DPS on the Move

August 9, 2006

Dayton Public Schools has found the light at the end of a very dark tunnel. Or as DPS Superintendent Percy Mack said, "Well, at least now we know the light is on."

Last week, Mack announced that DPS would jump two spots on Ohio's school rating system, from Academic Emergency into Continuous Improvement--skipping Academic Watch altogether. No mean feat for a district that has earned the state's lowest rating for the past eight years.

State rules automatically allow low-ranked districts that jump ten points in three years on the state's Performance Index--and grow by at least three points in the most recent year--to earn a Continuous Improvement rating. DPS moved from 61.3 to 73.2 on the Performance Index over three years, gains Mack attributes to hard work and improved instruction and accountability. (There's no mention of the intense competition from Dayton's charter schools, which has put added pressure on the district to reform.)

While DPS's achievement is certainly impressive and long overdue, the district still has a long way to go. Stay on the move, DPS.

"District Out of ‘Academic Emergency'," by Scott Elliot, The Dayton Daily News, August 2, 2006.

"Dayton Earned Its Better Grades," Editorial, The Dayton Daily News, August 6, 2006.

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DPS on the Move

Hoosier Daddy?

August 9, 2006

Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) chief Eugene G. White has a simple message for his middle school principals. Get results or get out.

Tired of IPS middle schools' lackluster test results and mounting discipline problems, White gave principals one year to turn things around. "Unless we improve instruction and create a safe, orderly climate for kids, we're going to have new leadership," White stated. If that doesn't work, White may abolish the district's middle schools altogether. (What we know about middle schools--read here--suggests the latter idea has merit.)

Last year, all nine IPS middle schools ranked in the bottom quartile in state tests scores. Suspension rates were as a high as one or more for every two students. Little wonder parents are withdrawing their children from IPS rather than sending them to a district middle school.

Ohio's urban district leaders know something about dwindling enrollment. Perhaps they should take a cue from a Hoosier. Don't go soft in the middle.

"IPS Chief Warns Middle Schools: Shape Up," by Andy Gammill, The Indianapolis Star, August 2, 2006.

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Hoosier Daddy?

Core Concerns Overblown

Quentin Suffren , Terry Ryan / August 9, 2006

In a recent Columbus Dispatch op ed, Matthew Carr, Education Policy Director at the Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions, raised several concerns about Governor Taft's "Ohio Core" proposal. The plan, which is up for debate this fall in the legislature, would have all high schools--district, charter, and private alike--require students to complete a curriculum that consists of (at least) four years of math courses, three years of science and social studies, and two years of a foreign language. Note, though, that individual students could "opt out" of the required Core (with their parents' approval). 

Carr contends that the "Ohio Core" would impose a rigid, "one-size-fits-all" curriculum on schools, preventing them from innovating and from devising more effective methods for meeting a variety of student needs. He also objects to the assumption that students with no college plans need college prep courses to make it in the workplace.

Carr is a friend of education reform and Buckeye is a quality place that often bubbles with good ideas. Unfortunately, they're wrong about the Ohio Core.

First, Carr is incorrect in his assertion that the Taft plan would be inflexible and would stifle innovation in the classroom. Most private schools and middle-class district schools already require such demanding coursework of their students. They know that such a curriculum is essential for success in today's world--and students and parents are beating paths to their doors. It is poor children who often lack access to such

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Core Concerns Overblown

Democracy on Display in Columbus

Quentin Suffren , Terry Ryan / August 9, 2006

Speaker of the House Jon Husted (R-Dayton) and Senator Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo) recently squared off in Columbus, engaging in a 90-minute debate on school choice in Ohio. The debate was hosted by the Columbus Rotary Club.

While Speaker Husted defended charter schools and Ohio's new voucher program as integral to the state's school reform efforts, Senator Fedor argued they have undermined public education in Ohio. And though no one left bruised or bloody, the debate was informative and entertaining political theater.

Speaker Husted led with a four-pronged argument:

First, wealthy and middle class families in the Buckeye State have always had school choice. Less fortunate families should, too.

Second, school choice--and in particular charter schools--has played a significant role in reducing the state's high school drop-out rate. Case in point is Montgomery County's hugely successful ISUS charter school, which has helped the county lower its dropout rate from 25.6 percent in 2000 to just over 12 percent in 2005.

Third, charter schools, and now vouchers, provide space for innovation in education, from single gender education and drop-out recovery programs, to schools with extended days and academic calendars. Cyber-schools now serve about 15,000 students in Ohio, and this figure is growing significantly each year.

Fourth, school choice has forced traditional district schools to get better through competition. For example, Dayton Public Schools, long mired in Academic Emergency--the state's lowest rating--will be rated in Continuous Improvement when the state issues report cards next week. While district leaders, teachers

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Democracy on Display in Columbus

The OEA Misfires

Quentin Suffren / August 9, 2006

With its new report evaluating charter schools, the Ohio Education Association (OEA) launches another salvo in the already polarized charter school debate.

Not surprisingly, it's far off the mark.

The OEA complains that charters receive more state funding than traditional districts, $6,734 per students versus $3,329 per student, respectively. Yet this difference exists only because charters receive no local dollars to supplement their budgets. Meanwhile, traditional districts pull in hefty sums from local tax levies. The result is that that the major urban districts (where most charters operate) outspend charter schools hands down. Ohio Department of Education figures from 2004-05 show Columbus Public Schools and Dayton Public Schools leading the pack with per-pupil expenditures of $12,734 and $12,732--nearly double that of most charter schools. A comprehensive study conducted by Fordham--see here--found similar inequities across the state.

Moreover, these figures don't include state facility funds, of which charters receive none. Columbus and Cincinnati Public Schools are currently overseeing building projects with price tags over $1 billion--all paid for with taxpayer dollars. Meanwhile, charter schools must shoulder facility costs and educate their students for about 70 cents on every traditional school dollar.

As for achievement, the report decries charter performance-noting that 71 percent of these schools are either on academic watch or in academic emergency, compared with just 49 percent of traditional schools. To be sure, charter schools (and many traditional public schools) struggle academically. But the OEA's broad comparison pits charters schools against

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The OEA Misfires

No Child Left Behind Act: States Face Challenges Measuring Academic Growth

Kristina Phillips-Schwartz / August 9, 2006

A recent GAO report suggests that growth models can help all students become academically proficient as required by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Such models could allow states to measure students' academic progress from year to year, making it easier to show growth in student learning and meet Average Yearly Progress (AYP) targets.

It won't be easy, though.

Growth models depend on comprehensive data management systems, which few states currently have. Other challenges include creating data and assessment systems that can track individual student performance across grades and schools; hiring individuals who can analyze and communicate growth model results; and merging the growth models into state accountability systems, which are already in place.  

While 26 states, including Ohio, have some form of a growth model in place now--or will soon, only seven states can track individual student growth over time. And just two states, Tennessee and North Carolina, are actually running growth model programs approved by the Department of Education. Nonetheless, the report's authors believe all states can create growth models for students to reach proficiency by NCLB's deadline of 2014.

Though not a sexy read, the report does a good job of detailing the challenges and promises of using growth models. Too bad it provides little guidance for states such as Ohio, which faces a potentially rocky implementation of its own model in 2007-08.

Ohio will simply have to blaze its own trail.

Read the report here.

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No Child Left Behind Act: States Face Challenges Measuring Academic Growth