1. Editors in Columbus get out in front on the issue of charter school oversight with today’s editorial. (Columbus Dispatch)
Sadly, the other editorials on this issue in media outlets across the state – and there are a lot of them today – are mislabeled as “news stories” and are not clipped here today. If there is any actual proper news reporting, I’ll find it and bring it to you.
2. The summer reading blitz in Columbus City Schools ended yesterday with a big celebration. Many students have taken – and passed – the third grade reading test and will not need to be held back next year. A number of others are waiting for results or will take a final shot at the test this weekend. Kudos to all the dedicated adults – teachers, volunteers, parents – and kids who buckled down and got to work. Looks like a great program with an emphasis on all the different ways that reading can be fun and interesting and all the different learning styles needed to reach kids to impart this vital skill. But remember that those children who don’t pass should be greeted next year with nothing less than another full-out blitz of remediation and support and instruction and opportunities to succeed. Just like the football team that comes up short in the big game--pick up, dust off, figure out the new strategy, work hard, win the next one. (Columbus Dispatch)
3. There are still a couple more weeks of summer reading instruction to go for third graders in Euclid. Sounds like things are going equally well there, but the tone of the piece is a bit more downbeat than it ought to be, I think. And the admonition to find the best way to reach kids, whatever their learning style, holds here too. (Willoughby News Herald)
4. That spirit of different learning options for different types of kids is alive in the Allen East schools in Northwest Ohio as well. They are prepping their new, expanded digital academy for launch in the fall. (Lima News)
