Business leaders rally around the Common Core

Terry Ryan / July 25, 2012

Last week I attended the GE Foundation's Summer Business and Education Summit in Orlando. Most of the two-day conversation among the 150 or so participants revolved around Common Core implementation. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush captured the scale of the challenge when he told the gathering on the first morning that states are heading for a “train wreck.” He noted that when the new standards and assessments come fully online in 2015 that many communities, schools, and families are in for a rude awakening.

Running away from the Common Core would be a huge mistake and a serious step back for the country, its children, and its future.

Governor Bush said that the more rigorous Common Core standards, if backed by equally rigorous assessments, will show that only one in three children in America qualify as college or career ready. Bush warned that such bluntness about the poor health of American education and student achievement will trigger serious political backtracking. He said, “My guess is there’s going to be a lot of people running for cover and their going to be running fast.”

But, as Governor Bush and other speakers during the two-day conference argued, running away from the Common Core would be a huge mistake and a serious step back for the country, its children, and its future. This, in fact, was the overwhelming feeling of the group of business leaders gathered in Orlando.

A recurring message throughout the event was that states

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Business leaders rally around the Common Core

Charter performance in Ohio, Part 1: The Economist calls out Ohio charters

Aaron Churchill / July 25, 2012

Ohio charters are gaining an international reputation—but not for the best of reasons. In recent articles, The Economist chides Ohio charters for having “done badly” and operating without oversight in a “Wild West” environment. And these remarks are written in articles that praise charters schools more generally.

With every financial scandal and every school closure due to academic failure, Ohio’s charters face greater and greater scrutiny.

With a prominent global publication taking our charter schools to task, readers around the world—from New York City to London to Tokyo—now know what many of us locally know too well. Ohio’s charter sector has underperformed in comparison to other states. Despite some exceptional schools (e.g., DECA in Dayton, Constellation Schools and Breakthrough in Cleveland, KIPP and Columbus Collegiate Academy in Columbus), charters in Ohio—as a group—have far too often disappointed students and parents who placed their hopes in these schools. With every financial scandal and every school closure due to academic failure, Ohio’s charters face greater and greater scrutiny.

When it comes to student performance in charters other states do it better. We’ve argued in a 2006 report to lawmakers, in a 2010 book, in numerous op-eds, and in public testimony to lawmakers that Ohio’s charter sector needs reform through smarter accountability, consolidating the state’s 80-plus authorizers, helping high-quality models in Ohio expand what they do, and actively recruiting talent and successful school models to the Buckeye State. We’ve urged lawmakers to pass legislation that would close failing charters quickly and

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Charter performance in Ohio, Part 1: The Economist calls out Ohio charters

Charter performance in Ohio, Part 2: How do charters fare? Depends on the standard

Aaron Churchill / July 25, 2012

As reported above, Ohio charter schools received a bad rap in recent articles by The Economist. After singing the praises of charters in some of America’s largest cities, The Economist went on to disparage Ohio’s charters, stating that they “have done badly.” And, as a group they have if academic performance is what matters.

Below I take a slice of data from Cleveland to look at the performance of its charter schools relative to two comparison groups. First, I compare how Cleveland’s charters stack up against Cleveland Municipal School District (the city’s traditional public school). Second, I compare Cleveland's charters against a broader set of public districts--all districts in Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland Municipal, poorer inner-ring suburban districts, and some affluent suburban districts.

I use the fourth grade math proficiency rate—essentially, the proportion of students who “pass” Ohio’s annual standardized test in a given grade and subject—for the 2010-11 school year. And by using what’s called a “z-score” in statistics, I calculate how far each school's proficiency rate is above or below the average proficiency (pass) rate.[1] A school with a positive score has an above-average proficiency rate; vice-versa, a school with a negative score has a below-average rate.

Figure 1 shows how charters compare against their district peers. Each bar indicates a school: charters are shown in red and district schools in grey. The vertical axis indicates schools’ z-scores—again, indicating how far their proficiency rate is from the group average proficiency rate.

Put the champagne

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Charter performance in Ohio, Part 2: How do charters fare? Depends on the standard

Ohio schools wading cautiously into teacher-evaluation waters

July 25, 2012

The State Board of Education, prompted by a requirement in House Bill 153 in 2011, developed a new framework for teacher evaluations, to be implemented by all districts starting with the 2013-14 school year. The Marietta Times reported that some school districts in the Buckeye State will be piloting new systems this upcoming school year.

Frontier Local, Marietta City, and Wolf Creek districts will all be testing their new evaluations systems this year, and school officials are complaining about a number of implementation challenges. HB 153 requires both principal and teacher evaluations. For the latter, at least 50 percent of a teacher’s rating must be dependent on student academic growth. The process also includes at least two classroom observations and a teacher/evaluator conference before and after each. Superintendents have raised concerns about the estimated the time commitment these rigorous evaluations are likely to require.

Other Ohio districts can learn from these early adopters and come up with better and more efficient ways to do rigorous evaluations in 2013-14. For districts struggling with tight budgets, it will take strategic planning to conduct these evaluations well. However, contract language can have a significant impact on how time consuming evaluations become – because-- all teachers may not have to be evaluated every year and the bill does not specify who must conduct evaluations. In Wolf Creek, the superintendent is brainstorming ways to lessen the burden on principals and considering outside support. However, even this

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Ohio schools wading cautiously into teacher-evaluation waters

Report of the state budget crisis task force

Aaron Churchill / July 25, 2012

America’s great recession and its lingering effects have severely pressured local, state, and federal budgets. Declining tax revenues, in conjunction with increasing public expenditure on health care and pensions, has produced a wicked brew for government finances. In recent months we have witnessed the damage wrought by governments in Europe that have spent more money than they have, and we are seeing similar problems in America at the federal, state and city level.  

In the Buckeye State, for example, state government rang in the 2011 New Year with a grand total of 89 cents in its rainy day fund. (Though improving conditions and concerted efforts to trim expenditures have enabled Ohio to add nearly $500 million to this savings fund.) Ohio’s school districts, which heavily rely on state government funds and local taxes, have also felt the budget crunch. But, Ohio is actually in better shape than a lot of other states.

Former New York lieutenant governor Richard Ravitch and former Federal Reserve Board chair Paul Volker formed the State Budget Crisis Task Force to study and report on state government finances. The task force recently released a report that studied six states’ budgets—California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Texas, and Virginia. The study finds that state Medicaid spending—a health care program for low-income residents—now exceeds K-12 education spending as a percentage of states’ budget.Figure 1 from their report shows the upward trend in Medicaid versus the downward trend

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Report of the state budget crisis task force

Fulfilling the Compact: Building a Breakthrough, Results- Driven Public Charter School Sector

July 25, 2012

The Task Force on Charter School Quality and Accountability issued their Renewing the Compact report in 2005. This seminal charter school report set forth goals around five key areas:

• Achievement: Focus resolutely on student achievement
• Talent: Draw talented individuals to the classroom and leadership positions
• Funding: Gain equitable funding for charter schools
• Support: Increase support for the charter school community
• Scale: Build up successful schools and close those that fail

A new report from the North-Carolina based Public Impact evaluates the progress that the nation’s charter school sector has made over the last seven years in regards to meeting the goals above. It also provides recommendations for improvements moving forward. Public Impact interviewed a variety of key stakeholders including education leaders, charter school representatives, and think tanks.

The first question asked of the interviewees looked at positive developments or trends over the past several years. Major successes over the last seven years include:

• Proof points of quality: Charter schools around the country demonstrate that underserved students can achieve at high levels.
• Increased recognition of quality and accountability:  Policymakers and authorizers have increased their focus on quality

Along with recent successes, numerous challenges still remain, including the following:

• Inadequate supply of new high-quality schools: Not enough strong charter founders exist to provide better education options for children
• Persistence of too many chronically low-performing schools: While progress has been made with regards to quality, authorizers still fail to close low-performing schools too often.
• Slow growth of the best charter schools: High-performing CMOs are not

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  Charters & Choice / Ohio Policy

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  Fulfilling the Compact: Building a Breakthrough, Results- Driven Public Charter School Sector

A peek at what’s on tap this fall from Fordham-Ohio

July 25, 2012

• Special-education spending recommendations (August 2012)
  Nathan Levenson and his team at the District Management Council have done extensive work on special education spending in Ohio and elsewhere.  Together with the ESC of Central Ohio, Fordham commissioned Levenson to examine state and local special education spending practices and offer recommendations to simultaneously improve the quality of services provided to students with special needs while achieving greater cost-effectiveness in an era of diminishing resources.
• Annual analysis of Ohio school performance (August 2012)
  As in past years, we will analyze the academic performance results of Ohio’s schools, with a special focus on the state’s urban centers and charter schools.  This year’s analysis will have an improved focus on charter school performance in four major cities—Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Dayton. We’ll look at how charters compare with their district peers—for not only the past school year but also the past decade. And in addition to looking back at the past ten years, we’ll also peer into the future, with some projections of what statewide proficiency rates may be when the Common Core State Standards come to the Buckeye State in 2014-15.
• Statewide Study of Student Mobility (September/October 2012)
  This analysis, among the first of its type and scale in the country, uses student-level data from the Ohio Department of Education to examine student mobility trends across the state. It will take a deep look at mobility in the major metro areas and

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  Charters & Choice / Ohio Policy

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  A peek at what’s on tap this fall from Fordham-Ohio

Order Up! Reform at the lunch line

July 25, 2012

• The Marietta Family YMCA is getting children excited about fruits and veggies, according to The Marietta Times. Trying new, healthy foods is just one aspect of the Fit Kids program, which includes discussions on portion sizes and doing fun exercises. But it doesn’t end there: participants also get to take home pedometers, to track their healthy steps.
• In light of the new Department of Agriculture nutrition standards for meals, schools are getting creative in the lunchroom, some making their food from scratch (talk about legislation you can sink your teeth into). Among standard requirements are calorie and sodium limits and a wider selection of fruits and vegetables. Good-bye boxed lunch, hello salad bar!
• Many children get most of their nutrition for the day at school—Lima School’s Summer Food Service Program doesn’t see a reason that should end in the summer. A sample menu includes popcorn chicken, carrots, grapes and a brownie for dessert. The program has served over 10,000 healthy meals since it began about a month ago.
• A small volunteer organization in West Carrolton is making a big impact on children at risk for going hungry. On the weekends, the Pirate Packs Food To Go organization run by Frank Nicholas Elementary School provides food to about 40 children to support their nutritional needs. The program hopes to expand soon to serve more children in need.

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Order Up! Reform at the lunch line

EVENT: Ten Years After NCLB: Is the GOP Moving Forward, Backward, or Sideways on Education?

July 25, 2012

A decade after the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, the GOP stance on education, and particularly federal education policy, is clearly shifting. But in any clear direction? And for the better? To examine those questions, the Fordham Institute will bring together two former GOP education secretaries to debate the Republican Party’s direction on this vital issue. Join the conversation with Senator Lamar Alexander and Margaret Spellings at 9 a.m. EDT on July 26 by tuning into the live webcast.

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EVENT: Ten Years After NCLB: Is the GOP Moving Forward, Backward, or Sideways on Education?