Education News for 03-20-2012

in

Statewide Education News

  • ‘Dropout factories’ grow in state (Dispatch)

    • WASHINGTON — A new report says the number of Ohio high schools considered “dropout factories” jumped from 75 to 135 during the eight years ending in 2010, an increase that far outpaced those of other states. The data are part of research presented yesterday at the Grad Nation summit in Washington. The summit was organized by the children’s advocacy group America’s Promise Alliance, founded by former Secretary of State Colin Powell. The group defines dropout factories as schools that fail to graduate more than 60 percent of students on time. Read More…

  • In Ohio school shooting case, judge refuses to release documents that may involve T.J. Lane (Plain Dealer)

    • CHARDON - A Geauga County judge today refused to release any documents that may relate to abuse, neglect, dependency or custody issues involving T.J. Lane, the 17-year-old accused of killing three classmates at Chardon High School last month. In a 13-page decision, Juvenile Judge Timothy Grendell declined to say whether such records exist. But the court's docket shows there was a case involving the youth. He said the release of such records, if they exist, could potentially skew the jury pool if the youth is bound over to Common Pleas Court. Read More…

  • Ohio has more 'dropout factories' (Enquirer)

    • The number of “dropout factory schools” in Ohio shot up by 80 percent between the 2001-02 school year and 2009-10, according to a new national report. “Dropout factories” is a term for schools with a graduation rate of 60 percent or less. Ohio is among 35 states in which the number of these schools has increased, according to the report, Building a Grad Nation, which was released Monday. The report does not list schools by name, although state data shows two Cincinnati Public schools and several Cincinnati charter schools likely would fall into this category. Read More…

Local Issues

  • Granville school board to eliminate positions (Newark Advocate)

    • GRANVILLE - A somber Granville Board of Education Monday night unanimously, and reluctantly, agreed to a Reduction in Force resolution that would eliminate 22 positions, full and part-time, and reduce two other full-time posts by one-quarter each next school year. The move is the latest to reduce general operations spending by $1.5 million next school year and to readjust staff in the face of a declining enrollment. Read More…

  • Poland voters’ rejection of tax levy for schools paves way for pay-to-play (Vindicator)

    • POLAND - The school board met for more than two hours Monday to discuss fallout from the March 6 levy defeat and appeared to reach two short-term conclusions: All-day kindergarten will remain through next school year, and pay-to-participate athletics are on the way. All board members said they would vote “no” to cut kindergarten to half-day and agreed that pay-to- participate athletic fees are necessary, though the proposed amounts range from $150 per high-school sport to $300 or $500 per high-school sport. Read More…

  • School buildings under budget (Findlay Courier)

    • Crediting this year's uncharacteristically warm winter, Touchstone CPM Project Manager Chris Moore announced Monday that the project to build Findlay's three new school buildings is $2.6 million under budget. "We've had so few hurdles," Moore told Findlay's school board Monday. "From a financial standpoint, that's very good news." Moore said the $2.6 million is a part of the project's contingency, or emergency, fund. And although District Treasurer Mike Barnhart said that total will most likely decrease by the time the project is completed. Read More…

Education By the Numbers

in

Via.

Teachers Around the World No Longer “Asking For Permission”

in

In conversations about Finland’s stunning success over the past decade, many education leaders look at what makes the system work so well – the high bar for entry into the teaching profession, the absence of standardized tests, the embedded professional development and support systems, to name just a few – and ask “Why can’t we do this in my country?” But what makes Finland even more unique is that education policy is largely free of politics. Whether it’s the status and prestige of teachers or the problem of educational inequity, these are matters on which politicians on the right and left agree.

But that’s Finland. Where does that leave so many other countries, including the United States, whose national conversation over education is tarnished by divisive, partisan politics and competing interests? How can public education advocates cut through the noise of grandstanding politicians and bad research and lead in transforming the teaching profession?

It’s time for the public to stop listening to those who have never been in front of a classroom and who espouse ideas that undermine public education, says NEA President Dennis Van Roekel.

“You have to remember that many people who are talking about reform are not really talking about education, as in what’s really works for teachers and their students. Their interest is something else – privatization, for example. We know what works and we need to be out front.”

“The status quo is not acceptable,” Van Roekel said. “And we can change it. But the idea now is for educators to stop asking for permission.”

[readon2 url="http://neatoday.org/2012/03/18/teachers-around-the-world-no-longer-asking-for-permission-to-transform-profession/"]Continue reading...[/readon2]

Education News for 03-19-2012

in

Statewide Education News

  • Navigators: Kids get a push to go past proficiency (Dispatch)

    • After learning how the body works in science, Navigators students presented explanations of what body system made famous athletes successful. During math, they graphed how many basketball shots they’ve made and how fast they ran through an obstacle course. And after learning how being active contributes to physical health, they learned about other kinds of well-being — such as spiritual health, through a world-religions lesson. Read More…

  • State Leaders Push For Ohio Education Overhaul (ONN)

    • COLUMBUS - A state education overhaul aimed at better preparing Ohio students for college will change the way children and schools are evaluated and the curriculum they use. Students should be getting "a diploma worth owning," but the existing system shortchanges children by asking them to meet minimum standards that don't necessarily make them college-ready, state Superintendent Stan Heffner said. Gov. John Kasich and other state leaders want to change that through an overhaul that's under way and is expected to be finished in several years. Read More…

  • Schools to impose tougher standards (Dispatch)

    • State leaders say it’s time to face the truth: Graduating from high school in Ohio doesn’t necessarily mean you’re ready for college or a career. That won’t do anymore, Gov. John Kasich and education officials say. So they’re overhauling the guidelines of what students should know, writing more challenging tests to assess what they’ve learned, forcing schools to revamp curriculum and grading schools on a tougher scale. Read More…

  • Common Core Standards aim to transform Ohio education (Chillicothe Gazette)

    • The U.S. economy could grow at a "remarkable increment" if its students were just a little better at math, a group of Harvard researchers recently concluded. That's one reason Ohio teachers already are learning a new set of curriculum standards that will be in place by 2014 -- the Common Core State Standards. These standards call for educators to tackle fewer subjects in class, but with more depth. They encourage long-form answers on tests and teachers using material beyond the textbook. Students will be asked to stop memorizing and start explaining. Read More…

  • Little Miami, state air gripes (Enquirer)

    • HAMILTON TWP. — The public clash between Little Miami’s local school board and the state-appointed commission running the insolvent district continued Friday evening, but some common ground surfaced. Local school officials complained the commission’s surprising veto last month of the district’s plan to reopen two shuttered elementary schools has left them confused and vulnerable to public criticism about breaking promises they made during the fall’s levy campaign. Read More…

  • Students benefiting from new measures (Dispatch)

    • Educators know how well their students are learning — whether they are growing or stagnant. They also know which teachers work best with the high performers and the students who struggle. Researchers say it’s never been easier to match students with teachers who can serve them best, thanks to the “value-added” measurement that tracks students’ progress over time. Some Ohio schools are using the data to make those connections in classrooms, but few are doing it quite like Hannah Ashton Middle School in Reynoldsburg, said Mark Hartman. Read More…

  • Oversight of home-schooling is lax (News-Sun)

    • Oversight of parents who homeschool children is so limited the Ohio Department of Education doesn’t know for sure how many students are being home-schooled or how closely districts are monitoring compliance with state law. A Springfield News-Sun investigation following the death of 14-year-old Makayla Norman found few if any consequences for school districts that lose track of homeschooled students. Individual districts are responsible for keeping tabs on parents who teach children at home. Read More…

  • Common Core setting a new education standard for Ohio (Newark Advocate)

    • Place three rectangles of varying shapes and sizes in front of a group of third-graders. In today's classes, a teacher might ask what the length of one side is, or what the area is. In a year or two, however, the broader question might just be: "What size are these?" Educators are being asked to teach differently, thanks to the new Common Core State Standards. This means the classroom could operate much differently come 2014 -- although some districts are implementing them sooner. Read More…

  • Realities of racism: Coaches, players dealing with racism in high school sports (Daily Times)

    • Arguably one of the most important moments in civil rights history occurred in 1947, when a Scioto County resident tore through the race barrier of professional sports and signed an African-American named Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers. More than 60 years later, coaches at Portsmouth High School say racism is still alive in the basketball venues of southern Ohio and may even be keeping the school out of the SOC. Read More…

  • Contenders: Repetition helps students to catch up (Dispatch)

    • The Contenders know what to expect in all of their classes. The instructions are always the same in Aimee Babb’s math class: Take out your notebooks and copy the information from the board. When language-arts teacher Shauna Crim asks students to read along with her, she consistently tells them to underline key words and draw a box around terms they don’t know. At every visit to the computer lab, they are quizzed on what they know in math and how well they understand reading passages. Read More…

Local Issues

  • More schools try solar power (Dispatch)

    • The solar panels at Bluffsview Elementary School were once such a novelty that people flew in from Chicago just to take a look. The vice principal of the Worthington school was invited to Washington, D.C., to speak about the project. Twelve years later, solar panels pop up at schools with such regularity that state organizations can’t keep track of them. “It’s almost to the point where it’s happening so fast now it’s going to be commonplace,” said Glen Kizer, president of the Foundation for Environmental Education in Columbus. Read More…

  • Cash-strapped school districts see benefits, problems with open enrollment (News-Herald)

    • Open enrollment is offered by many area school districts for various reasons, not the least of which is money. The policy, whereby students are given the option to attend schools other than the one assigned based on where they live, beefs up budgets through funds that follow the student from their home district to the one in which they’re enrolled. West Geauga has offered open enrollment for five years, with numbers growing steadily, according to Superintendent Tom Diringer. Read More…

  • CPS votes today on administrative cuts (Enquirer)

    • CORRYVILLE — Cincinnati Public Schools will vote today to lay off 40 administrators in what is expected to be the first of several rounds of budget cuts for this district of 33,000 students. It’s among at least three local school districts deciding on layoffs today. Mount Healthy’s school board will vote on the layoffs of at least 34 workers following the failure of its levy March 6. Clermont Northeastern’s school board will vote on multiple job cuts, including assistant superintendent, assistant principals and special education coordinator positions. Read More…

  • Schools checking for gas, oil below (Dispatch)

    • The state has told public universities and community colleges in the path of Ohio’s drilling boom to figure out how much of the oil- and gas-rich Utica shale lies below their campuses. These “property inventories” are required by a new state law that opened public lands to drilling. Though the debate over that law focused on whether drilling should be allowed in state parks and forests, it covers all public land. It’s also prompted a debate over whether the state’s 37 colleges and universities should profit from “fracking.” Read More…

  • 21 local schools in noncompliance with Ohio's safety plan (WTOV 9 NBC)

    • In the aftermath of the shooting at Chardon High School, the Ohio Attorney General's Office issued a reminder to schools throughout Ohio to file safety and building plans with the state. But a Target 9 Investigation found that 21 schools in the Ohio Valley are red-flagged by Attorney General Mike DeWine's office as being late to turn in their paperwork. Though schools are required to submit that information to prepare all agencies in case of an emergency. Read More…

  • JVS cutting programs, employees (Morning Journal)

    • OBERLIN — Several satellite programs will be axed as a result of $1.1 million in cuts forced upon the Lorain County Joint Vocational School after failing to pass levies in the last two election cycles, according to Superintendent John Nolan. Among those casualties will be the marketing management program at North Ridgeville High School and a computer network program at Firelands High School, Nolan said. Read More…

  • Three routes, one goal (Dispatch)

    • In November, The Dispatch wrote about Hannah Ashton Middle School in Reynoldsburg and its radical approach of teaching students by their ability. Advanced students are grouped together (in C.R.E.W.), as are the lowest-performing ones (Contenders) and those in the middle (Navigators). Advocates say the strategy allows teachers to craft their lessons based on the needs of their students. Those who are academically behind can work on material more slowly with additional support. Read More…

  • Springfield schools spent $360K in 2 years to attract students (News-Sun)

    • SPRINGFIELD — By the end of the year, Springfield City School District will spend $360,000 on marketing and communications over two years — a necessary expense in the competitive market of education, according to officials. The district uses outside firms to assist with marketing and employs an in-house consultant. Spending on marketing and communications totals about $150,000 to $175,000 a year in the district, including the salary of a communications consultant who assists with strategic planning and special projects. Read More…

  • Civil-service panel usually backs schools (Dispatch)

    • Columbus Schools Superintendent Gene Harris’ assertion this week that rulings by the Civil Service Commission kept her staff from firing a problem bus driver isn’t supported by the facts, the commission’s director says. A review of district cases heard by the commission shows it rarely overturns district firings or suspensions. Of the 28 school-district cases heard by the commission from 2009 to 2011, it upheld the district’s decisions in 24. Twenty of the cases involved employees who had been fired. Read More…

  • C.R.E.W.: Freedom to explore brings responsibility (Dispatch)

    • C.R.E.W. students are expected to be critical thinkers, problem-solvers and self-starters. They must juggle multiple projects and apply what they learn to the real world. In class, the sixth-graders created a children’s book that explains Buddhism. They searched for similes and hyperboles in Katy Perry’s song, Firework. They used electronic presentations to inform state senators about cloning, genetically altered plants and the Human Genome Project. Read More…

A Democratic Crisis in Cleveland

in

Is there a democratic crisis in Cleveland? Three issues suggest there might be.

Issue 1

Just over 4 months ago, 2,202,404 voters in Ohio voted to repeal Senate Bill 5 (SB5). SB5 being the draconian assault on working people and their ability to collectively bargain for fair and safe working conditions and pay. In Cuyahoga county the repeal vote was even more overwhelming - 69.2%. Yet the Mayor of Cleveland continued to introduce a plan that has widely been criticized for containing significant provisions of SB5

Introducing a plan that contains provisions that voters have overwhelmingly rejected is an incredibly undemocratic move. No matter how strongly one might believe that certain policy goals are needed, in a functioning democracy the will of the voters should be seen as sacrosanct, not something that can be conveniently ignored, as appears to be the case with Mayor Frank Jackson and his "Cleveland plan".

Issue 2

The "Cleveland Plan" seeks to undermine democratically elected school boards by creating a Cleveland Transformation Alliance, that

will be a public‐private partnership charged with ensuring accountability for district and charter schools in the city, communicating with parents about quality school choices, and serving as a watchdog for charter sector growth.

Why is such an entity required? The vast majority of Ohio's school districts are highly rated while being governed by elected school boards. It's a model that works. Why does Cleveland need to create an unelected non-profit body that would lack the same level of accountability voters demand, while simultaneously adding another expensive layer of bureaucracy? Education leadership and decision making is already byzantine in Cleveland, being the only school district in Ohio that is controlled by a Mayor. Observers might ask why it was ever a good idea to place Mayors, who typically have no educational expertise, in charge of education to begin with.

Issue 3

Creating an unelected body to manage the "Cleveland Plan" is bad enough, but the plan also seeks to make that body secretive and have its deliberations not be subject to public records.

The package of new legislation Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson says will once again “transform” Cleveland’s schools would create a new nonprofit group to make significant changes to the school district, including drawing together both traditional public schools and charter schools.

But unlike school boards for both traditional public and charter schools, that new group would not be subject to state public records and open meetings laws. That means that residents would not have the right to attend the new group’s board meetings, for example, or to see records about the new group’s financial operations or decision-making process.

It appears that the whole purpose of this proposed entity is so that it can be obscured from public view, unaccountable to tax payers and voters alike.

Reading many of the central aspects to this "Cleveland Plan", one gets the impression that its architects believe one of the major problems with Cleveland schools is too much democracy, when the opposite is clearly true.

Education News for 03-16-2012

in

Statewide Education News

  • Governor Kasich discusses fracking, taxes and schools (WKYC 3 NBC)

    • CLEVELAND - Governor John Kasich says he will do anything he can to help get Mayor Frank Jackson's Cleveland School transformation plan passed. He declined to talk about possible outcomes if the plan does not pass. Right now no Democratic lawmaker is willing to sponsor the bill that is intended to create more quality schools, change school governance, change teachers' seniority rights and pass a November levy. Kasich talked about this in an exclusive Thursday interview with Tom Beres. Read More…

  • Youngstown school officials given more freedom (Vindicator)

    • Youngstown - The commission overseeing the city school district’s academic recovery has given administrators more freedom to trim staff and determine class size but wants the final say on any district reorganization. The commission on Thursday eliminated the effective date and notice requirements regarding teacher layoffs. Under the teachers’ contract, the district must notify teachers by April 30 if they are on the reduction-in-force list for the next school year. Read More…

  • Tutoring helps raise test scores (News-Sun)

    • SPRINGFIELD — Two intensive tutoring programs helped raise test scores in four of five areas last school year at Springfield High School. Through an Ohio Graduation Test boot camp and a Winter Institute, the number of students testing at advanced and accelerated levels increased by 9 percent, said Chris Shaffer, campus director. Students testing at limited, basic and proficient levels decreased by 7.5 percent. Passing the Ohio Graduation Test, which students at Springfield and other high schools took this week, is a requirement for graduation. Read More…

  • Ohio Gov. John Kasich wants legislative sponsors for Cleveland schools plan; Mayor Frank Jackson asks for patience (Plain Dealer)

    • CLEVELAND - Gov. John Kasich says Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson seems to be having trouble finding a legislator from the Cleveland area to step up and sponsor his schools plan in Columbus. But Jackson said he deliberately has not asked anyone to sponsor the plan yet because he wants legislators to be comfortable with what he is proposing. "That's not what they tell us," Kasich said Thursday after a luncheon speech in Cleveland. "I've been told for five weeks we are going to have co-sponsors. We have to get them soon." Read More…

Local Issues

  • Outrage over Westerville pay-to-play plan isn’t unanimous (Dispatch)

    • Some parents are relieved that Westerville school leaders plan to charge athletes more than twice as much to participate — they feared a bigger increase. But other residents say the district should be more lenient after voters approved a March 6 levy that will cost taxpayers an additional $221 per year on a $100,000 home, starting in 2013. School administrators unveiled a plan on Monday to charge $240 per high-school sport, up from $100, and $120 for middle-school, up from $50. Read More…

  • North Ridgeville schools superintendent prepares to unveil staffing cuts, pay-to-play plan (Sun News)

    • NORTH RIDGEVILLE - Schools Superintendent Larry Brown will unveil a plan March 20 for staffing cuts and a pay-to-participate program beginning in the 2012-2013 school year. Brown, speaking during a North Ridgeville Chamber of Commerce luncheon March 15, said the plan is necessary to avoid a $1.3 million deficit by the end of the next school year. Brown talked for about an hour, outlining the district’s various accomplishments and discussing its need for additional revenue. Read More…

  • Painesville Schools launches D.O.G.S. to emphasize male role models (News-Herald)

    • Painesville Schools have launched a new program that seeks to bring fathers into the school buildings. Maple Elementary is the first school in the district to launch the WATCH D.O.G.S. program, or Dads of Great Students, which began in 1998 and is now in more than 2,000 schools across the country. The program looks to give students positive male role models, whether it be dads, uncles or grandfathers, and provides an extra adult to watch over the school. Read More…

  • Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's proposed panel to review charter schools could meet behind closed doors (Plain Dealer)

    • CLEVELAND - Mayor Frank Jackson's proposed panel to hold Cleveland's public charter and district schools accountable would be able to work behind closed doors, according to the latest draft of laws needed to create it. Proposals given to state legislators last Saturday call for the Cleveland Transformation Alliance, which would have the power to block new charter schools from opening if they did not meet standards, to be exempt from state open meetings or open records laws. Read More…

  • Ledgemont facing budget cuts, seeking new board member (News-Herald)

    • The need to balance a tightly squeezed budget has prompted Ledgemont School Board members to make cuts in personnel. “No one’s happy about doing it but unfortunately it has to be done,” said District Treasurer Kelly Moore following a board meeting this week. Reductions include the elimination of seven teaching positions, a high school special education tutor, and an elementary aide; and modifying the full-time status of a music teacher position to part-time. Read More…

  • It is cheaper not to fire principal accused of misconduct, officials say (Journal-News)

    • MADISON TWP. — The decision not to fire Madison Elementary School Principal Matthew Gray following numerous incidents of misconduct, including a physical altercation with a student last May, is one of cost-savings, according to school officials. The Madison school board unanimously voted March 5 not to renew Gray’s contract, which expires July 31. The day after the board action, Superintendent Tom York said Gray was told to work from home the remainder of the school year. Gray will continue to receive his annual salary of $78,763. Read More…

  • Hilliard schools official resigns amid financial probe (Dispatch)

    • A Hilliard athletic director transferred more than $10,000 from a tournament bank account into personal accounts as “mad money,” according to an investigation that apparently prompted his resignation. An accountant who handled the investigation also questioned Neill “Chip” Ebert, the athletic director at Hilliard Bradley High School, about a $40,560 gap between the deposits reported to the Ohio High School Athletic Association and what ended up in the tournament accounts over a 2-1/2-year period. Read More…