Education News for 03-29-2013

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State Education News

  • Board of directors’ votes to shut down Akron Digital Academy (Akron Beacon Journal)

    • With just more than half of its nine-member roster present, the board of directors for the Akron Digital Academy voted 4-1 Wednesday night to shut down the online school…Read more...

  • Bethel works to meet reading guarantee requirements (Cincinnati Enquirer)

    • School board members March 21 approved a resolution stating the district would not be compliant with the Third Grade Reading Guarantee requirements for the 2013-2014 school year…Read more...

  • Students sharing successes (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

    • From designing bridges and 3D projects to exploring their creative side, area high school students also are getting a head start on their college degrees…Read more...

  • Tests point to improved designation for Youngstown schools (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • Based on preliminary data, city school and state officials expect the Youngstown district to move to the equivalent of “continuous improvement” on the 2012-13 state report card…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Small crowds attended Conneaut school shooter meetings (Ashtabula Star-Beacon)

    • A subject dear to parents, the safety of their children, didn’t help put people into seats at a series of recent meetings outlining Conneaut’s school defense plans…Read more...

  • Striking Strongsville teachers obtain documents (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • Strongsville schools spent more than $1.1 million through the first two weeks of a teachers strike, according to figures the Strongsville Education Association…Read more...

  • ‘Still Frontier kids’ (Marietta Times)

    • Becoming a charter school would not sever Lawrence Elementary's ties with the Frontier Local school district…Read more...

  • Springboro school board posts contract proposals (Middletown Journal)

    • The Springboro school board has published contract proposals submitted by the board and the union representing district’s teachers and certified staff during their first negotiating session…Read more...

  • New school projects deficit in first 4 years (Springfield News-Sun)

    • Financial projections for the agricultural science school show that the academy would operate at a deficit for the first four years…Read more...

  • Documents detail cost of Strongsville teachers strike for district (Sun Newspapers)

    • According to recently released documents, the school district spent more than $1.1 million in preparation and execution through the first two weeks…Read more...

Teachers Love Their Lives, but Struggle in the Workplace

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A new Gallup poll finds

Teachers have high personal wellbeing, as evidenced by their high life evaluations and emotional wellbeing scores, and this may prove beneficial to their students and the broader community. It is unclear whether the relatively higher scores of teachers on several measures of wellbeing are because working in that profession enhances one's wellbeing, or if people who have higher wellbeing in general seek out teaching professions. Prior research, however, has demonstrated the significant role that the workplace plays in wellbeing outcomes. Still, teacher's low workplace wellbeing, relative to other professional occupations, indicates school and community leaders have important issues to address in the school workplace in order for teachers and students to reach their full potential. It is absolutely critical to raise teachers' workplace engagement, because their engagement is the No. 1 predictor and driver of student engagement, which Gallup research shows impacts student wellbeing and academic success. The positive news is that these workplace struggles can be addressed. Teachers and school leaders need to work together to improve the work environment.

Despite these workplace challenges, teachers love their work and the life it produces

Education News for 03-26-2013

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State Education News

  • Threat from February involved national security; 12-year-old charged (Chillicothe Gazette)

    • A threat that caused concern at Chillicothe Middle School in February also created alarm at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the Gazette has learned…Read more...

  • Judge rules Strongsville City Schools to release public records to teachers' union (WBNS)

    • An appeals court judge is ordering the Strongsville City School District…Read more...

  • What Chardon shooter TJ Lane's life sentence in prison (WBNS)

    • If you were like most people and found yourself disgusted at TJ Lane's courtroom…Read more...

  • Board’s evaluation rates superintendent a five of possible nine (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • Despite improved test scores, the school board evaluated Superintendent Connie Hathorn’s performance at a 5 out of a possible 9, down two points from last year…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Chillicothe school board cuts 10.5 teaching positions (Chillicothe Gazette)

    • The Chillicothe City School District Board of Education on Monday approved a reduction in force that cuts 101/2 more teaching positions from a staff that has shrunk by 14 percent in the past several years…Read more...

  • Student admits posting ‘angry’ videos (Columbus Dispatch)

    • A former Gahanna-Lincoln High School student admitted yesterday to a misdemeanor delinquency charge of inducing panic by posting an online video that some classmates considered threatening…Read more...

  • Coleman issues ultimatum to school board (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman will not support any permanent successor to Superintendent Gene Harris whom the city school board hires by this summer, he said yesterday…Read more...

  • Author connects with students, standards (Marion Star)

    • Taft Elementary School teachers hope a brush with fame encourages students to become better readers and storytellers…Read more...

  • Perrysburg schools may purchase classroom units from Sylvania schools (Toledo Blade)

    • Perrysburg schools are moving forward with a plan to purchase five classroom portable units from Sylvania schools for a short-term fix to its overcrowding issues…Read more...

Editorial

  • Panel could help curb child deaths (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Kaydence Lewinski, 5 months old, shaken and beaten to death; Angela Palmer, 4, burned to death; Brianna Blackmond, 23 months, beaten to death; Samuel and Solomon Simms, 6- year-old twins, strangled…Read more...

How Do High-Performing Nations Evaluate Teachers?

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Who decides if a teacher is effective and how is that determination made? School systems across the United States are struggling to answer that question as they try to design and implement teacher evaluation systems that are fair and accurate. It’s no easy task and is not limited to public schools in this country. School systems around the world are tackling the same issue and are finding consensus among education stakeholders to be elusive.

Teacher evaluations were the main topic of discussion at the 2013 International Summit on the Teacher Profession (ISTP) Summit held last week in Amsterdam. Now in its third year, the ISTP brought together leaders from teacher unions and education ministries to discuss issues around teacher quality, specifically the criteria used to determine teacher effectiveness and its purpose.

In most nations, teacher evaluation systems are essentially a “work in progress,” says Andreas Schleicher of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Schleicher, who attended the ISTP, is the principal author of the study that was presented at the summitt. The report, Teachers for the 21st Century: Using Evaluations to Improve Teaching, takes a look at how different nations are tackling this thorny issue (or not tackling it) and identifying specific models that appear to work – that is, have buy-in from key stakeholders and can point to demonstrable results in student achievement. Because consensus is so frustratingly elusive, most nations are treading carefully, although there is widespread acknowledgement that improved evaluation systems have to be on the menu of education policy reforms.

Of the 28 countries surveyed in the OECD report, 22 have formal policy frameworks in place at the national level to regulate teacher evaluations. The six education systems that do not have such frameworks include Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, but teachers in the countries still received professional feedback. In Denmark, for example, teachers receive feedback from their school administrators once a year. In Norway, teacher-appraisal policies are designed and implemented at the local or school level. In Iceland, evaluation is left to the discretion of individual schools and school boards.

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Education News for 03-25-2013

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State Education News

  • Before high school, students hearing value of college planning (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Several seventh- and eighth-graders at Ridgeview Junior High School in Pickerington already have started to map out their college plans, which include the University of Florida…Read more...

  • Stomachs growled, so lunch-food limits eased (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Some schools are beefing up cafeteria meals after the federal government ended limits on the amount of meat and grain on their menus…Read more...

  • Schools scrambling to ready for online testing (Lima News)

    • Like others in the region, Delphos schools will be ready when state online testing begins in the 2014-15 school year, but also like many, getting there won’t be easy…Read more...

  • How we got to 612 schools (Newark Advocate)

    • Public education in Ohio dates back to before it was a state, with the Northwest Ordinance putting an emphasis on creating schools to educate children…Read more...

  • Voucher plan concerns some area officials (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

    • School officials from Trumbull, Mahoning and Ashtabula counties on Friday met with state lawmakers about Gov. John Kasich's school funding plan and its potential impact on local districts…Read more...

  • Frustrated state lawmakers discuss school funding with Valley superintendents (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • Area school superintendents complained in a meeting with state legislators Friday about the proposed cutback of $600 million in public-school funding and the money they have to pay to charter schools…Read more...

Local Education News

  • School bus fleet ages and grows more costly to maintain as state shifts burden to local taxpayers (Akron Beacon Journal)

    • That school bus you see hauling kids down the road might look nice and yellow, but chances are good it’s old, costly and one of the reasons educators are making sacrifices in the education they provide…Read more...

  • Strengthening school security; Sheriff’s office proposes plan to place deputies in county districts (Lorain Morning Journal)

    • The Lorain County Sheriff’s Office wants to work with school districts in townships to periodically station deputies in school buildings…Read more...

  • Licking County schools wary of adding more shared services (Newark Advocate)

    • Every day, students attending Flying Colors Public Preschool learn a variety of lessons, including how to share…Read more...

  • Big districts can lead to bus issues (Newark Advocate)

    • Amanda King has an hour bus ride to and from Philo High School. This senior uses the morning trip to get the remainder of sleep out of her eyes, and the way home is spent in anticipation of getting something to eat before chores and homework…Read more...

  • Perrysburg Schools named Best Community for Music Education (Toledo Blade)

    • Perrysburg School District has, for the seventh year in a row, been selected as on of the Best Communities for Music Education by the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation…Read more...

  • Kenston, teachers union without contract, working with federal mediator (Willoughby News Herald)

    • A federal mediator is working with the Kenston Education Association and district administrators to help iron out differences arising in contract negotiations…Read more...

  • Columbiana school board clarifies use of bond funds (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • During a special meeting, the Columbiana school board unanimously adopted a resolution clarifying how the proceeds would be spent if…Read more...

Editorial

    A new leader for Ohio schools (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    The swearing-in Monday of Richard Ross as Ohio's new state school superintendent comes at a critical time for state education policy. Pending reforms put a premium on stability and integrity at the top…Read more...

  • Kasich's funding formula fails traditional schools; redrafting by the General Assembly is imperative (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • The Ohio legislature ought to rewrite Gov. John Kasich's flawed school-funding formula to reflect the state's higher priority -- adequate funding of the state's traditional public schools…Read more...

  • Mayor Coleman: Let us help (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Over the past several months, we’ve seen our community come together like never before behind the cause of educating our children…Read more...

  • Promising minds are overlooked (Columbus Dispatch)

    • It’s unfortunate that most of the top high-school achievers who are poor don’t apply to the nation’s most-selective colleges and universities…Read more...

  • Settle on system for measurement of Ohio school performance (Lorain Morning Journal)

    • The problem with labels is they rarely tell the whole story. In the case of the Ohio Department of Education’s newest label, the story of school performance has become muddled…Read more...

Education News for 03-22-2013

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Local Education News

  • Canton schools superintendent outlines reorganization plan Akron Beacon Journal)

    • A wide-ranging plan for Canton City Schools that would introduce more choice is taking aim at publicly funded charter schools that pull students — and money — from traditional buildings…Read more...

  • Conneaut school officials unveil defense plan Ashtabula Star-Beacon)

    • School officials in Conneaut unveiled their defense plan to parents and the public in case of an armed intruder Thursday night in the first of four meetings scheduled at each of the districts buildings…Read more...

  • Educators say “stop the misuse of standardized testing” Athens Messenger)

    • Those who think there’s an over-use of standardized testing in public schools have signed an online petition…Read more...

  • Reform not often demanded of school boards, panel told Columbus Dispatch)

    • Voters typically don’t replace ineffective school board members and rarely demand reform from failing districts, an education policy expert told the Columbus Education Commission yesterday…Read more...

  • Jackson school board member guilty in threats Columbus Dispatch)

    • A 25-year member of the Jackson City Schools Board of Education has been found guilty of intimidation of a public servant for sending threatening letters to educators and other school-board members in the southeastern Ohio district…Read more...

  • Strongsville Mayor's proposed meeting with teachers, school board is shot down Sun Newspapers)

    • Mayor Thomas Perciak's proposed negotiating meeting between the board and teachers union representatives at 10 a.m. March 22 has fallen through…Read more...

  • Parents share concerns over Supt. Hathorn's schools plan Youngstown Vindicator)

    • Gertrude and Alvin Hosea can live with city schools Superintendent Connie Hathorn’s revitalization plan for the schools as long as their granddaughter gets to stay at Kirkmere Elementary School next year…Read more...