Renewal and Optimism: Five Years as an Ohio Charter
Authorizer
November
2010
As a charter school sponsor
(authorizer), Fordham submits an accountability report to the Ohio
Department of Education at the end of November each year. The report
includes profiles of each Fordham-sponsored school, as well as
graphics comparing the achievement data of our schools, their home
districts, and charter schools across the state.
Read it here.
View
video profiles of each school here.
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Overall, Fordham students outperformed their district peers but performed slightly below the charter average in reading... students in Fordham-sponsored schools performed better than students in their home districts and in other charter schools in the state in math in all grades except fifth and eighth. |
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Education Imperatives for Ohio: K-12 Policy Priorities
for the Next Biennium
November 2010
In
this policy brief, Fordham gives its advice to Governor-elect Kasich
and the incoming leaders of the Ohio House and Senate as it relates
to the future of K-12 education policy in the Buckeye State.
Read it here.
Read
what others had to say about it:
Fordham Makes Education Policy Recommendations for Next Biennium, Hannah Report; subscription required.
Fordham Institute Offers Education Advice To New Governor, Gongwer News Service; subscription required.
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No challenge facing the Governor and the General Assembly is more difficult or urgent than obtaining for Ohio the education system that it deserves while also reducing the overall cost of that system... The bad news is that pulling this off will be incredibly hard. The good news is that persevering with it might secure the state's future. |
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2009-10 Ohio Report Card Analysis
August
2010
We partnered with Public Impact and analyzed
the 2009-10 academic performance data for charter and district
schools in Ohio's eight largest urban cities.
Read more here.
Read
what others had to say about it:
Fordham Institute/Catalyst Ohio dig into report cards, Akron Beacon Journal.
High-performing charters dominate some markets, Catalyst Ohio.
Academic Perdition, State of Ohio Education Blog.
Cincinnati, Cleveland jump in state rankings, Catalyst Ohio.
Fordham: Charter Performance Up, Down, Depending on Big Eight District, Hannah Report; subscription required.
Promising numbers for Ohio, Canton Repository.
Changes to 'value-added' measure may have lowered some districts' scores, Catalyst Ohio.
State Report Cards: Grading Schools Accurately? Canton Repository.
For more analysis from Public Impact on Ohio's value-added model, see these two special editions of the Ohio Education Gadfly: "Adding value to value-added: Getting more out of the data we have" and "Tackling the Yo-Yo effect: Improving Ohio's value-added model."
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Having tracked these anemic results now for seven years it is painful to realize how many children have failed to receive the basic education they need for a shot at success. And, worse, how little progress has been made in creating the conditions for their younger brothers and sisters to have a better shot at success. But high-performing schools for our neediest children do not happen by accident. If we want more of them to serve more kids successfully grown-ups have to make it happen. |
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Student Mobility in Montgomery County Public Schools:
Preliminary Findings
August 2010
Fordham commissioned economist Richard Stock of the Business Research Group at the University of Dayton to analyze student-level data from the Ohio Department of Education and track student movement among schools and across Montgomery County school districts from 2005-06 thru 2008-09.
Read more here.
Read
what others had to say about it:
Editorial: Too much moving hurts children and the schools, Dayton Daily News.
Student turnover a problem in small, low-income districts, Dayton Daily News.
Ohio's Education Reform Challenges: Lessons from the
Frontlines
July 2010
Chester E. Finn, Jr.,
Terry Ryan, & Mike Lafferty 
Published by Palgrave Macmillan, this book is our commitment to describe and analyze Fordham's efforts as a charter school authorizer in Ohio - including our successes and failures over the last decade - so that others committed to school reform and innovation can learn from our experience.
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Theorists don't necessarily fare well in the world of politics, organizational interests, trial and error, and human frailty. Experts' theories don't always hold water. Their ivory tower experience doesn't necessarily translate. Yet Fordham's engagement in Ohio - beginning in its hometown of Dayton - has proved deeply instructive. |
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Read more here.
Read
what others had to say about it:
Foundation for Change, Akron Beacon Journal.
Ohio needs to correct 'mixed bag' of charter schools to guarantee excellence, education stakeholders say, Gongwer News Service; subscription required.
Charter school advocates argue Ohio's system needs reform, Catalyst Ohio.
Plain speaking, Joanne Jacobs (blog).
Scott Elliott: DuBois story shows how charters can go wrong, Dayton Daily News.
Book Review: The Virtue of Speaking Plain Truths, Rick Hess Straight Up.
Editorial: Fordham finds school reform isn't so easy, Dayton Daily News.
Blog: After Class -- Commentary, Catalyst Ohio.
Blog: Skin in the Game, Eduwonk.
The virtues of charter school failure, Law, Religion, and Ethics Blog.
To read an exerpt from the book featured in Education Next, see here.
Also check out our presentation of the book's findings, delivered at the 2010 National Association of Public Charter Schools conference, and a video interview by Education Next featuring authors Chester E. Finn, Jr. and Terry Ryan.
Needles in a Haystack: Lessons from Ohio's
high-performing, high-need urban schools
May
2010
Quentin Suffren & Theodore J. Wallace
This study profiles eight high-performing,
high-poverty schools located in Ohio's urban "Big 8" districts and
distills their successes so that policymakers and educators can
learn from them.
Read more here
and watch a video accompaniment to the
report.
See the individual profiles of the schools and watch
videos highlighting them:
Citizens' Academy & video
College Hill Fundamental Academy & video
Duxberry Park Arts IMPACT Alternative Elementary School & video
Horizon Science Academy - Cleveland Middle School & video
King Elementary School & video
Louisa May Alcott Elementary School & video
McGregor Elementary School & video
Valleyview Elementary School & video
Read what others had to say about it:
SPARK Community Newsletter (Fall 2010), SPARK Ohio.
Opinion: Success can be kid stuff when adults help, Canton Repository.
McGregor Elementary gets high marks from think tank, Canton Repository.
Editorial: Effective lessons, Columbus Dispatch.
Blog: Proving Murray Wrong in Ohio, School Choice Ohio blog.
Study looks for formula to urban school success, Catalyst Ohio.
Improving Urban Education, featured on Cleveland public radio - WCPN.
Three Cleveland schools lauded in study of Ohio urban districts, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Education Notes: Report Highlights Success of Handful of Urban Schools, Gongwer News Service; subscription required.
Report Pulls Lessons from High Performing Schools for Urban Districts, Hannah Report; subscription required.
We hope that by uncovering the secrets of their exceptional performance we can suggest district and state policies and practices that will foster more such schools - without making it harder on the few we now have.
