Dick Ross blind to charter disaster

As part of the recent school report card revamp, the legislature directed the Ohio Department of Education to rank and sort schools. If the goal was to shame traditional public schools, the release of that ranking has backfired spectacularly. The ranking can be downloaded here.

Out of the bottom 200 districts, just 21 are traditional public schools, the remaining 179 are charter schools!. Considering there are far more traditional public schools in Ohio than charters this is an incredible result.

In the bottom 100, only 3 are public districts (Dayton, East Cleveland, and Warrensville Heights) the remaining schools are all charters. The bottom 100 are all listed below.

In light of this stunning news of charter failure, Dick Ross, the state superintendent was asked about it

Mr. Ross said he visits a lot of high-quality charter schools. "When I hear people criticizing community schools, I say well, yeah, but you know I've been to some and seen some not so good traditional schools," he said.

When asked if Ohio's closure laws for charters are adequate, he said, "I think we probably need to do more with dealing with traditional brick and mortar schools and community schools."

"Right now poor-performing school districts, I'm able to start academic distress committees with them. I probably, to be honest, have more control over closing community schools than I do traditional schools..."

It is stunning that the State Superintendent, when faced with incontrovertible evidence of the the failure of charter schools instead points towards traditional public schools, of which only 3 districts appear in the bottom 100, as an area he wants to focus on. This should come as no surprise as Ross recently hired a tea party reactionary to oversee the charter school disaster in Ohio, even though that reactionary is more interested in bashing teachers unions that addressing charter school quality.

Make no mistake, Dick Ross is failing Ohio's students by the blindness caused by his ideological crusade.

2013 PI Ranking	District Name	District Org Type	2013 Grade Span
762	Horizon Science Academy-Cincinnati	Community School	K-12
763	Summit Academy Toledo Learning Center	Community School	K-12
764	Southern Ohio Academy	Community School	7-12
764	Urbana Community School	Community School	K-12
766	Lakeland Academy Community School	Community School	K-12
767	Groveport Community School	Community School	K-8
768	STEAM Academy of Warren	Community School	K-8
769	Dayton City	Public District	K-12
770	Arts and Science Preparatory Academy	Community School	K-12
771	Summit Academy Transition High School-Columbus	Community School	8-12,UNG
772	Hope Academy Cuyahoga Campus	Community School	K-8
773	Hope Academy Chapelside Campus	Community School	K-8
774	Hope Academy University	Community School	K-8
775	Summit Academy Akron Middle School	Community School	5-10,UNG
776	Summit Academy Akron Elementary School	Community School	K,1-10,UNG
777	East Cleveland City	Public District	K-12
778	Imagine Hill Avenue	Community School	K-12
779	Horizon Science Academy Dayton Downtown	Community School	K-12
780	Knight Academy	Community School	4-8
781	South Scioto Academy	Community School	K-12
782	Horizon Science Academy-Dayton	Community School	K-12
783	City Day Community School	Community School	K-8
784	North Central Academy	Community School	6-12
785	Constellation Schools: Mansfield Community Middle	Community School	4-8
786	Dayton Leadership Academies-Dayton Liberty Campus	Community School	K-8
787	Ashland County Community Academy	Community School	9-12
788	Bella Academy of Excellence	Community School	K-8
789	North Dayton School Of Science & Discovery	Community School	K-8
790	Springfield Academy of Excellence	Community School	K-6
791	A+ Children's Academy	Community School	K-12
792	Midnimo Cross Cultural Community School	Community School	K-12
793	Eagle Academy	Community School	K-12
794	Pearl Academy	Community School	K-12
795	Lakewood Digital Academy	Community School	K-12
796	Northpointe Academy	Community School	K-12
797	Cincinnati Speech & Reading Intervention Center	Community School	K-8
798	C.M. Grant Leadership Academy	Community School	K-8
799	Harvard Avenue Community School	Community School	K-8
800	Educational Academy for Boys & Girls	Community School	K-12
801	Foxfire Intermediate School	Community School	K-8
802	Summit Academy Community School-Parma	Community School	K,1-12,UNG
803	Summit Academy Alternative LearnersWarren Middle & Secondary	Community School	5-12,UNG
804	Focus Learning Academy of Northern Columbus	Community School	K-8
805	Warrensville Heights City	Public District	K-12
806	Lorain High School Digital	Community School	K-12
807	Constellation Schools: Outreach Academy for Students with Di	Community School	K-12
808	Summit Academy Community School - Painesville	Community School	K,1-10,UNG
809	Summit Academy Community School - Cincinnati	Community School	K,1-8,UNG
810	Autism Model School	Community School	K-12
811	Southside Academy	Community School	K-12
812	Lake Erie Academy	Community School	K-12
813	Summit Academy Community School-Warren	Community School	K,1-10,UNG
814	Dayton Leadership Academies-Dayton View Campus	Community School	K-8
815	Summit Acdy Comm Schl for Alternative Learners of Middletown	Community School	K,1-10,UNG
816	Garfield Academy	Community School	K-12
817	Summit Academy Middle School - Lorain	Community School	5-10,UNG
818	Star Academy of Toledo	Community School	K-12
819	Summit Academy-Youngstown	Community School	K-12
820	Columbus Bilingual Academy-North	Community School	K-8
821	Summit Academy Community School - Dayton	Community School	K,1-12,UNG
822	Youngstown Academy of Excellence	Community School	K-12
823	Academy of Educational Excellence	Community School	K-5
824	V L T Academy	Community School	K-12
825	Summit Academy Secondary School - Middletown	Community School	8-12,UNG
826	Imagine Woodbury Academy	Community School	K-8
827	Imagine Cleveland Academy	Community School	K-6
828	Cesar Chavez College Preparatory School	Community School	K-5
829	Klepinger Community School	Community School	K-8
830	Renaissance Academy	Community School	K-12
831	Premier Academy of Ohio	Community School	6-12
832	Summit Academy Community School Alternative Learners -Xenia	Community School	K,1-10,UNG
833	Cincinnati Leadership Academy	Community School	K-8
834	Summit Academy Secondary - Canton	Community School	8-12,UNG
835	Quest Community School	Community School	9-12
836	Summit Academy Middle School - Columbus	Community School	5-12,UNG
837	Summit Academy Community School for Alternative Learn-Canton	Community School	K,1-10,UNG
838	Summit Academy Community School Alternative Learners-Lorain	Community School	K,1-10,UNG
839	Believe to Achieve-Canton	Community School	K-12
840	Summit Academy Community School-Columbus	Community School	K,1-10,UNG
841	Imagine on Superior	Community School	K-6
842	Summit Academy Community School-Toledo	Community School	K,1-10,UNG
843	Accelerated Achievement Academy of East Cincinnati	Community School	9-12
844	Cleveland Community School	Community School	K-12
845	Villaview Community School	Community School	K-9
846	Dow Leadership Institute, The	Community School	K-12
847	Broadway Academy	Community School	K-8
848	Young Scholars Prep School	Community School	K-12
849	Woodland Academy	Community School	K-12
850	Summit Academy Secondary - Youngstown	Community School	8-12,UNG
851	Accelerated Achievement Academy of North Cincinnati	Community School	9-12
852	Brookwood Academy	Community School	3-12
853	College Hill Leadership Academy	Community School	K-8
854	Mollie Kessler	Community School	1-8
855	Theodore Roosevelt Public Community School	Community School	K-12
856	Mansfield Elective Academy	Community School	K-9
857	Imagine Integrity Academy	Community School	K-8
858	Hope Academy for Autism	Community School	K-12
859	Believe To Achieve-Cleveland	Community School	K-12
860	East End Comm Heritage School	Community School	K-12
861	Virtual Schoolhouse, Inc.	Community School	K-12
862	UBAH Math & Reading Academy	Community School	K-8

How can Dick Ross and the Governor look at that list and think that Ohio's charter school status quo is acceptable?

RttT States Implementing Teacher Evaluation Systems despite Challenges

The Government Accounting Office looked at the progress states have made implementing teacher evaluations as part of the Race to the Top (RttT) grants, of which Ohio was one. The results were decidedly mixed.

What GAO Found
By school year 2012-13, 6 of 12 Race to The Top (RTT) states fully implemented their evaluation systems (i.e., for all teachers and principals in all RTT districts). However, their success in fully implementing by the date targeted in their RTT applications varied. Three of these states met their target date while three did not for various reasons, such as needing more time to develop student academic growth measures. The six states that did not fully implement either piloted or partially implemented. The scope of pilots varied. One state piloted to about 14 percent of teachers and principals while another piloted to about 30 percent of teachers. State or district officials in four of the six states expressed some concerns about their readiness for full implementation.

Officials in most RTT states cited challenges related to developing and using evaluation measures, addressing teacher concerns, and building capacity and sustainability. State officials said it was difficult to design and implement rigorous student learning objectives—an alternate measure of student academic growth. In 6 states, officials said they had difficulty ensuring that principals conducted evaluations consistently. Officials in 11 states said teacher concerns about the scale of change, such as the use of student academic growth data and consequences attached to evaluations, challenged state efforts. State and district officials also discussed capacity challenges, such as too few staff or limited staff expertise and prioritizing evaluation reform amid multiple educational initiatives. Officials in 10 states had concerns about sustaining their evaluation systems.

Education helps RTT states meet their goals for teacher and principal evaluation systems through a new monitoring process and through technical assistance. Education officials said the RTT monitoring process differs from other monitoring efforts in the frequency of contact with the states and the emphasis on continuous improvement and quality of RTT reforms. Officials from 8 of the 12 RTT states expressed generally positive views about Education’s monitoring.

When states have not demonstrated adequate progress, Education has taken corrective action. For example, Education designated two states as high-risk, which resulted in additional monitoring. Education provides technical assistance through a contractor; officials from 10 RTT states told us assistance related to evaluation systems was generally helpful. Education officials said they plan to provide RTT and nongrantee states with more information to support their efforts.

We are also hearing that SLO development is a big problem, along with capacity. We've also heard that a number of educators had their initial walk-thru on week one, while they were still getting classes up and running.

HEre's where Ohio stands compared to other states, according to the GAO

You can read the full report, here.

The Real ABC's of Betrayal

This was sent to us (and the Dispatch), and is penned by a 6th gre math teacher, in response to the recent Dispatch article on failing charter schools. The ABC's of Betrayal is a reference to the Dispatch's gratuitous attacks on teachers'

First a short bit of background: I am in my 10th year of teaching, but this is my second career. I spent close to 13 years in the tech industry and have an MBA so I bring a bit of a different perspective to the classroom.

As a teacher I read with interest many of the education stories in the Dispatch, which isn't always easy, especially in the last few years. I understand the necessity for the scrutiny our "industry" receives because of what we do, but I always felt like a large part of the education story wasn't being told. Then I saw your story about failed charter schools.

I hope you will consider looking into charter school funding. It was recently brought to my attention that when a student attends a charter school the "money follows the student". As a taxpayer and parent, I can understand the argument for money following the student. What I find disturbing, and I hope you find compelling enough to write about, is that the money remains with the charter regardless of how long a student stays at the charter. My understanding is that a student could attend the charter for 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, etc., decide that it wasn't right for them and return to their home school, but the money,doesn't return with the student.

What a fantastic business model for charters. Charters can heavily advertise the supposed benefits of their schools, not disclose they are for profit institutions, enroll as many students as possible, and not worry about losses. Why should charters even care if they educate children. I was told that ECOT enrolled almost 11,000 students last year, but less than 600 students stayed for the entire year. No wonder more charters schools want to open every year.

If any of this is true, the students of charter schools who don't stay, their families, the public school systems, and taxpayers are all subsidizing a system whose business model is designed, with Ohio law's blessing, to enrich the owners. To me that represents "The ABC's of Betrayal" more starkly than what many public schools are accused of doing.

The Best Fix to Poverty: Unions

In light of the clear evidence that poverty is the leading cause of student underperformance, this report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) should carry some uncomfortable truths for corporate education reformers

The Census Bureau will be releasing new data on poverty this week and no one is expecting much by the way of good news. While the country made considerable progress in reducing the poverty rate in the sixties and seventies, there has been little show for the last three decades. The downturn has reversed any progress that we made over this period.

However this is not the story everywhere. Other wealthy countries have considerably lower poverty rates than the United States. There are a variety of factors that affect poverty rates but one that stands out is the power of unions. There is a very strong inverse relationship between the percentage of workers who are covered by a union contract and the poverty rate as measured by the OECD.

A simple regression shows that a 10 percentage point increase in the percentage of workers covered by a union contract is associated with a 0.7 percentage point drop in the poverty rate. (This result is significant at a 1.0 percent level.) This means that countries like Sweden, Belgium, and France, where the coverage rate is close to 90 percent, can be expected to have poverty rates that are more than 5.0 percentages points lower than in the United States, where the coverage rate is less than 15 percent. In the case of the United States this would imply a reduction in the poverty rate of almost a third from current levels.

The graph shows just how clear this evidence is too

This might also explain why non unionized charter schools in Ohio underperform their unionized traditional public school counterparts.

Poverty driving factor in performance

Despite all the policy prescriptions put forward by corporate education reformers, such as privatization, standardized testings, teacher evaluations, union busting and "choice", the one policy area they seem incapable of addressing is the issue that drives student performance more than any other. Poverty.

The Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA), Ohio Association of School Business Officials (OASBO) and Buckeye Association of School Administrators (BASA) performed analysis using the latest school report cards o once again demonstrate how poverty is inextricably linked to performance.

Analysis of the most recent school district state report cards confirms research that shows poverty has a direct correlation to student performance. Using the report cards’ Performance Index (PI) as the measure, analysts examined the relationship between the PI and average income in a school district; poverty rate; percentage of residents with college degrees; and minority population.
[...]
The Performance Index is a measure of how well students performed on the state assessments. It is more than just the percentage of students achieving proficiency. Its range allows the public to judge how much higher students performed beyond proficiency.

The 123 Ohio school districts considered by the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) to be suburban districts showed not only the highest PI scores, but also the highest average income, lowest poverty rate and highest concentration of college degrees.

The graphs of Performance vs Poverty are striking

AS can be seen, there is almost a straight line extrapolation between performance and poverty level. No amount of high stakes testing or teacher bashing is going to overcome this. Investment will be the critical factor to raise the achievement levels of students from poor backgrounds.

Ohio falling behind in school funding

More and more people are starting to notice the troubling defunding of Ohio's public education system. Via Ohio.com

Two Washington, D.C., public policy groups say Ohio’s reductions in aid to public schools and the inequality among school districts have hampered efforts to boost graduation rates and cut in half the achievement gaps among low-income and minority students despite $204 million in additional federal funding.
[...]
Ohio lawmakers actually have allocated $165.6 million less in state aid this year than was set aside in 2008, according to a Beacon Journal analysis. Additional funding in the next two-year budget finally will surpass inflation-adjusted 2008 levels after six years of reduced aid.

Regardless, many schools have operated on less over the past five years.

Less funding equates to larger class sizes, less after-school and summer programming, and a stalled effort to implement national testing and teacher evaluations, Leachman said.

Efforts like the Straight A Fund are gimmicks designed to hide the true budget cuts schools are having to deal with.