- We’ll start today not with the obvious story, but with one that is near and dear to my dad heart: Fathers (and grandfathers and stepfathers and uncles) in Stark County walking (and driving) their kids to school in the morning. The awesome annual event took place yesterday. Yes, there are lots of adorable photos...and donuts too! But it is way past time to get some charter and private schools in on this, don’t you think? (Canton Repository, 9/15/22)
- OK. Now onto the story of the week: school and district report cards were released yesterday. Our own Aaron Churchill was among the folks interviewed by Gongwer and he provides the general overview: “Today's report cards reveal the ongoing consequences of the pandemic, with more students than usual struggling to meet grade level expectations in math and English.” (Gongwer Ohio, 9/16/22) Aaron is also quoted in the Cleveland coverage and Fordham-provided stats are a centerpiece of the big picture, which remains focused on pandemic learning loss and whatever recovery toward pre-pandemic levels might have occurred: “Fourth-grade English language arts proficiency rates statewide fell from 63.3% during the 2018-19 school year to 56% during the 2020-21, but recovered to 62.5% last school year… Statewide fourth-grade math proficiency rates went from 74.3% in 2018-19 to 59.4% in 2020-21, then 63.6% in 2021-22.” Doesn’t sound so hot to me. How about you? (Cleveland.com, 9/15/22) Public media in Cleveland says “Schools across Northeast Ohio are seeing improved marks on key indicators of academic performance as pandemic-related school closures recede into the past, according to the Ohio Department of Education’s new report cards”. This piece focuses on the Cleveland and Akron districts whose efforts to re-attain the rather poor state they were in before the pandemic are depicted as positive. (Ideastream, Cleveland, 9/15/22)
- One of the biggest aspects of the new report cards regards changes wrought to the way various measures are calculated. The Ohio Federation of Teachers still doesn’t seem to like ‘em. The results, she says, are “not indicative” of all the work going on in Ohio’s schools. (Norwalk Reflector, 9/15/22) The view from the Dayton area seems a bit clearer-eyed to me: Suburban districts faring better than urban ones, and many of both are still behind where they were in 2019. And this piece is literally only a chart! (Dayton Daily News, 9/15/22) The other big deal here is the replacement of A-to-F ratings with a star rating system. You know: like Yelp. In one of the pieces above, Ohio Education Association President Scott DiMauro is quoted calling the old system “misleading”, among other choice invectives. If you ask me, there is an irony in the fact that while we call this a “star rating” system, almost all of the media coverage simply lists numbers from 1 to 5 and they seem far more stark and obvious for it. And also like Yelp, star ratings for schools seem inevitably to lead to brutal—and brutally accurate—headlines like this one. (Cincinnati Enquirer, 9/15/22)
- Meanwhile, what the heck is this “Cleveland Plan” thing that’s only been around and guiding everything in education in the city for eight years? (WKSU-FM, Kent, 9/14/22) While public media folks may not recall what the Cleveland Plan is (nor, indeed, the proper usage of “reins” vs. “reigns”, a virulent pet peeve of mine), teacher unions in northeast Ohio know just exactly what the Cleveland Plan is and how it has transformed education there. And they’re looking to get Mayor Bibb to make some changes to it in the next year or so. (News 5, Cleveland, 9/16/22)
- Back in the real world, the outcry over transportation troubles in Dayton is getting louder. I mean, charter school kids not showing up on time day after day for weeks on end is one thing, but when the child of one of your elected school board members has trouble getting to school too…look out! (Dayton Daily News, 9/14/22) And finally today, for the real real: Here’s yet another look at the Greater Dayton School. It lives up to that adjective more and more for me every time I read about it. How about you? (WHIO-TV, Dayton, 9/14/22)
Did you know you can have every edition of Gadfly Bites sent directly to your Inbox? Subscribe by clicking here.
Policy Priority:
Topics:
