- As a sort of follow up to Monday’s story about lowered remediation rates among Ohio’s colleges over the last few years, here is a somewhat more dour look at dual credit programs. You know – those efforts to allow students to earn college credit while still enrolled in high school. It’s a national story – and a very long one at that – but it includes several references to Ohio’s College Credit Plus program and it includes several quotes from Fordham’s own Checker Finn, a man who knows a thing or two about unintended consequences. (Hechinger Report, 8/17/18)
- Elsewhere on the continuum of pre-post-secondary options, here’s a look at the Mobile Manufacturing Crew. It is an effort led by the Licking County Job and Family Services to bring manufacturing internships—and new knowledge about manufacturing careers—directly to teenagers. Nice. (Columbus Dispatch, 8/20/18)
- Sticking around in central Ohio for a moment, I thought that the task force currently in operation was supposed to be making recommendations to the Columbus City Schools’ board on their own regarding underutilized facilities. Perhaps I was wrong, because this week the district administration—led by interim supe John Stanford—provided THEIR potential plans to the task force. That will, I guess, make less work for the task force. One interesting piece here – as predicted, the district’s impulse purchase of the headquarters building of the entity formerly known as ECOT clearly threw a monkey wrench into everyone’s work. (Columbus Dispatch, 8/20/18) Speaking of which, interim supe Stanford is on the latest list of six folks recommended for the permanent top job. There is also some interesting detail in this piece about an impulse property sale the district seems ready to implement, but it seems less important somehow than the whole “new boss” discussion. (Columbus Dispatch, 8/21/18)
- Speaking of property – despite a previous vote of the Dayton school board to give blanket approval for future tax abatements for new developments in the Gem City in exchange for an upfront payment of 25 cents on the dollar, apparently not everything got settled at that time. The board this week voted to approve a post-vote MOU with the city to give them a little bit more cover/clarity on just how big that “blanket” should actually be. (Dayton Daily News, 8/22/18)
- More on the “technology vs. tradition” rap from the Dayton Daily News today, this time in regard to students cheating. As with Monday’s clip, some definition is required. “Cheating” in this case means everything from sharing notes to copying homework to outright plagiarism and specifically how all of that is facilitated by “new” technology. Personally, I like Trotwood-Madison supe Ty Olverson’s technology-neutral take on the issue, although I’m getting the idea that the DDN is more on the side of “tradition” in this manufactured debate. But I could be wrong. (Dayton Daily News, 8/20/18) Hard to tell where Perry Local Schools in suburban Canton falls on the argument: they are banning all cellphone use in class this year…because they have 1-to-1 computer access for everyone. (Canton Repository, 8/22/18) I think Reynoldsburg City Schools have decided to embrace the “technology” side of the debate. Having rejected, I imagine, town criers and Pony Express among other options, the district has turned to YouTube to inform families about the purpose and function of their various high school academies to district families. Kinda makes sense since many of them are STEM-related academies anyway. (ThisWeek News, 8/20/18)
- Today is the first day of school in Lorain. Yesterday was a preview day at nine schools. Here’s a look at how the day went in several elementary schools. Some interesting tidbits regarding changes afoot in the ADC-managed district sneak in amidst the more “traditional” (dare I say it) discussions. (Northern Ohio Morning Journal, 8/21/18)
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