- On the hunt for timely lesson plans? The April issue of Ohio Schools, the OEA’s monthly newsletter, recommends lessons on unionism, but the Buckeye Institute’s write-up is more than a little skeptical of using the classroom to enlist student support for the labor movement.
- The latest contribution to research on what works in the classroom comes from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Victor Lavy. In his paper What Makes an Effective Teacher? Quasi-Experimental Evidence, Lavy finds that Israeli students receive striking benefits from both “traditional” (knowledge-focused) and “modern” (analysis-focused) teaching styles, and opines that the two styles be specifically targeted to particular types of students for the greatest gains in achievement.
- Ever wonder how Governor Kasich’s school funding budget stacks up against proposals in other states? Bruce Baker of School Finance 101 takes on the question, comparing Kasich’s budget with Andrew Cuomo’s (New York) and Tom Corbett’s (Pennsylvania) and concludes that the Ohio governor’s cuts, though at first glance progressive, will be regressive (i.e. the neediest districts get hit the hardest) in the long term.
- In response to the debate over the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of our nation’s ed schools, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has created a new site called “Transparency Central” to make public the curricula and requirements of teacher preparation programs across the nation. The site is part of NCTQ and US News and World Report’s larger project of evaluating these programs, a project that hasn’t exactly received rave reviews from teacher colleges.
- Forget mystery meat and vegetable mush. The New York Times reports that the prep school taste for academic distinction has carried over to the cafeteria at many New York private schools, where lunch menus include “turkey-and-ricotta piadina with arugula” and “oven-roasted rutabaga fries”, among other gourmet creations. In other news, Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Healthy-living initiative has recently brought professional chefs to several central Ohio schools in hopes of making healthy eating palatable and fun.
