Education News for 04-04-2012

Statewide Education News

• Could student loans fuel the next crisis? (Dispatch)

WASHINGTON — The federal student-loan program seemed like a great idea back in 1965: Borrow to go to college now, pay it back later when you have a job. But many borrowers these days are close to flunking out, tripped up by painful real-life lessons in math and economics. Surging above $1 trillion, U.S. student-loan debt has surpassed credit-card and auto-loan debt. This debt explosion jeopardizes the fragile recovery, increases the burden on taxpayers and possibly sets the stage for a new economic crisis. Read More…

• Special ed spending triples in some districts (Dayton Daily News)

Special education spending for public school districts has increased dramatically in the past decade, with local suburban districts spending double, triple and even quadruple the amount they spent just nine years ago, despite only a marginal increase in the number of students. Local educators say the more severe needs of these students, state and federal mandates requiring this care and advances in related technology are at the heart of the increase in costs, although inflation and the rising cost of educating all students also play a role. Read More…

• Cleveland Teachers Union and Mayor Frank Jackson make progress on schools plan compromise, but still no agreement on 'fresh start' (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND - Mayor Frank Jackson and the Cleveland Teachers Union could not reach agreement on two disputed parts of the mayor's schools plan Tuesday, but state legislators plan to introduce the measure today in Columbus anyway. The mayor and union met for three hours at City Hall Tuesday and left with each side saying they made substantial progress on one of the final sticking points – how to fix failing schools – but had little discussion on the other – Jackson's desire to throw out all previous contracts and negotiate a new one with a so-called "fresh start" provision. Read More…

• Profane tweet puts student in legal no man’s land (Dispatch)

INDIANAPOLIS — Austin Carroll, 17, was fighting insomnia in the middle of the night when he turned to Twitter for relief and casually dropped the F-word multiple times, apparently to demonstrate to his followers that the expletive would fit almost anywhere in a sentence. But a few days later, the Indiana teen was expelled from high school over his foul-mouthed lapse, even though the word wasn’t directed at anyone, and he says the tweet didn’t involve his school. Read More…

Local Issues

• $6 million in goofs cost Columbus schools (Dispatch)

The Columbus school district owes a total of almost $6 million to six suburban districts for billing errors it made on the Win-Win agreement, a problem that a consultant figured out in 2010 but that the districts have never publicly discussed. Last fall, Columbus apparently pleaded for leniency in secret negotiations, while the suburban districts demanded full payment, documents show. The suburban districts threatened to sue in January and halted new payments to the Columbus district, suggesting instead that the money be put in a “settlement account.” Read More…

• Mathews schools chief urges caution on drilling funds (Vindicator)

VIENNA - The Mathews schools superintendent warned that the district’s decision to sign oil-and-gas drilling leases on nearly 90 acres of its property does not mean the schools are about to get a financial windfall. “There is no guarantee anyone is getting anything yet,” Superintendent Lewis Lowery cautioned board members Tuesday shortly before their unanimous vote to authorize the lease signatures. Read More…

• Young Audiences' arts-based, job-training program popular with Cleveland-area teens (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND - Teenage business partners sat around a long folding table in the Halle Building, rolling brightly colored polymer clay into beads and exchanging ideas about their project -- an upcoming show to sell and display uniquely designed jewelry and mosaics. Brittany Nemitz, 17, of Cleveland, gingerly tried on an edgy green necklace and earrings crafted with beads handmade by her cohorts. "I think it works because the colors look really cool together," the online high school student said. Read More…

• City schools ban tobacco in all forms in all places (Dispatch)

The Columbus Board of Education banned any use of tobacco on district property — including in its vehicles — at last night’s meeting. The seven-member school board voted unanimously to expand its ban on smoking to include an outright ban on all tobacco use, adding smokeless products such as “dip,” “chew” and “snuff” to its previous ban on cigarettes, cigars and pipes. Superintendent Gene Harris said she will implement the change starting with the next school year, to give everyone time to understand the new policy and its implications. Read More…

• Mayor's school plan rollout Wednesday (WKYC 3 NBC)

CLEVELAND - A three-hour session that ended about 3:20 p.m. Tuesday failed to resolve two remaining issues in Mayor Frank Jackson's transformation plan for Cleveland schools. That means the plan will be introduced Wednesday to state lawmakers containing provisions the teacher's union opposes. CTU President David Quolke said some progress had been made on how to deal with teachers in failing schools that had closed but no progress was made on Mayor Jackson's wish to make over the current contract. The latter proposal is called "Fresh Start." Read More…

• Changes needed to stave off deficits, West Muskingum superintendent says (Times Recorder)

ZANESVILLE - The West Muskingum Local School District is facing budget deficits in each of the next five years because of rising costs and shrinking state funding and enrollments. With levies not an option after six consecutive failures at the ballot box, officials are considering several proposed strategies -- from redistricting students to make better use of staff and classroom space to rolling out a virtual school to keep more students in the district. Read More…

• Richmond Heights School Board considering cutting positions (News-Herald)

The Richmond Heights School Board will look to make cuts to overcome a projected deficit of nearly $900,000 in fiscal year 2013. The board currently has almost a $210,000 deficit for fiscal 2012, which ends June 30. In order to balance the year-end budget, Treasurer Brenda Brcak will request an advance distribution from the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Officer, effectively borrowing a minimum of $300,000 from the district’s fiscal 2013 revenue. Read More…

• School officials take new tack on tax plea (Blade)

In what became a fiercely contested election, voters in the Rossford school district rejected a bond levy two years ago to build new middle and high schools. An opposition group arose to rally against the tax, and ultimately, the $50 million proposal was rejected by 65 percent of the voters. Now, as the district is preparing to ask voters a second time, school officials say they have learned a lesson from the defeat and are taking a different approach. Read More…

• Gay student sues Ohio school over right to wear T-shirt (Dispatch)

CINCINNATI — A gay student whose high school prohibited him from wearing a T-shirt designed to urge tolerance of gays is suing the school, saying it’s violating his rights to freedom of expression. The mother of 16-year-old Maverick Couch filed the federal lawsuit on his behalf against Wayne Local School District and its Waynesville High School principal. Couch, a junior at the southwestern Ohio high school, has been threatened by school officials with suspension if he wears the shirt, which bears the message “Jesus is not a homophobe,” the lawsuit says. Read More…

Editorial

• Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's school reform plan just another battle in war on public education (Plain Dealer)

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's recent school reform plan, when taken in a larger context, is really just the latest chapter in what we in the education profession have been fighting for several years now -- a nationwide War on Public Education. Although the battles in this war have been fought on different terrain, the elements of each are always the same -- money, the elimination of political opposition and, like any good witch hunt, scapegoats. Read More…

• Bus fare (Beacon Journal)

Gov. John Kasich and many state lawmakers often claim that Ohio’s public schools spend too little on classroom instruction compared to non-instructional services. The point is used to press school officials to seek cost-effective practices outside the classroom. Efficiency is a worthy goal, no question. The Statehouse would do well, in that light, to examine mandates that put heavy strains, financial and otherwise, on school districts. Transportation is one such factor, as John Higgins, a Beacon Journal staff writer, explained Sunday in relation to the Akron Public Schools. Read More…

Analysis of Education MBR bill SB316

As part of the Governor's Mid Biennium Review (MBR) he has proposed a number of education policies. SB316 is the vehicle that these policies are being carried in. Note that there is no school funding plan introduced, nor is the "Cleveland plan" part of this bill.

the Ohio Legislative Services Commission has just published their analysis of the bill (i.e. they turned it into humanly readable language), and we've posted it below for you to review.

There are a number of items that should interest educators and public education advocates.

• Third Grade Reading Guarantee

The governor proposed to hold back those students who cannot meet 3rd grade reading proficiency levels, though he fails to supply any funds with which to meet this new, and costly mandate.

• New District and school rating system

We've discussed the proposed new rating system at length here, and here.

• Reports of district and school spending

The poorly conceived plan to implement a ranking system for schools based on spending has been delayed 1 year, and also undergoing some technical changes.

• Teacher evaluations

This modifies a number of provisions introduced in the budget bill (HB153), it narrows the number of teachers to only those who spend more than 50% of their time in the classroom, it makes changes to who can perform evaluations, including added the ability to hire outside contractors to perform the task. The law will prevail over collective bargaining agreements with regard to district evaluation policies. A provision for teachers who are employed by the state is also added (think department of corrections, etc)

• Teacher testing

The provision in the budget for forcing teachers to be retested if they teach in a school rated in the bottom 10% has undergone major changes. Changes to teacher retesting do not eliminate the requirement, but will delay implementation for at lease another three years as it is now dependent on results of the new teacher evaluation system. Under this model it is applied to individual teacher performance instead of school/district performance. Meanwhile, teachers in charter schools are still linked to the school being in the bottom 10% of rankings. Instead of taking the tests required for licensure, the state department is tasked with identifying an appropriate content test for educators to pass. Still no empirical evidence to support this law as a method to improve instruction.

The full analysis can be read below, and we encourage you to do so.

SB316

Education News for 04-03-2012

Statewide Education News

• High school courses with weighted grades still spark debate (News-Herald)

Fast-paced and intelligent discussion centered on the classic novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in Nicole Costigan’s advanced placement English class. Costigan’s class at Kenston High School is one of about 20 at the Geauga County school which offers weighted grades, a system in which higher points are assigned to more challenging courses than those offered in the regular curriculum. For example, a weighted “A” in an advanced placement class might carry five points, whereas a non-weighted “A” in a less difficult class is assigned a standard four points. Read More…

• Leaders challenge report on cheating SFlb (Vindicator)

BOARDMAN - Boardman schools Superintendent Frank Lazzeri became irritated when he read an Atlanta Journal Constitution investigation that listed his school district among those suspected of cheating on standardized tests. “I thought it had to be a mistake,” he said. No one from the newspaper contacted anyone in the district administration, he said. The investigation last month flagged Boardman, Youngstown and Warren schools for possible cheating. Read More…

• Group tackles autism awareness, education (News-Journal)

ONTARIO - Members of a Crestline group launched more than 100 glowing balloons Monday night from the parking lot at the Richland Mall to draw attention to the month of April as Autism Awareness Month. The group gives autistic children a voice through the gift of Apple iPads. The computer devices help the children with communication and language skills, according the Cookies for iPads group. In March the group gave away eight iPads and other gifts, said member Reba Hunt, who has sold many home-baked cookies for the project. Read More…

Local Issues

• Vote expected soon by council on mayor's plan to transform Cleveland schools (WEWS 5 ABC)

CLEVELAND - Mayor Frank Jackson’s plan to transform the Cleveland Metropolitan School system is a step closer to having city council support. At Monday’s meeting, council had planned to vote on a resolution supporting the plan, but that has been pushed back. “I’ll vote for it,” said Ward 9 councilman Kevin Conwell, when speaking about the resolution. He said he feels any bill taken to the floor has little chance of passing in Columbus. Read More…

• PV cuts approved for 5 teachers, 1 secretary in emotional meeting (Chillicothe Gazette)

BAINBRIDGE - At the end of an emotional one-hour meeting Monday, the Paint Valley Board of Education suspended the contracts of six employees in a move that's expected to save the district $423,000. The board emerged from executive session and passed, by a 4-1 vote, a resolution suspending the contracts of five teachers and the superintendent's secretary. Board member Judy Williamson cast the dissenting vote but declined to explain why. Read More…

• Mayor predicts progress in teacher talks (WKYC 3 NBC)

CLEVELAND - Tuesday may be a pivotal day in Mayor Frank Jackson's crusade to pass and enact a plan to reform the academics of Cleveland schools, make changes in teacher contracts, and pass a desperately-needed levy. At City Hall, the school reform plan is being called, "a defining moment" for the city. On Tuesday, the mayor, school superintendent and teachers' union leaders will wrestle with the two biggest remaining issues blocking union buy-in into the plan. Read More…

Editorial

• Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson isn't blinking on schools (Plain Dealer)

For more than two hours last Thursday, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and Cleveland schools CEO Eric Gordon tried to explain their plan to speed the transformation of public education in the city. They answered questions from the curious and the skeptical: teachers, parents, homeowners and a pair of students from John Adams High School who said they were on their 11th biology teacher of the year. Read More…

• Locally and nationally, graduation rates need a big push (Plain Dealer)

A 90 percent high school graduation rate by 2020 for every state in the union may seem impossible. The national rate in 2009 was just 75.5 percent. But it can be done. Wisconsin reached that goal in 2010, and Vermont is close, according to the recent report "Building a Grad Nation," which studied U.S. high school graduation rates between 2002 and 2009. Ohio needs just 15,000 more students to graduate in 2020 to join the exclusive 90 percent club, the report's authors say. Read More…

Education News for 04-02-2012

Statewide Education News

• Charters hire coordinators to get kids into college-prep high schools (Dispatch)

As middle-school students, they’ve been preparing for college. Pennants hang in their classrooms. The only missing piece: high school. Most of the students at KIPP Journey Academy and Columbus Collegiate Academy, both charter middle schools, would attend a low-performing high school if they went to their neighborhood schools. That won’t do, so each of the middle schools has hired someone to help get students into excellent, even elite, area high schools. Read More…

• District seeks to strengthen standards at high schools (Vindicator)

Youngstown - The proposed update to the city schools academic-recovery plan focuses on strategies to improve high school students’ achievement. The plan, adopted by the academic distress commission March 15, awaits approval by state Superintendent Stan Heffner. Heffner, who has 30 days to review the plan, may approve, reject or modify the document. Adrienne O’Neill, chair of the distress commission, said the plan that’s been in place since July 2010 focuses on the elementary schools. That plan remains in place, but the newly-constituted commission updated it. Read More…

• Ready for college? Some seniors aren't (Daily Record)

WOOSTER - Getting into college and being ready for college can be two different things. The academic standards being phased in by the 2013-14 school year are in part motivated by "the need to help Ohio students be best prepared for college and or careers after high school," said Patrick Gallaway, the Ohio Department of Education's associate director of communications. It's apparently not a new problem. Read More…

• Teens hungry to learn about managing money because they're not learning it at home (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND - Two years after the Ohio Department of Education told all high schools they had to start teaching financial literacy, schools are finding a hunger among teen-agers to learn things their parents never taught them. "Many parents feel more comfortable talking with their kids about sex than finance," said Beth Pagan, a business teacher at North Ridgeville High School. "And honestly, with some of them, I think the parents are financially illiterate." Read More…

• Charter schools get boost from busing (Beacon Journal)

Charter schools claim to offer a superior education than that provided by traditional public schools. But Akron school officials suspect parents have another reason for choosing charter schools: free busing courtesy of the city school district they are abandoning. A combination of law and geography gives charter schools an advantage over the Akron District. The financially strapped district buses students only if they live more than two miles from their school, ruling out most Akron City students attending neighborhood schools closer to home. Read More…

• Schools enact new plan to battle bullies (Tribune Chronicle)

Officials at Warren City Schools said they want to make it clear the minute students, parents and community members step inside any of the districts buildings that they have entered a "No Bully Zone." The city school district, which has seen several reported cases of bullying among students this school year, has developed a K-12 anti-bullying initiative it hopes will reduce the number of bullying incidents. Read More…

• Galion boy attends school via Skype (News-Journal)

GALION - Cage Nolen has been out of class for almost five months, but in some ways, he's never been gone. The 8-year-old Galion Primary School student said he prefers to be at school. "It's just more fun," Cage said. "Plus, I can play UNO there without fighting with (brother) Chris." But his parents say it's too much of a risk. "Cage can get pneumonia very, very easily," said his mother, Diana. "He usually gets it a couple times a year." Read More…

• Mishandled finances not uncommon in charter schools (Dispatch)

Spend first, ask permission later, and don’t bother with receipts. The loose financial systems at some of Ohio’s charter schools have led to questionable spending in recent years. Some schools hired treasurers with spotty track records; others hired qualified treasurers but disregarded their advice when they insisted on better checks and balances. The recent case of a charter-school treasurer who misspent more than $600,000 in public money over a decade at several schools has highlighted how common fiscal missteps have been in charters. Read More…

• Former Congressman Louis Stokes in favor of Mayor Frank Jackson's idea for Cleveland schools (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND - Cleveland needs the kinds of major improvements to its schools that Mayor Frank Jackson is proposing, former U.S. Rep. Louis Stokes said Friday. "This is the time we must put everything aside and say, 'How do we give kids the education they're entitled to?' " said Stokes, who served in Congress for three decades. Now retired, Stokes said he decided to speak about Jackson's plan after hearing the mayor talk recently and being impressed with his sincerity about wanting to improve the schools. Read More…

Local Issues

• Olentangy schools audit spurs theft report (Dispatch)

An Olentangy school board member has filed a theft report because a state audit said two district athletic directors had misused money in tournament accounts. Board member Adam White said he filed the complaint so authorities would launch a probe, not as an accusation that Jay Wolfe and Thomas Gerhardt broke the law. The report filed Thursday with the Delaware County sheriff’s office says only that a theft occurred and names Olentangy schools as the victim. Read More…

• Cleveland residents back Mayor Frank Jackson's plan for city schools, poll shows (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND — Cleveland residents aware of Mayor Frank Jackson's plan to improve schools in the city support it by a 2-to-1 ratio, according to a poll sought by Jackson and the Greater Cleveland Partnership. Sixty percent of those people said they have a positive opinion of the plan. The poll by the Triad Research Group in Rocky River also shows support for Jackson's plan rising to 75 percent after respondents were questioned about issues the Cleveland School District faces and about parts of the mayor's plan. Read More…

• TPS aims to beef up its magnet program (Blade)

The light glowed dimly, at least in the room, but served as a beacon for big plans and past ideas. Cody Hagen and Austin Miner, both 18, inspired by Nikola Tesla and working with a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, are developing ways to transmit electricity without wires. So far, they've made their wireless currents light up objects a couple of inches away; the MIT team is up to seven feet, they said. Still, they correspond frequently, with the Massachusetts side offering tips through email. Read More…

• Teachers stress finance skills (Enquirer)

Fourteen local educators and students were recognized recently for their work in financial literacy. The awards were presented March 22 by the University of Cincinnati’s Economics Center, which offers financial literacy programs for students and teacher training. The Economics Center says it’s important to recognize those who go above and beyond to help students understand financial issues. “The educators that we are honoring today are obviously exceptional teachers, but they are more than that,” said Economics Center’s Director, Julie Heath. Read More…

• Lorain union preparing for teacher cuts (Morning Journal)

LORAIN — The process of laying off Lorain City School teachers and other staff, which will play out over the next 30 days, is nothing new to Lorain Education Association Union President David Wood. Over the next month, Interim Superintendent Ed Branham will be meeting with staff to help determine the 119 teaching positions that will be cut at the end of this year. The employee cuts, which total 182 district wide, were announced at Thursday night’s school board meeting. Read More…

• Board wants to beef up summer-school program (Dispatch)

The Columbus Board of Education plans to expand summer-school offerings in 2013 and wants a committee to keep that in mind as it decides whether the district should ask voters for more money. The board voted yesterday to give the committee five district priorities, with expanded summer school topping the list. The committee is scheduled to deliver its recommendations to the board by June. Depending on when in June the advisory panel completes its work, the board might have only days to decide whether to seek a property tax in the general election this year. Read More…

• All good news for Little Miami Schools (Enquirer)

HAMILTON TWP. — The youngest students in Little Miami schools will once again go to kindergarten every day in neighborhood schools when classes resume next school year. In a reversal of a February decision, the state-appointed commission that has run the financially-struggling district since it was put in fiscal emergency two years ago approved three resolutions Thursday, making good on promises made to the community by the elected school board last November following voter approval of a 13.95-mill levy after eight failures. Read More…

• Chardon Superintendent Joe Bergant to stay with district another year (News-Herald)

Chardon Schools Superintendent Joe Bergant, whose resignation was scheduled to be effective in July, has chosen to stay with the district for another year. In making the announcement, the district said Bergant’s decision is a personal effort to help restore the learning environment which was severely disrupted on Feb. 27 as tragedy struck Chardon High when three students were killed and another three were injured. Read More…

Editorial

• Breathing space (Dispatch)

That Ohio has one of the nation’s toughest laws on charter-school accountability is a good thing; poorly-run charter schools can’t remain open, short-changing their students year after year. It also is a good thing that the Ohio Department of Education wants to put in place a tougher, more-realistic set of standards for grading schools, even though it will lower the grades of many. But the department shouldn’t allow the combination of those two to doom charter schools that are making progress. Read More…

• Awful literacy stats make the case for Jackson's school reform plan (Plain Dealer)

Imagine living in a place where nearly 44 out of every 100 residents are incapable of using a bus schedule to figure out how to arrive at work on time. Or in a community where the same number of people cannot write a brief letter explaining a credit card billing error. If you live in Cuyahoga County, you already are living that reality. Those measures are included in the sobering, countywide literacy findings regularly compiled by Case Western Reserve University's first-rate Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development. Read More…

• Boundary lines (Dispatch)

It appears the 26-year-old Win-Win territory agreement among Franklin County school districts needs a tune-up, as cash payments among districts may be out of whack and changes in state business taxes have complicated things. But Columbus City Schools and the suburban districts should keep negotiating toward adjustments to the pact. The one-of-a-kind agreement has allowed school-district boundaries to remain predictable during periods of dynamic development, and that’s something worth preserving. Read More…

Education News for 03-30-2012

Statewide Education News

• State audit faults Columbus schools’ tutor spending (Dispatch)

The Columbus school district paid tutoring groups for serving children who weren’t enrolled in Columbus schools and for services that were never provided, a state audit says. The district does “actively monitor” the federally required tutoring program, auditors said. Yet auditors “identified several inaccuracies and falsified vendor documents,” particularly on the invoices that tutoring groups submitted to the district. Read More…

• Ohio legislators aim to introduce Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's schools plan next week (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND — Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's sweeping plan to transform Cleveland schools won't reach the Statehouse launching pad this week as the mayor had hoped. Instead, legislators are giving him and the Cleveland Teachers Union one more chance to reach agreement first. Four legislators who have been working with the two sides announced Thursday they will hold off until after the union and the mayor's office meet again Tuesday. Read More…

Local Issues

• Cleveland schools, teachers union plan rally Saturday to showcase district's successes (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland School District and the Cleveland Teachers Union will hold a "Rally for Excellence" on Saturday, showcasing success in the city schools. The event, scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at East Technical High School, 2439 East 55th St., will feature author and Oprah Winfrey Network TV host Wes Moore as the keynote speaker at 11:45 a.m. A youth advocate, he is the author of the bestseller "The Other Wes Moore." Read More…

• ACTION demands answers from leaders (Vindicator)

Youngstown - State and local leaders were placed on the hot seat at Thursday’s ACTION meeting, where community members requested from them specific levels of commitment toward fixing the education system in Youngstown. At the meeting themed “Save Our Children,” state Sen. Joe Schiavoni of Canfield, D-33rd, Youngstown Superintendent Connie Hathorn and Larry Ellis from the Youngstown Education Association sat at a table in front of a packed Elizabeth Missionary Baptist Church on the city’s east side. Read More…

• Southeastern teens' anti-bullying video goes national (News-Sun)

SOUTH CHARLESTON — What started as a school project on bullying is gaining national attention. Tyler Gregory and Scott Hannah, both members of the Family Community Career Leaders of America, made an anti-bullying video as part of a project for the organization. The idea came following the national attention surrounding the suicide of 14-year-old Jamie Rodemeyer. “I never thought that we could stop bullying,” Gregory said. “But we wanted to do something that would alleviate it, help it out a little bit so people think before they do it.” Read More…

• Warren Schools may expand (Tribune Chronicle)

WARREN - Not even two years after the city school district opened two of its new buildings, officials are considering options to expand those buildings, at a cost of about $1 million. William A. Schurman, executive vice president at Hammond Construction, presented plans to the Warren City Schools Board of Education during a recent work session. Plans call for the addition of several classrooms at each of the Jefferson and McGuffey K-8 schools on the city's west side. Read More…

Poor schools can’t win

Without question, designing school and district rating systems is a difficult task, and Ohio was somewhat ahead of the curve in attempting to do so (and they’re also great about releasing a ton of data every year). As part of its application for ESEA waivers, the state recently announced a newly-designed version of its long-standing system, with the changes slated to go into effect in 2014-15. State officials told reporters that the new scheme is a “more accurate reflection of … true [school and district] quality.”

In reality, however, despite its best intentions, what Ohio has done is perpetuate a troubled system by making less-than-substantive changes that seem to serve the primary purpose of giving lower grades to more schools in order for the results to square with preconceptions about the distribution of “true quality.” It’s not a better system in terms of measurement – both the new and old schemes consist of mostly the same inappropriate components, and the ratings differentiate schools based largely on student characteristics rather than school performance.

So, whether or not the aggregate results seem more plausible is not particularly important, since the manner in which they’re calculated is still deeply flawed. And demonstrating this is very easy.

Rather than get bogged down in details about the schemes, the short and dirty version of the story is that the old system assigned six possible ratings based mostly on four measures: AYP; the state’s performance index; the percent of state standards met; and a value-added growth model (see our post for more details on the old system). The new system essentially retains most of the components of the old, but the formula is a bit different and it incorporates a new “achievement and graduation gap” measure that is supposed to gauge whether student subgroups are making acceptable progress. The “gap” measure is really the only major substantive change to the system’s components, but it basically just replaces one primitive measure (AYP) with another.*

Although the two systems yield different results overall, the major components of both – all but the value-added scores – are, directly or indirectly, “absolute performance” measures. They reflect how highly students score, not how quickly they improve. As a result, the measures are telling you more about the students that schools serve than the quality of instruction that they provide. Making high-stakes decisions based on this information is bad policy. For example, closing a school in a low-income neighborhood based on biased ratings not only means that one might very well be shutting down an effective school, but also that it’s unlikely it will be replaced by a more effective alternative.

Put differently, the most important step in measuring schools’ effectiveness is controlling for confounding observable factors, most notably student characteristics. Ohio’s ratings are driven by them. And they’re not the only state.

(Important side note: With the exception of the state’s value-added model, which, despite the usual issues, such as instability, is pretty good, virtually every indicator used by the state is a cutpoint-based measure. These are severely limited and potentially very misleading in ways that are unrelated to the bias. I will not be discussing these issues in this post, but see the second footnote below this post, and here and here for some related work.)**

The components of the new system

The severe bias in the new system’s constituent measures is unmistakable and easy to spot. To illustrate it in an accessible manner, I’ve identified the schools with free/reduced lunch rates that are among the highest 20 percent (highest quintile) of all non-charter schools in the state. This is an imperfect proxy for student background, but it’s sufficient for our purposes. (Note: charter schools are excluded from all these figures.)

The graph below breaks down schools in terms of how they scored (A-F) on each of the four components in the new system; these four grades are averaged to create the final grade. The bars represent the percent of schools (over 3,000 in total) receiving each grade that are in the highest poverty quintile. For example, looking at the last set of bars on the right (value-added), 17 percent of the schools that received the equivalent of an F (red bar) on the value-added component were high-poverty schools.

[readon2 url="http://shankerblog.org/?p=5511"]Continue reading[/readon2]