The cost of online learning and why it matters to Ohio

Terry Ryan / January 11, 2012

What does online learning really cost? Can it, in fact, be both better in terms of improving student achievement and overall less expensive than traditional bricks and mortar schools? These fundamental questions are what the Fordham Institute’s new paper, “The Cost of Online Learning”, gamely tries to tackle. In short, the paper shows that online learning has the potential to save education money while also improving the quality of instruction available to students.

The Parthenon Group (the national research firm that helped craft Ohio’s winning Race to the Top application) provided the research. They conducted more than 50 interviews with entrepreneurs, policy experts and school leaders across the country to come up with “an informed set of estimates regarding the cost of virtual and blended schools” across five categories – labor (teacher and administrators), content acquisition, technology and infrastructure, school operations, and student support.

Using these five categories as the basis of comparison the researchers compared a “typical” traditional model (brick and mortar school where instruction is delivered by teachers), a “typical” blended model (students attend brick and mortar schools where they alternate between online and in-person instruction) and a “typical” full virtual model (all instruction takes place online). In blended schools like Carpe Diem, Rocketship, and KIPP Empower, technology is used as a tool to personalize instruction for students who spend part of their time in traditional classroom settings and part of their time learning through varied and personalized forms of digital learning opportunities. In contrasts, virtual models like Florida Virtual School, Connections Academy, and K-12 offer online instruction that

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The cost of online learning and why it matters to Ohio

The case for more details in Ohio’s history standards

Emmy L. Partin / January 11, 2012

Hearken back to junior high and high school for a moment.  What “historical documents” were you taught in social studies and American history classes?  The U.S. Constitution? Your state’s constitution?  What about the Declaration of Independence or the Federalist Papers?  The Northwest Ordinance (especially if you grew up in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, or Minnesota)?

My entire K-12 education was in Ohio public schools.  When it came to history, I didn’t take any electives or special courses beyond whatever was required for me to earn a diploma.  Yet, I was taught all of these important historical texts, multiple times, from seventh grade through twelfth.  So I was surprised to see bills moving through the Ohio legislature that would require schools to teach what I thought were standard fare for Ohio’s students. In fact, at first blush it seemed implausible to me that many schools weren’t already doing so.

My husband, also an Ohio public school alum (from a quote-unquote better district than I attended), had a different reaction when I told him about the legislation. He guessed at least two-thirds of students learn virtually nothing about the Federalist Papers in high school. And he said he wasn’t taught anything about the Ohio Constitution in K-12.  Huh, maybe there ought to be a law.

This issue isn’t a new one for Fordham.  The bill’s sponsor in the Ohio House, Rep. John Adams, cited Fordham’s February 2011 The State of State U.S. History Standards 2011 as evidence of the need for a change to state law. That report gave Ohio’s history standards a D

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The case for more details in Ohio’s history standards

One year later: A look at how Ohio performed during the first year of Race to the Top

January 11, 2012

Just over a year ago, Ohio won $400 million in Race to the Top grant dollars and promised to implement a number of significant reform programs. The U.S. Department of Education just released a progress report for the Buckeye State detailing how it has fared in year one, as well as the work that remains.

First, it might be helpful to revisit the major commitments Ohio made. They were to:

• Increase the high school graduation rate by 0.5 percent per year with the eventual goal of an 88 percent graduation rate. Right now only 84.3 percent of students graduate from Ohio’s high schools.
• Reduce the graduation rate gap between white and minority students by 50 percent. The current gap is 16 percentage points.
• Reduce the performance gap between Ohio students and some of the nation’s highest performers like Massachusetts.
• Double college enrollment for Ohioans under the age of 19. Ohio ranks 35^th in terms of adults with a two-year degree of higher.
• Adopt and implement high-quality academic standards aligned assessments.
• Ensure great principals and teachers in every school (however that’s measured).

Ohio has more than 600 school district, 3,500 district schools and over 300 charter schools so it had its work cut out for it when it applied for RttT dollars and then won. The list of goals stated above is no easy task.  So how is Ohio doing a year into the process?

Year 1 Successes

• Ohio adopted the Common Core State Standards in English and mathematics, ensuring a system of new high quality standards. Ohio also developed numerous web-based

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  Ohio Policy

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  One year later: A look at how Ohio performed during the first year of Race to the Top

Creating “AgBioscience” STEM Schools in the Buckeye State

Terry Ryan / January 11, 2012

STEM education in Ohio is a growing component of the state’s K-12 system. Metro Early College High School opened as a STEM school in Columbus in 2007, and since then STEM schools have opened their doors in metro regions like Dayton, Cincinnati, Akron, and Cleveland. The schools have drawn millions of dollars in support from state government, local school districts, the private sector and philanthropy (see here for details).

So far, however, the state’s STEM network has not yet opened a school that is aimed at the state’s dynamic agricultural sector and all that supports it. Senator Chris Widener (a Republican from Springfield who chairs the Senate Finance Committee) hopes to tackle this void in the state’s STEM sector. There is a whole lot of merit to this effort.

As I learned (somewhat surprisingly) in talking with Sen. Widener, one in seven jobs in Ohio is connected to the “AgBioscience” sector. This sector comprises food, agriculture, environmental, and bio-based products industries. As a whole the sector employs about a million workers statewide with an annual economic impact of over $100 billion a year. It is one of Ohio’s fastest growing sectors with thousands of jobs going unfilled because there aren't enough skilled Ohioans to do the work. Consider the following statistics provided to me by Sen. Widener:

• Ohio has added on average 59 new bioscience companies a year since 2004, and the state is currently home to 1,300 such companies. These include Bob Evans, JM Smucker Company, Wendy’s International,

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  Charters & Choice / Ohio Policy

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  Creating “AgBioscience” STEM Schools in the Buckeye State

A bold reform plan in Indianapolis looks to halt the status-quo of under achievement

Terry Ryan / January 11, 2012

The Mind Trust in Indianapolis released a plan in December that proposes a bold and dramatic transformation of public education for that city akin to what has taken place in New Orleans and New York City. The plan, an amalgamation of some of the nation’s most promising school reform strategies looks to transform Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) which has been chronically underperforming for several years. The plan hopes to diminish a 20 percentage point achievement gap between IPS students and the state in English and a dismal 58 percent graduation rate.

The Mind Trust report observes that great schools across the country share a set of core conditions that enable them to help all students achieve. Among these core conditions are the freedom to build and manage their own teams, refocus resources to meet actual student needs, hold schools accountable for their results(and close those that don’t perform), and create a system of school choice that empowers parents to find schools that they want their children to attend.

In an attempt to halt the status-quo of under achievement among too many Indianapolis schools the Mind Trust proposed:

• Downsizing the Indianapolis Public Schools district office while allocating resources to school level leaders. According to the plan the IPS central office would be reduced by about 450 jobs and its budget would be cut by $53 million, and these resources would flow to building level decision makers.
• Giving high performing schools complete control over their staffing, budgets, and curriculum so building level decision makers can staff and run buildings as they see fit.
• Uniting all public

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  A bold reform plan in Indianapolis looks to halt the status-quo of under achievement

Fordham launches new website and Buckeye State blog

January 11, 2012

It’s a new year and a new look for the Fordham website.  (Check it out and let us know what you think!)

2012 also brings a new approach to our blog. In the past Flypaper has served as the main and only blog for the Fordham team, allowing for a variety of voices to share their opinions on various topics in the ed-policy world. But we at Fordham believe that a group blog has its limits so we now have six separate blogs, each with their own authors, focusing on specific topics. Read an explanation of the new blogs here for a better understanding of what topic each new blog will focus on.

Most exciting out of this change for our small (but mighty!) team here in Ohio is that we now have our own blog, Ohio Gadfly Daily. This blog will be co-authored by the entire Fordham-Ohio team (with occasional guest bloggers) and will allow for keen daily insight into Ohio’s education policy scene.  As always our Ohio Education Gadfly will continue to provide thoughtful and original analysis and commentary on all things relevant to K-12 education in the Buckeye State.

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Fordham launches new website and Buckeye State blog

Changes in society = changes in education

January 11, 2012

• The Limited English Proficiency (LEP) population has grown 80 percent between 1990 and 2010, making up nine percent of the total US population in 2010. The top five languages in the national LEP population in 2010 were Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Tagalog.
• In 1997, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Ohio’s heavy reliance on property taxes for school funding as unconstitutional.  Governor Kasich had hoped to release a new formula by January, but appears as if he won’t meet the self-imposed deadline. 
• A rise in post-secondary enrollment increases wealth for both the individual and the state: the individuals’ salary increases dramatically (84 percent), and the state saves money in areas like health care, public assistance, corrections, and education. 
• Madeira High School is partnering with local businesses to give students experience in the work force before even entering college.  This is an attempt to combat a growing “skills gap” in which many young adults are not career ready when they leave school.

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Changes in society = changes in education

EVENT: Embracing the Common Core: Helping Students Thrive

January 11, 2012

Join us February 15 for an important conversation about Ohio’s adoption and implementation of the Common Core Academic Standards!

Academic content standards define what students should know and be able to do, and provide guidance to teachers and schools on content and instruction.  Ohio’s schools will soon move from the current standards in mathematics and English language arts to more rigorous standards developed and embraced by a consortium of 46 states and the District of Columbia.  Ohio joined other states in adopting these new standards, and the aligned assessments that go with them, to help ensure that Buckeye students learn the knowledge and skills needed for success in college, careers, and life.

 Join us February 15 to learn:

• How and why the Common Core and more rigorous assessments are necessary to improve the educational outcomes and life chances of Buckeye students;
• The implementation timeline, challenges and opportunities associated with the Common Core standards and aligned assessments; and
• Why the Common Core standards are needed for the state’s children and their collective future.

Speakers include State Superintendent of Public Instruction Stan Heffner; Mike Cohen, president of Achieve; Chester E. Finn, Jr., president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute; Robert Sommers, director of Governor Kasich’s Office of 21st Century Education; and other state and local education leaders.

The event will be held Wednesday, February 15, from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, Rooms B200-201. Register online at http://www.edexcellence.net/events/embracing-the-common-core.html. Space

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EVENT: Embracing the Common Core: Helping Students Thrive

EVENT: The Future of Math Education in Ohio

January 11, 2012

High-quality math education has never been more important for our students.

A recent study from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the workforce finds that over their lifetimes, students who majored in engineering, computer science or business (all math-heavy fields) earned as much as 50 percent more than those who majored in the humanities, the arts, education and psychology.  All Ohio students will face more rigorous expectations for math learning as Ohio transitions to the Common Core academic content standards in just a few years – but how can the Buckeye State’s math teachers, curriculum designers, and students adjust?  That’s the topic of an exciting discussion next month in Columbus.

Keith Devlin, Stanford University professor, Carl Sagan Prize Winner, and NPR’s “math guy”, will offer a keynote presentation followed by a robust panel discussion featuring David Ferrero, chief STEM advisor for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Brian Boyd, founding principal of the Dayton Regional STEM school; and other state and local math education experts. 

The event will be held Tuesday, February 21, from 11:30 to 2:30pm (lunch will be provided) at the ESC of Central Ohio.

RSVP to Elaine Organ: Elaine.organ@escco.org by Wednesday, February 15. Space is limited, and the event will be webcast live.

The event is presented free of charge by the ESC of Central Ohio, Nord Family Foundation, Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

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EVENT: The Future of Math Education in Ohio