- We’re back after a short break, and there’s a lot to talk about, so let’s get right to it. The board chair of Fordham-sponsored Dayton Leadership Academy penned a guest column in the Dayton Daily News last Friday, highlighting signs of success for DLA students buried deep in this year’s report card data. Nice. (Dayton Daily News)
- Fordham’s Chad Aldis is quoted in a story from yesterday’s Dispatch, looking at the lease deals under which Imagine charter schools occupy the buildings in which they operate. There’s probably some more info required to make sense out of these numbers. (Columbus Dispatch)
- I don’t want to argue causation, but just as soon as Gadfly Bites took its hiatus, a breakthrough occurred and the Reynoldsburg teachers strike ended. (ThisWeek News/Reynoldsburg News)
- The Big D took a look at the details of the new contract in Reynoldsburg – as far as they were known at the time – and tried to parse what this will mean for teachers (and students) for the next three years. (Columbus Dispatch)
- There are still a few issues to work out in Reynoldsburg as teachers return to the classroom. Today’s article addresses the issue of when and how much teachers will be paid for days worked just before and just after the strike. Hint: it’s complicated. (Columbus Dispatch)
- One concern that came to the fore before the end of the strike was that of student grades for the first grading period…which are anticipated to be lower than typical due to the absence of teachers for 1/3 of that grading period. The answer: “weighted grades”, blending first and second grading period scores. This, also, appears complicated. (Columbus Dispatch)
- The first round of this year’s third grade reading tests was conducted across the state last week. The PD took a look at changes to the testing procedures this year, which include a small increase in the cut score, and the impending arrival of PARCC-based tests replacing the OAA in the spring. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
- Speaking of the Third Grade Reading Guarantee, the brain trust behind KnowYourCharter.com want you (or someone) to know that last year’s third grade reading results of all the charter schools in Ohio combined are lower than those of all the district schools combined. Thanks for ruining the curve, Bay Village. Mariemont, I’m looking at you too. Don’t think I don’t see you, Centerville. (WOSU-FM, Columbus)
- Speaking of the burdens of testing, a new bill was introduced in the Ohio House last week which would limit the amount of testing to a flat four hours per Ohio student per year. Clearly there are widespread concerns about testing among parents, teachers, and pundits, but this time limit appears to be below even the amount of time currently spent on testing for many students so we’ll see how it fares in committee. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
- I swore I wasn’t going to write any more about the Columbus schools’ data scrubbing debacle, but this particular piece of fallout is interesting. The superintendent has determined that bonuses paid out to teachers and other staff based on fraudulent “school improvement” will need to be repaid to the district. And oddly enough, most folks feel this is fair, including the editorial staff of the Big D. (Columbus Dispatch)
