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Evaluation overkill hits PE teachers

March 29, 2013 by

Evaluating teachers’ impact on student achievement is “a necessary reform,” writes Terry Ryan on Ohio Gadfly. But it can go too far. Ohio will evaluate phys ed teachers on their students’ skipping, throwing, dancing and batting skills and knowledge. Among the goals:

*Consistently demonstrating correct skipping technique with a smooth and effortless rhythm;

*Able to throw consistently a ball underhand with good accuracy and technique to a target (or person) with varying distances.

The suggested written test for K-2 students (five to eight year olds) includes:

To throw a ball overhand with your right hand, you should step forward with your left foot.

A. True B. False

For a good overhand throw, you should bend the elbow in the shape of an “L” behind the head before throwing.

A. True B. False

Instead of throwing balls, kids will be taking tests on how to throw balls. Teachers think this is stupid, writes Ryan. Parents think it’s stupid. Everyone thinks it’s stupid except for the Ohio Department of Education.

Filed Under: Education, Sports, Testing Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Ohio: Third graders must read or repeat

January 5, 2013 by

Ohio’s “third grade guarantee” — students who don’t read on grade level will be held back – is the subject of a PBS report.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: , ,

Ohio: Exit exam will test college readiness

November 28, 2012 by

Ohio will replace its high-school graduation test with a tougher college-readiness exam and end-of-course tests, reports the Columbus Dispatch.

The current graduation test asks for 10th-grade skills. Forty-two percent of first-year college students in the state require remedial coursework.

The new college- and career-readiness test has not been developed. There’s “talk of using the ACT,” which would be provided free of charge, reports the Dispatch. End-of-course exams will be required in English I, II and III, algebra I, geometry, algebra II, biology, physical science, American history and American government. Test grades will count as a portion of the grade for the course.

So what happens when the failure rate soars? And what about Ohio students who aren’t prepping for college but want a high school diploma to qualify for an apprenticeship or the military?

Filed Under: College, Education, Testing Tagged With: , , , , ,

Ohio bill ‘guarantees’ third-grade reading

June 18, 2012 by

Ohio will “guarantee” that third graders can read well before being promoted under an education reform bill that Gov. John Kasich is expected to sign. Poor readers could be held back for one or two years.

This year, more than 22 percent of the state’s third-graders tested at the lowest reading level — “limited” — in October and another 19 percent scored at the basic level.

The bill also makes way for greater use of technology across public education and creates state report cards for vocational and career programs that are tied to Ohio’s job needs. The schools will work in consultation with career-technical education groups to set standards for the report cards.

In addition, the bill begins the process of building a statewide birth-to-third-grade literacy education strategy, requires eye exams for special needs students, and adjusts training and retesting requirements for teachers who are deemed ineffective for two of the previous three years.

Kasich a first-term Republican, championed many of the bill’s reforms.

House Democratic Leader Armond Budish called the reading guarantee an “unfunded mandate that could actually harm children.”

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: , , , ,

Ohio cuts funds for university remediation

January 4, 2012 by

Ohio is cutting funds for remedial classes at state universities.

North Carolina community colleges are backing out of participation in federal student loans, fearing a high default rate will risk future students’ access to Pell Grants.

Filed Under: College Tagged With: , , , , ,

Online students fall behind, transfer

October 14, 2011 by

Colorado’s online K-12 students fall behind their former classmates and often quit virtual schools to go back to brick-and-mortar classrooms, reports EdNews Colorado. The state compensates schools based on enrollment in the fall, so students bring no funding to their old schools if they give up on virtual schooling after a few months.

According to an I-News/EdNews analysis, half of Colorado’s online students quit within a year. Most lose ground on reading and math scores.  (See snapshots of the state’s five largest online programs.)

Online schools produce three times as many dropouts as they do graduates. One of every eight online students drops out of school permanently – a rate four times the state average.

. . . most are not struggling academically when they leave their traditional schools. Among the 2,400 online students who had taken a state standardized reading test in a brick-and-motor school the year before, the analysis showed that more than half had scored proficient or better.

At Branson Online School, one of the state’s oldest online programs, students beat the statewide average in proficiency in reading and were six percentage points short in math.

(Assistant Superintendent Judith) Stokes said growth slowed when the school focused on ensuring families understood the online program before enrolling because, “If you’re looking for easy, it’s not us.”

Full-time online students are exceptionally mobile in Ohio, as well, writes Bill Tucker on Education Next. He worries if teen-agers understand what they’re getting into when they sign up for a virtual school.

 

Filed Under: Education, Online Learning Tagged With: , , , , ,

Ohio universities will cut remedial classes

October 13, 2011 by

Forty percent of new students at Ohio’s state universities require remedial coursework. By next year, Ohio will shift most remediation to community colleges. Universities are cutting dual-enrollment deals with nearby colleges.

Also on Community College Spotlight: Most Hispanic students start at community colleges where graduation rates are much lower than at four-year institutions.

Filed Under: College Tagged With: , , , ,

Vouchers spike Catholic school enrollment

August 29, 2011 by

Catholic schools are attracting voucher students in Indiana, AP reports. Nearly 70 percent of students using the vouchers are choosing Catholic schools.

Our Lady of Hungary Catholic School in South Bend was at risk of closure because few parents could afford tuition.  Voucher students have increased enrollment by 60 percent.

The enrollment boom has forced the school to hire three more teachers. It’s also allowed all but the seventh and eighth grades to be separated into single classes. In years past, the school has combined grade levels because of low enrollment.

Catholic schools attract about 70 percent of voucher students in Ohio, which  gives vouchers to children who’d otherwise attend low-performing public schools.

Urban Catholic schools have a long history of educating children from tough neighborhoods.

 

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: , , ,

Ohio governor proposes parent trigger

April 5, 2011 by

Ohio parents should have the power to force change on their children’s failing schools, says Gov. John Kasich.  His budget plan proposes a “parent trigger,” reports the Columbus Dispatch.

The “parent trigger” would apply to schools that rank in the state’s bottom 5 percent in academics for three consecutive school years. If a majority of a school’s parents sign a petition demanding change, the school would be forced to accept the reform the parents propose:

• Converting into a charter school.

• Replacing at least 70 percent of the staff.

• Contracting with another school district, an effective nonprofit group or a for-profit group to operate the school.

• Turning the school’s operation over to the Ohio Department of Education.

• Making “fundamental reforms” to the school’s staffing or governance.

The proposal is based on California’s law. A Los Angeles-area school board is fighting to retain control of a low-performing elementary school.

Filed Under: Education, Parenting Tagged With: , , ,

States roll back teachers’ bargaining rights

March 19, 2011 by

Wisconsin’s new law restricting public employees’ collective bargaining rights is on hold to give Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi time to consider a lawsuit charging Republican lawmakers failed to give 24-hour notice of the vote. However, if the judge overturns the law, Republicans could pass it again.

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has signed a law phasing out tenure for new teachers and restricting collective bargaining. The Republican governor also signed legislation to introduce teacher merit pay.

Collective-bargaining limits are moving forward in Ohio and Indiana.

In Tennessee, Republicans are debating whether to limit collective bargaining for teachers or ban it entirely. Again, Republicans control the legislature and the statehouse.

Florida will end tenure for new teachers, offer merit pay and limit bargaining rights.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
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