Getting academic standards right in the Buckeye State

Terry Ryan / September 30, 2009

What, exactly, will Ohio use for academic content standards for its students, schools, and teachers, and how, exactly, will the state hold them to account for results? Getting the standards right – specifying the knowledge and skills that teachers should teach and children should learn – is at the heart of just about everything else that matters in K-12 education. 

Or, as the American Federation of Teachers has observed, “abundant evidence suggests that common, rigorous standards lead to more students reaching higher levels of student achievement” (see here).

In short, standards wield significant influence over what happens inside classrooms.

The issue of creating and implementing great academic standards is a nonpartisan issue and it is critical to the future of Ohio, its schools, and its children. That’s why the Thomas B. Fordham Institute has partnered with Ohio Grantmakers Forum, KidsOhio.org, Ohio Education Matters, the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools, and the Ohio Business Alliance for Higher Education and the Economy to convene and host (with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) the conference “World-Class Academic Standards for Ohio.”

The time for such a conversation is now. Under recent changes to state law the State Board of Education is charged with revising and updating its statewide academic standards for K-12 in English language arts, math, science, and social studies by June 30, 2010. Further, the Buckeye State is one of 51 states and territories involved in the process to develop national

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Getting academic standards right in the Buckeye State

Could education tax credits help alleviate school funding woes?

Jamie Davies O'Leary / September 30, 2009

The justification behind tax credits is straightforward – to stimulate investment in a particular area by providing incentives that reduce the tax liability of individuals and/or corporations. Traditionally, tax credits have played a valuable role in industries that lack market momentum (think, the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit, or the Film Tax Credit for Ohio), often receiving bipartisan support and flying below the radar. Let’s face it: fixing historical buildings and promoting the film industry are not rife with contention.

But some tax credit advocates argue for their use in K-12 education as a tool to help families exercise school choice and save taxpayer dollars. There is no doubt that applying tax credits to K-12 education in the Buckeye State would create a stir (especially if it were to cost $120 million or $30 million, as Ohio’s Historic Preservation or Film Tax Credits cost, respectively). But considering the current condition of the state’s K-12 budget, the role played by tax credits – to spur much-need investment – is one that increasingly is worth examining.

With the Ohio Supreme Court ruling that Gov. Strickland’s slot machine plan is subject to voter approval, his school funding plan is short nearly $1 billion. Strickland has admitted his exasperation with the situation, telling the Dayton Daily News, “I’m hoping we can find [another] option. If you think of one overnight, write it down.”

Gov. Strickland isn’t the only one doing a double-take at the state’s balance sheets.

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Could education tax credits help alleviate school funding woes?

The Pursuit of High Quality Schools: A Progress Report on Ohio's Quest to Graduate More Students Ready for College and Career

September 30, 2009

Ohio Education Matters
August 2009

This report by Ohio Education Matters (OEM) analyzes the Buckeye State’s efforts over the past five years to address its prodigious high school dropout rate. In late 2004, the graduation and dropout rates in Ohio reached such a point that the State Board of Education’s Task Force on Quality High Schools moved to action, proposing systemic changes to combat the problem. Five years later, however, there has been little progress and the problem has worsened: the state’s average graduation rate dropped from 86.62 percent in 2004 to 84.2 percent in 2008. 

OEM disaggregates dropout data to examine the drop-out problem more closely. The report examines high schools statewide, specifically the 30 with the lowest graduation rates. Most of the conclusions drawn from this data are obvious and have been long-known. For example, the finding that the heart of Ohio’s dropout problem lies in the urban core is not a new one. However, the report draws two hopeful conclusions.

First, that schools with the highest dropout rates made above average progress in graduating students. Additionally, a few of the worst case schools were able to make significant improvements. The report also examines current strategies to address dropout rates and finds that a number of programs, such as the Initiative for Increasing the Graduation Rate, hold promise or have already begun to yield positive results.

Overall this report is a comprehensive survey of Ohio’s progress toward improving graduation rates. It proposes

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The Pursuit of High Quality Schools: A Progress Report on Ohio's Quest to Graduate More Students Ready for College and Career

Scrambling the Nest Egg: How well do teachers understand their pensions and what do they think about alternative pension structures?

September 30, 2009

Michael DeArmond & Dan Golhaber
National Center on Performance Incentives
February 2009 

Though released last winter, this report from the National Center on Performance Incentives is especially timely for the state of Ohio, where the State Retirement Teacher System (STRS) is facing serious fiscal liabilities and skepticism from lawmakers (see video above).  “Scrambling the Nest Egg” uses 2006 survey data from Washington state to explore: 1) How well do teachers understand their pension plans and 2) What do they think about alternative retirement plan structures?

The authors link survey results (to what extent teachers understand their pensions, and what type they say they prefer) to school and district characteristics. They found that teachers are fairly knowledgeable when it comes to their pension plan, although new teachers appear less knowledgeable than veterans. The data also reveal that teachers show a preference for investing additional retirement savings in alternative plan structures, such as defined-contribution (DC) plans, which offer more portability, choice, and risk than more traditional defined-benefit (DB) plans. Moreover, newer teachers are far more likely to favor DC contribution systems than DB plans.

The answers to the questions sought out by this report are critical because pension structure can support (or hinder) effective staffing by informing who decides to teach, when they teach, and where they teach. Under current DB plans participants are eligible to receive benefits only when they have taught in their state long enough to become vested (usually after five years),

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Scrambling the Nest Egg: How well do teachers understand their pensions and what do they think about alternative pension structures?

Ohio retirement study council member explains crisis facing state retirement systems

September 30, 2009

Fordham has had a keen interest in STRS since 2007. We frankly were not surprised last month when it came out that the STRS was facing serious funding shortfalls. As we have worked hard to better understand this issue and talk thoughtfully about it, we reached out to experts in Ohio and beyond.

One of the most thoughtful people in the Buckeye State on this now is Rep. Lynn Wachtmann, who also happens to sit on the State Retirement Study Council. His perspective and insights on the challenges facing the STRS and the state’s four other retirement systems are important for all who worry about these systems’ sustainability and their impact on things like new talent recruitment.

Mike Lafferty recently sat down with him to discuss his perspective on the STRS and retirement systems in the state of Ohio. View the interview here.

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Ohio retirement study council member explains crisis facing state retirement systems

Did you know?

September 30, 2009

Inspired by the “Graph of the Week” offered up by our friends at the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio, we’ll be rolling out regular graphics on the Flypaper blog to illustrate interesting trends and facts about public education, especially as they relate to Fordham’s home state of Ohio. Check out our first “Did you know?” post here.

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Did you know?

Pity those who have to implement accountability systems for 21st century skills

Terry Ryan / September 30, 2009

There has been much ink spent on the debate around 21st century skills. The eminent historian Diane Ravitch has rightly blasted 21st century skills as a fad with lineage that can be traced back to at least the early part of the 20th century… Pity the officials at state education departments facing legislative mandates to come up with criteria for measuring and determining whether students, or groups of students, have actually acquired these skills. Imagine a young person in 2014 not receiving a high school diploma because they have been deemed as not having the “personal management skills such as self-direction, time management, work ethic, enthusiasm and the desire to produce a high quality product.” This is a lawsuit simply waiting to happen. Read the post here.

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Pity those who have to implement accountability systems for 21st century skills