A tale of two cities: student achievement in Dayton and Columbus

Terry Ryan / September 4, 2008

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...." Charles Dickens' line about Paris and London in the 18^th century applies aptly to the state of public education in Columbus and Dayton in 2008.

After the release, recently, of the latest state report-card data, it may seem more like the best of times for Columbus and its district schools, which continue on an upward climb and the worst of times in Dayton for its district schools.

This is not to say that both districts don't share some challenges. Dayton Public Schools' enrollment has contracted by almost 18 percent in six years and Columbus City Schools' by more than 16 percent. Both districts have lost students to charter schools and both are educating a large percentage of needy and minority children. Both, also, are seeking to pass an operating levy in November, and each has made clear that, should their levies fail, painful cuts will be made to academic programs. But this is where similarities end.

The Columbus City Schools have been making steady academic progress. The district has seen its Performance Index Score (a weighted average of student achievement across all state tests) steadily rise (from 67.5 in 2002-03 to 81.7 in 2007-08). The district was rated in continuous improvement (a "C" on the state's designation system) in both 2007 and 2008, and it has seen the number of its students passing all or parts of the state's achievement tests

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A tale of two cities: student achievement in Dayton and Columbus

Zelman reviews a near-decade as top school super

Mike Lafferty / September 4, 2008

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Susan Tave Zelman announced this week that she will become the senior vice president for education and children's programming at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting beginning Nov. 3. She had announced her resignation in May after Governor Ted Strickland attacked her performance and called for an overhaul of education policy in his February State of the State address.

Zelman and her influence on public education in the Buckeye State will be missed (as Fordham's president Chester E. Finn, Jr. noted here).  We wish her all the best on her future endeavors; this influential post at CPB seems like an excellent fit for Dr. Z. We also understand that today is her birthday-and hope that she has a happy one.

Zelman-who works for the Ohio State Board of Education, not for the governor-has been state school superintendent for 9½ years. She recently reflected on her tenure in a conversation with Gadfly Editor Mike Lafferty.

Q. Nobody likes to leave like the way you're leaving, but you had a pretty good run as superintendent.

A. We've worked hard, and we're proud of our accomplishments. I understand how the governor may want his own team. I wish him well.

Q. Have you discussed education with the governor?

A. We had discussions.... We've never had a conversation as I'm having with you here today to clearly articulate our visions-his vision or my vision-on education, but we both want the best in education for

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Zelman reviews a near-decade as top school super

Fordham teams with Whitman to explore inner-city achievement

September 4, 2008

The most exciting innovation in education policy in the last decade is the emergence of highly effective schools in our nation's inner cities, schools where disadvantaged teens make enormous gains in academic achievement. In his new book, Sweating the Small Stuff (published by Fordham), freelance journalist David Whitman, a former senior writer for U.S. News & World Report, takes readers inside six of these secondary schools and reveals the secret to their success: they are "paternalistic."

The schools teach youngsters how to act according to traditional, middle-class values, set and enforce exacting academic standards, and closely supervise student behavior. But, according to Whitman, unlike paternalistic institutions of the past, these schools are warm, caring places, where teachers and principals form paternal-like bonds with students. Though little explored to date, the new paternalistic schools are the most promising means yet for closing the nation's costly and shameful achievement gap.

You may purchase Sweating the Small Stuff here. (For review copies, please contact Christina Hentges.)

For a national Education Gadfly piece by Checker Finn and Marci Kanstoroom, see here.

For an EdNews interview with Whitman, see here.

For George F. Will's review, see here.

For Cory Bunje Bower's review, see here.

For David Whitman's response to Cory Bower, see here.

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Fordham teams with Whitman to explore inner-city achievement

Poop plan eyed to pay for scholarships

Mike Lafferty / September 4, 2008

AKRON, Ohio - Voters will decide Nov. 4 if leasing the city sewage system to a private contractor and using the money to finance college and technical-school scholarships for Akron public high-school grads is a good idea (see here).

Wits have dubbed the idea "stools for schools," according to the Associated Press's Thomas J. Sheeran. But Mayor Don Plusquellic said he's giving the city the straight poop when he estimates Akron, eventually, could realize $200 million from the idea (see here). The mayor believes the money could help arrest a "brain drain" of educated Akron residents from the city, which has suffered from the decline of the rubber industry and other manufacturing sectors.

The plan is a spinoff from programs such as one in Kalamazoo, Mich. (see here). The idea is to provide scholarships to students in the city to attend the University of Akron or an Akron trade or technical school with the idea they would remain in the community to work.

Participating schools would have to be in Akron and be approved by the city, Akron Service Director Rick Merolla told The Gadfly. Akron's city website indicates that district-school and parochial-school graduates would be eligible to participate (see here). Graduates of Akron school-district-sponsored charter high schools would be eligible. The city has one of those. He also said charters sponsored by non-profit groups might be eligible but graduates of so-called "for-profit" charters would not. So students at

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Poop plan eyed to pay for scholarships

August 6 Editorial

September 4, 2008

In our August 6 issue we misstated some requirements of the Ohio Core curriculum. Ohio high school students entering ninth grade after July 2010 will be required, among other things, to take four years of math, including Algebra II, and three years of lab-based science, including an upper-level course like chemistry or physics. See the full Ohio Core requirements here.

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August 6 Editorial

Herrmann to join Fordham-Ohio policy team

September 4, 2008

Dr. Suzannah Herrmann will join the Thomas B. Fordham Institute as Director for Ohio Programs and Policy on Sept. 8.

Herrmann, a Vermont native, has a bachelor's and a master's degree from the University of Vermont. Her Ph.D. is from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She comes to Fordham from the American Institutes for Research, where she evaluated national programs funded by the U.S. Department of Education. These studies have included the National Longitudinal Evaluation of Comprehensive School Reform, Enhanced Reading Opportunities Project, Mathematics Professional Development Impact Study, and the Adult ESL Literacy Impact Study. Prior to joining AIR, she worked as a consultant with RMC Research Corp. on early and family literacy projects. She has served as a project coordinator of the Carolina Family Literacy Studies, a series of research studies on North Carolina family literacy programs as part of the National Center for Early Development and Learning at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center. She was also a fellow of Putting Children First, a summer fellowship in child-and-family policy offered by the Center for Children and Families at Teachers College, Columbia University, through funding from the William T. Grant Foundation.

Herrmann will be based in Fordham's Columbus office.

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Herrmann to join Fordham-Ohio policy team