Reading Guarantee, and Much More

Fordham Ohio has been keeping busy with a number of different analyses looking at everything from school governance options, to why Ohio needs a reading guarantee. Did you know that Ohio currently has a reading guarantee, but that it has never been fully implemented? We explain the history of the reading guarantee and why we need to earnestly implement it. The team at Fordham Ohio also took a look at Ohio’s teacher evaluation reform efforts, as well as how voucher students are performing across the state compared to their traditional school peers.  

Working Smarter Together

Can we work smarter together? That was the question on people’s minds at a forum last month sponsored by Fordham, the Nord Family Foundation, Ohio Grantmakers Forum, ESC of Central Ohio, Ohio Education Matters, and Public Performance Partners. The event, Working Smarter Together: Enhancing savings and performance for local schools and governments, featured several keynote speakers (including Auditor of State Dave Yost), and a panel discussion about real-world examples of efficiency and cooperation in local government. To find out more about this important and timely issue and view footage from the event click here.

2010-11 Report Card Analysis Summary

Ohio recently released its annual report data detailing how schools and districts around the state performed. As in years past the team at Fordham Ohio released a quick turn-around analysis on Big 8 charters and traditional schools. However, this year Fordham Ohio decided to dive deeper into the data and stagger various analyses day-by-day on the blog. Several interesting findings emerged from the data. They can be checked out in their entirety here.

Common Core Primer

In June 2010 Ohio committed itself to adopting the Common Core standards in math and English language arts (ELA). In an attempt to ensure that these new standards are complemented with rigorous training for current and future teachers, and that the curriculum is aligned at the local level, states must choose from two different consortia who are working with states during the transition process. States must either choose from the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) or the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC). Some state have already chosen one, Ohio has not. A recent primer produced by Kathleen Porter-Magee, Jamie Davies O’Leary and Emmy Partin outlines the characteristics of SBAC and PARCC and raises implementation concerns for Ohio as it moves forward with this decision.

2010-11 Ohio Report Card Analysis

The Ohio Department of Education recently released their performance data about the state’s public schools performance. As in previous years Fordham, released a quick-turnaround, city-by city analyses of Ohio’s Big 8 urban school districts. The reports can be viewed here. With the help of Public Impact we will be releasing more in depth analyses the next couple of weeks. In the meantime read about our take on Dayton’s achievement trajectory and a look at value-added data. Stay tuned to Flypaper for more to come.

After the Budget- What Next?

Revised considerably by the General Assembly, Governor Kasich’s budget plan (House Bill 153), a 5,000-page document that both funded the Buckeye State through fiscal year 2013 and included dozens of education-policy changes, was signed into law on June 30. The Ohio House and Senate were also engaged during the spring in passing other legislation that impacts schools. It’s time to take stock. To what extent have Ohio’s leaders met the challenges and opportunities before them in K-12 education? What needs to happen next? Fordham reflects on these questions - and offers recommendations and cautions as the state implements recently passed reforms - in its post-budget analysis, After the Budget, What Next? Ohio's Education Policy Priorities.

Ohio's biennial budget sets the conditions for education success

Ohio's FY 2012-13 budget has been passed and signed, and is chock full of changes to K-12 education policy. What does this mean for the Buckeye State and its 1.9 million students? Read Fordham's response here. Hint: the devil is in the details and implementation and leadership from the State Board of Education, the next state superintendent, and the Ohio Department of Education will be crucial to uphold the intent behind many of the budget reforms.