The Education Gadfly Weekly

Ohio's schoolchildren aren't being well served by the state's mediocre (or worse) learning expectations. That's just one of the findings of Fordham's The State of State Standards 2006, a new report which evaluates state academic standards. When the average state grade is a "C-minus", the same as six years earlier (Ohio earned a "D-plus" this go round), what is to be done? Go national. Another new report from Fordham, To Dream the Impossible Dream: Four Approaches to National Standards and Tests for America's Schools, brings together education policy leaders from across the political spectrum to flesh out and evaluate several forms that national standards and testing could take.

Didn't feel the passion of Labor Day? Not to worry. Just pick up the Ohio Education Association's (OEA) new handbook for collective bargainers--complete with the introduction "Prepare for Battle," a rousing call to arms by OEA's own Dr. Strangelove, researcher Patricia A. Turner.

Enlivening an otherwise mundane read, Ms. Turner declares, "Public education is under siege; losing the battle in Ohio is not an option because the stakes are too high!"  The OEA's "enemies" are many: school boards, charter schools, school voucher programs, high-stakes testing, merit pay schemes, and data-driven initiatives.

Luckily, she outlines seven keys to victory including such maxims as "keep the faith," "remain hopeful," and "understand fear." Bargainers are also warned to ignore the weaknesses in public schools because, after all, there are only "good schools and great schools." In fact, critical thinking is discouraged altogether as Turner cautions, "A healthy mind is one that is not wondering or wandering."

Absent from the handbook is what exactly OEA bargainers should be fighting for--except perhaps that public education "should not be expected to meet the huge number of goals expected in today's society." 

This handbook for "victory" begins with its own admission of defeat.

At first glance, young Americans' college prospects seem bright. Four in five high-school students expect to complete a college degree, and most parents are behind them, with six out of 10 agreeing a college education is "absolutely necessary" for their child. Sadly, only one-third of all high school students will actually earn a college degree. 

So says this policy brief from the Education Commission of the States (ECS), which examines the gap between students' academic expectations and the realities they face. Bottom line, students are more optimistic about their futures than they probably should be. Several issues complicate their efforts to secure a college degree. For one, students and parents are misinformed about what it takes to prepare for college. Fewer than 12 percent of high-schoolers even know what courses they should take (another reason to support the Ohio Core).

Students whose parents did not go to college are at a particular disadvantage. Just 19 percent were found to be "very qualified" to enroll in a four-year college, compared to 31 percent of students whose parents had completed some college.

In response, ECS recommends that high school students and parents set clear goals, choose challenging high school courses, and learn more about colleges' expectations-all of which will raise students' chances of future success in college. The commission also calls for states to make college more affordable and to require that schools provide parents with annual updates of their children's college readiness.

Though the brief contains little new information, it's an important reminder that while pluralities of parents and students are realizing the "why" of earning a college degree, there are miles to go in learning the "how."

Read the commission's brief here.

With elementary and secondary students back at school, attention is turning to the state's youngest pupils. The School Readiness Solutions Group, formed at the behest of the State Board of Education, recently released its recommendations for improving early learning services for Ohio's children aged birth to five.

Each year, almost one-third of the state's 130,000 children entering kindergarten come unprepared to succeed in school. Often, they require intensive remediation or special intervention services, and several thousand are required to repeat kindergarten altogether. The gap between achievers and non-achievers in kindergarten is notoriously difficult to close as students progress through the school system.

Within the report's pages are some valuable recommendations: requiring early learning providers to meet stricter licensing regulations; developing a comprehensive accountability system for providers, including a rating system for early learning programs; requiring teachers to possess at least a bachelor's or associates degree in early childhood learning; and compelling Ohio's school districts to offer full-day kindergarten (though not until 2015).

But the underlying premise of this report--that state-funded early learning services should be offered to all of Ohio's children--lands far from the mark.

While universal access to early learning services for Ohio's youngsters is a laudable goal, it's hardly a practicable solution. For one, the funding component of the plan is more vagary than reality--especially considering Ohio's present budget troubles. The state's K-12 funding system is a shambles, evidenced by four state Supreme Court decisions. And like punch-drunk fighters, school districts across Ohio continue to mount levy campaigns in spite of taxpayer fatigue and repeated rejection. (Just 29 percent of school levy and tax proposals on the August 6 special election ballot were successful.)

The additional curricular and staff requirements required to ensure quality early learning would further exacerbate the problem. Though K-12 costs are not directly comparable to early education costs--preschoolers don't need science labs or football coaches--it is reasonable to assume that early learning's smaller class sizes would make them more expensive, per pupil, than Ohio's K-12 schools. Teacher ratios in early learning classrooms run from a low of 1:5 for infants to 1:14 for most preschoolers. And tuitions of $8000 or more at high-quality private preschool programs suggest that Ohio would need to spend more than the $5400 per pupil currently allotted for K-12 education.

This is not to say that young children should not or cannot have access to high quality early learning services. But the goal of such a program--to eliminate the achievement gap--should be focused on those who need it most: children at risk because they're economically disadvantaged or are living in historically poor performing school districts.

A smaller, targeted program would be easier to manage fiscally and allow for more creativity. For example, in light of current education finance woes, per-pupil funding might be eschewed in favor of state grants made to qualified providers with a proven track record of success. The program could be expanded over time, in part by reallocating elementary remediation and intervention dollars no longer needed--a benefit of catching students early. Thus growth would be both measured and sustainable, and quality easier to monitor.

While the Solutions Group should be commended for its hard work and ambition, Ohio's youngest pupils need a solution that is both imaginative and viable.

"A Familiar Ohio Story," Editorial, Akron Beacon Journal, September 3, 2006.

"This is Important?" Editorial, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 1, 2006.

"Early Learning Called Crucial," by Catherine Candisky, The Columbus Dispatch, August 26, 2006.

Download the School Readiness Solutions Group report here.

Ohio's schoolchildren aren't being well served by the state's mediocre (or worse) learning expectations. That's just one of the findings of Fordham's The State of State Standards 2006, a new report which evaluates state academic standards. When the average state grade is a "C-minus", the same as six years earlier (Ohio earned a "D-plus" this go round), what is to be done? Go national. Another new report from Fordham, To Dream the Impossible Dream: Four Approaches to National Standards and Tests for America's Schools, brings together education policy leaders from across the political spectrum to flesh out and evaluate several forms that national standards and testing could take.