Gadfly Bites 4/22/20 – Distantly

1. In case you missed it, it was announced Monday on the World’s Worst Talk Show (a.k.a. The Acton/DeWine Hour, a.k.a. Tales From the Crypt) that Ohio’s school buildings will remain closed for the rest of the school year. Poof! 2019-20 up in smoke. (Cleveland.com, 4/20/20) Akron’s supe and a teacher/parent here give the explanation for why this is this right decision. (Akron Beacon Journal, 4/21/20) Remote learning, in its myriad forms, will have to continue through the end of the school year. But the superintendent of Whitehall City Schools here affirms: “Remote learning can’t replace the quality instruction that happens in a building under normal circumstances.” I don’t know what it means that this pronouncement is coming from him particularly (Whitehall was not exactly killing it academically in those aforementioned-and-seemingly-lost-to-the-mists-of-history normal circumstances if you know what I mean), but I’m sure dude is not alone in his assessment. (ThisWeek News, 4/21/20) “Now that we’re getting into the end of the year there are some concepts and learning standards that we have not taught that we need to really teach before these students matriculate onto the next grade,” said the superintendent of Brooklyn City Schools, which is getting ready to enter the Final Phase of its distance learning efforts. “Teachers have been great at identifying the most critical learning concepts in their class or their grade or their content area they need to teach in the fourth quarter. They’re going to really focus on those skills.” Distantly. (Cleveland.com, 4/22/20) While Brooklyn may be on its final phase, Toledo City Schools seems to be very slowly creeping up on the starting line for its first. After more than five weeks. (Toledo Blade, 4/21/20) But many teachers are less confident in the efficacy of distance learning in any form. The two teachers interviewed for this piece—from Cleveland Heights-University Heights City Schools—are already concerned over what next fall will look like for them and their students. (News5, Cleveland, 4/21/20) And speaking of the myriad forms of distance learning, here is a bit more detail on TV school, which started this week in both Cleveland and Cincinnati. (Spectrum News, 4/21/20)
   
   

2. An editorial from the ersatz Vindy helpfully identifies a new downside to remote learning for us, no matter how many Chromebooks get distributed: sucky parents. Ummm… Thanks guys. (Vindy.com, 4/21/20)
    
3. In Only-Slightly-Rona-Related News: The Ohio Department of Education found time out of its busy schedule yesterday (and probably for several work days prior to that) to petition the Ohio Supreme Court to dismiss a pending suit related to the delay of EdChoice expansion. They argue that the legislation is moot now that…well, you know. (Elyria Chronicle, 4/21/20)
    
4. The elected board of Lake Local Schools this week approved a roster of 261 students who have met the criteria to graduate this year. I was curious about what percentage of the senior class that is, but ODE reports that the district’s high school only had 79 seniors in it this year. If we add on the likely candidates to fill those remaining 182 slots (career tech students, fifth-year seniors, College Credit Plus students, credit recovery kids, and the like), I would guess it’s something like 420%. (Canton Repository, 4/20/20)
    
5. Speaking of the unfortunate Coronavirus Class Class of 2020, here’s an important story. Long before anyone could pronounce SARS-CoV 2, Lashawn Samuel decided that he was going to absolutely crush high school and become the first in his family to go to college. He has done so with years of hard work, limitless dedication, and a considerable amount of style. Lashawn was ultimately accepted at 12 colleges and received a lot of scholarship offers. He will be attending the Ohio State University in the fall, and I doubt that any old ‘rona’s gonna stop him. To whom does he give thanks for supporting him through it all? You guessed it, the folks at Columbus City Schools Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Homework Help team! And the words of Arthur Ashe. Awesome! (NBC4, Columbus, 4/17/20)
   

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