- Two years ago, I spent part of Presidents Day listening to Terry Ryan address the Columbus Education Commission. Yesterday, I spent part of Presidents Day listening to Chad appearing as a panelist on public radio’s Sound of Ideas program talking about the “new era” of testing in Ohio. (WCPN-FM, Cleveland)
- Chad is also quoted in this story from the Advocate, which is perceptive in noting that much of the charter law reform currently being proposed in Ohio is sponsor-centric. That is, putting the onus on sponsors to make sure their practices are of the highest order with the belief that that will improve schools…or at least spotlight the poor performers which can then be acted upon. (Newark Advocate)
- The Ohio Board of Regents released a report last week on teacher preparation programs in the state, tracing results from the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System back to the university program that prepared the educator. Some of the data is limited, but this is the third year such a report has been done and BOR folks think they’re seeing some important changes in teacher prep practices as a result. (Gongwer Ohio)
- Nice look at dual enrollment in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana: the means by which high school students can get college credit for courses taken while still in high school. There are a number of avenues in each state, but the availability and the processes vary greatly from high school to high school. Ohio is working on a pretty big expansion of dual enrollment access at the moment. (Cincinnati Enquirer)
- Ohio is also looking at the dual credit issue from the other side. For adults who dropped out of high school without a diploma or GED, a huge push is being made to find and recruit those individuals for a new program that would provide access to a technical certification or associates degree along with that missing high school diploma at the same time. Here’s a look at the version of the program gearing up in Stark, Summit, and Wayne counties. It is gratifying to read that the folks behind this “want it to be different than what they experienced the first time,” since the students already found the traditional K-12 system not conducive to their success. (Akron Beacon Journal)
- We end with an interesting story from here in Columbus. Columbus City Schools has a Global Academy for foreign language speakers. The building is bursting at the seams due to a continuing influx of immigrants to our city (welcome one and all!) as well as students’ preference to remain in the building with their friends/teachers even after their English skills have improved. They had to stop taking new students in December and now must reduce their student population to comply with state requirements. The proposed solution is as innovative as the academy program itself: not default assignment to their neighborhood schools but a preferred lottery process for every child who ranks in the two highest categories of English proficiencies. Hopefully the opportunity to choose the right fit will not only encourage the students to want to leave Global Academy but will also show their families that the district is more committed to choice than we all thought. (Columbus Dispatch)
