The spotlight has been shining brightly on the Cincinnati Public Schools' (CPS) reform efforts, including a segment January 15 on CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight that highlighted the changes at Withrow University High School.
The spotlight has been shining brightly on the Cincinnati Public Schools' (CPS) reform efforts, including a segment January 15 on CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight that highlighted the changes at Withrow University High School. CPS has embarked on real reform in its high schools and has school leaders and educators--including Withrow principal Sharon Johnson and her team--who are producing big results. The district's improving graduation rate is an example. At the same time, it must be said that the district's work is far from over:
With these handicaps, it is impressive that the district has posted such tangible achievements in its high schools, and these improvements are reflective of much hard work by administrators, principals, teachers, and students. It is also reflective of serious philanthropic investment by KnowledgeWorks, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and others who are dedicated to high-school reform in the Queen City.
However, the Cincinnati Public Schools cannot afford to rest and must now figure out how to expand its reforms and improvements throughout the entire K-12 system. (The district's recent move to replace the entire staff at long-failing Taft Elementary shows that CPS understands it will take more than incremental adjustments to bring about real success [see here].) The district must address large and persistent achievement gaps among younger students, while also managing tough fiscal and operational challenges. The task is great, but the district has early successes it can build on for the betterment of all students.
See also:
"How Cincinnati Turned Its Schools Around," by Joe Nathan, in January 9, 2007, Education Week.
Charter opponents often claim that charter schools in Ohio are unaccountable. But this claim is wrong and utterly indefensible. To see why, check out the PowerPoint presentation put together this month for charter-school board members and operators by the law firm Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur (see here). This presentation details in painful specificity Ohio's charter-school law, showing that Ohio's charter-school program is highly regulated and that charter schools are held accountable for their academic performance, business operations, and fiscal probity. In fact, Ohio's charter law is strong, even if it isn't perfect. What's less clear is whether all charter-school sponsors--the organizations responsible for ensuring charter school accountability-- are actually enforcing the charter law (see here).
Kenneth K. Wong, Francis X. Shen, Dorothea Anagnostopoulos, Stacey Rutledge
Georgetown University Press
2007
It seems like every state chief executive is a self-proclaimed "education governor," and now more and more mayors are getting into the education game. Just in time comes The Education Mayor: Improving America's Schools, an examination of mayoral control of urban schools through quantitative data and case studies of mayor-run districts across the country. The authors set out to learn the impact of mayoral control on student achievement and classroom practices, what school governance looks like when a mayor is at the helm, and what factors contribute to the success or failure of this school-governance structure. In the end, they make a pretty good case for marrying the schoolhouse and city hall, particularly that this move clarifies who is ultimately responsible for reform and results. But they warn that a host of factors play into whether this strategy sinks or swims.
Of particular interest to Buckeye State readers should be the sections pertaining to the Cleveland Municipal School District, which has been under mayoral control for about 10 years and where 70 percent of voters voiced their support of this governance structure in a 2002 referendum. Cleveland's mayor-led system is an anomaly in Ohio, making it difficult to evaluate the district's governance and administration compared to the state's other big urban districts. This book provides a look at Cleveland in the company of its peers across the country.
The Education Mayor has the empirical research and statistics jargon to satisfy wonkish types but those features don't detract from this comprehensive and compelling analysis. Buy the book here.
The Statehouse is bustling with activity as the legislature ramps up for 2008. A slew of bills are being debated in the education committees. One proposes doing away with paddling, a longstanding tradition in some schools. Another bill would ban teacher strikes and a third would curtail some teacher collective-bargaining rights.
Picket signs outside of schools might become a thing of the past. The Senate education committee is debating the merits of S.B. 264 that would prohibit teachers from striking. The legislation would require binding arbitration to settle collective bargaining disputes. Teachers would be treated like police, firefighters, and EMS workers, all of whom are prohibited from striking because the services they provide are far too important to go without during a work stoppage. This bill deserves serious debate. While strikes are not terribly common in Ohio, when they do occur they are incredibly disruptive to students, parents, and the entire educational process (see here and here).
A bill (H.B. 423) proposed by Representative Arlene Setzer would no longer allow collective bargaining in policies surrounding paying teachers wage-rate differentials, the length of the school's instructional year, and the length of the school's instructional day - all essential freedoms that should be determined at the school level. If passed, these decisions would be left up to the school administration and/or the school board.
And, misbehaving students will no longer be subject to in-school paddling (ouch!) if State Representatives Brian Williams and Jon Peterson have their way. These two don't always see eye-to-eye on educational issues but they are cosponsoring a bill (H.B. 406) to ban corporal punishment in all Ohio schools. (In the past two years, 17 Ohio school districts reported using corporal punishment.) The co-sponsors note that corporal punishment is used disproportionately among poor and minority students and those with special needs or disabilities. Passing this bill would make Ohio the 30th state in the nation to end corporal punishment in schools. But if this bill does not become law, students should think about wearing extra pairs of underwear to school when they fear a paddling, just like Gadfly used to do.
Charter opponents often claim that charter schools in Ohio are unaccountable. But this claim is wrong and utterly indefensible. To see why, check out the PowerPoint presentation put together this month for charter-school board members and operators by the law firm Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur (see here). This presentation details in painful specificity Ohio's charter-school law, showing that Ohio's charter-school program is highly regulated and that charter schools are held accountable for their academic performance, business operations, and fiscal probity. In fact, Ohio's charter law is strong, even if it isn't perfect. What's less clear is whether all charter-school sponsors--the organizations responsible for ensuring charter school accountability-- are actually enforcing the charter law (see here).
The spotlight has been shining brightly on the Cincinnati Public Schools' (CPS) reform efforts, including a segment January 15 on CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight that highlighted the changes at Withrow University High School. CPS has embarked on real reform in its high schools and has school leaders and educators--including Withrow principal Sharon Johnson and her team--who are producing big results. The district's improving graduation rate is an example. At the same time, it must be said that the district's work is far from over:
With these handicaps, it is impressive that the district has posted such tangible achievements in its high schools, and these improvements are reflective of much hard work by administrators, principals, teachers, and students. It is also reflective of serious philanthropic investment by KnowledgeWorks, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and others who are dedicated to high-school reform in the Queen City.
However, the Cincinnati Public Schools cannot afford to rest and must now figure out how to expand its reforms and improvements throughout the entire K-12 system. (The district's recent move to replace the entire staff at long-failing Taft Elementary shows that CPS understands it will take more than incremental adjustments to bring about real success [see here].) The district must address large and persistent achievement gaps among younger students, while also managing tough fiscal and operational challenges. The task is great, but the district has early successes it can build on for the betterment of all students.
See also:
"How Cincinnati Turned Its Schools Around," by Joe Nathan, in January 9, 2007, Education Week.
