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Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Commentary and OpinionEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceEducation EquityFeaturedParental ChoicePodcastPublic School ChoiceSchool Choice

podcastED: Matt Ladner interviews Thomas B. Fordham Institute’s Chad Aldis

redefinED staff February 18, 2021
redefinED staff

In this podcast video, redefinED’s executive editor speaks with longtime education choice advocate Chad Aldis, vice president for Ohio policy and advocacy at Fordham, wo previously served as executive director of School Choice Ohio and was Ohio State director for StudentsFirst.

https://www.redefinedonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Ladner_Aldis-1.mp4

Ladner and Aldis discuss a recent Fordham study that mapped out open enrollment policies across Ohio after some media outlets questioned whether open enrollment education choice policies exacerbated school segregation. The study concluded they do not, it brought to light something more alarming.

Under state law, districts choose whether to accept nonresident students. Most suburban districts in Ohio have kept their doors shut. Despite being public agencies – often boasting of being “open to all” – these school systems deny children access just because they don’t have the right address.

“Let’s be real about this … no, you’re not to open to everybody. You’re open to everyone who can pay the price of admission … The price of admission is property taxes.”

EPISODE DETAILS:

·       Aldis’s critique of the current system, which results in high-wealth suburban school districts “walling out” poorer students from urban centers, who have been shown to benefit the most from education choice

·       How Ohio’s open enrollment system is different in rural counties

·       How rules restricting charter schools to urban areas further restricts choices for minority and low-income families

·       Comparisons with another education choice state, Arizona

·       What can be done to correct the inequities caused by Ohio’s open enrollment choice system

LINKS MENTIONED:

 https://fordhaminstitute.org/ohio/research/open-enrollment-and-student-diversity-ohios-schools

February 18, 2021 1 comment
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Commentary and OpinionDemographic ResearchEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceFeaturedParental ChoicePublic School ChoiceSchool Choice

Mr. Burbleaf: Tear down this wall!

Matthew Ladner February 15, 2021
Matthew Ladner

Ronald Reagan speaking at the Brandenburg Gate on June 12, 1987: Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

In your author’s humble opinion, this chart from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute is the most revealing K-12 graphic of the last decade.

Ohio’s urban areas find themselves surrounded by districts that choose not to participate in open enrollment, featured in dark green. The children of Columbus, for instance, represented by the white star, appear to be surrounded by districts that do not offer open enrollment.

Later this week, this blog will offer a podcast interview with Chad Aldis, vice president for Ohio Policy and Advocacy at Fordham, whose research produced this map. Before criticizing the Ohio suburbs that deny open enrollment, let’s just put it on the table that a map of your state, if one existed, might look eerily similar to this one.

Unless, that is, you live in Arizona.

In Arizona, nearly all districts participate in open enrollment. Open enrollment students outnumber charter students nearly two to one in the Phoenix area despite its distinction as the nation’s largest charter sector.

Arizona has the largest state charter sector in the country, with nearly 20% of students attending charter schools. Ohio not only has fewer charter schools than Arizona; the schools are more geographically concentrated in urban areas. Ohio has a larger student population – 1.7 million students compared to 1.2 million in Arizona – but has far fewer charter schools overall and especially fewer suburban charter schools.

Data from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools shows approximately 50 suburban charters in Ohio compared to 136 in Arizona.

The Brookings Institution measured the availability by the percentage of students with access to one or more charter schools in their ZIP code. Arizona led the nation with 84% of students having one or more charter schools in their ZIP code, whereas Ohio stood at 31.9%.

Your author is going to go way out on a limb at this point.

While it could be that the people running suburban districts in Arizona are unusually interested in stamping out economic and racial segregation because of the dry climate or … something … the level of non-district options held by suburban families has a lot to do with it. Scottsdale Unified, for instance, may accept 4,000 open enrollment transfers because 9,000 students who live within the boundaries of the district go to school elsewhere.

How is this working out for the kids?

Stanford University’s Opportunity Project linked state academic exams across all 50 states to allow comparisons between schools, districts and their associated charters, and counties. The chart shows the comparison for academic gains for poor children in the largest counties in each state: Maricopa County (Phoenix area) in Arizona and Franklin County (Columbus area) in Ohio.

The rate of academic growth for poor students in Maricopa County is 19.3% above the national average for all students. The rate of academic growth for Franklin County students is 2.6% below the national average. Maricopa County outperforms Franklin County across all eight subgroups available in the Stanford data.

What we see in the Fordham map at the start of this post isn’t working, but don’t look for shame alone to open the gates of opportunity for Ohio’s urban students. Only broad choice programs can create the incentives needed to tear down these walls.

February 15, 2021 0 comment
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Commentary and OpinionDemographic ResearchFeaturedSchool Choice

The grading lies we tell our students

Special to redefinED December 1, 2020
Special to redefinED

Editor’s note: In September, the Florida Council of 100, in cooperation with the Florida Department of Education, released a study that pointed to a “rigor gap” between the grades Florida high school students receive and their mastery of content required to pass end-of-course exams in Algebra I and Grade 10 English Language Arts. This commentary from Steven Birnholz, Florida Council of 100 executive vice president and director of policy, and Eric Frey, an economist for the Florida Council of 100, published recently on the Thomas B. Fordham Institute’s website, expands on that story and explains why the “rigor gap” matters.

Two years ago, Seth Gershenson and Fordham published Grade Inflation in High Schools, groundbreaking research examining the relationship between students’ Algebra I course grades and end-of-course (EOC) test results in North Carolina. Gershenson found that 36% of Algebra I students who scored a “B” in the classroom did not pass the state’s corresponding EOC. Now there is evidence from Florida.

Our recent work in the Sunshine State also uncovered a chasm between students’ grades and EOC scores for courses required for graduation. Looking at Florida Algebra I and tenth grade English students from 2015–18, we found that 55% of students who did not pass the Algebra I EOC, and 72% of English students who did not pass the EOC, received a “C” or higher in the course. Further, more than a third of students who did not pass the EOC for 10th-grade English received a “B” or higher in the course.

We call this disparity between a school’s evaluation of a student’s level of mastery of state standards and the student’s demonstrated mastery of those standards on corresponding statewide standardized tests “the rigor gap.” This rigor gap matters for two key reasons.

First, it is not hard for any of us to think back to a class where we did not learn as much as we could have, or should have, because we knew the teacher’s grading practices made the course an “easy A.” In fact, a 2010 study showed that students study 50% less when they expect teachers to award relatively higher grades.

This reduction in what is learned in a course can have serious personal and economic consequences. Just like we did, today’s students will likely study less than they would have if their teacher held them to a higher standard, and by the time the student has received their EOC score, which raises the question of which measurement of knowledge should be given more credence, it is time to enjoy summer recess or focus on the next class in the subject’s succession.

Second, the rigor gap should be concerning to students and parents because it illustrates that many are investing two of life’s scarcest resources, time and money, into college or career decisions based on incomplete or misleading information about their chance of success. A 2017 nationwide survey found that while 84% of 12th-grade students want to go to college, only half felt that their school had helped them develop the skills and knowledge they need for college-level classes. Part of this likely arises from the lack of conviction students may possess in their abilities when their course grades and EOC results tell opposing stories.

It is also worth noting that, while this research was conducted with student data prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we hypothesize that the drastic impact it had on students’ learning experiences during the 2019-20 spring semester has likely exacerbated the rigor gap presented in the cohorts which comprise our research through, among other things, more lenient grading practices. These include “do no harm” grading, pass/fail systems, or even “no grade issued” approaches.

This lack of incentive to work to raise a “C” to a “B” — or to receive any grade at all — likely decreased many students’ mastery of standards typically covered in the latter half of the school year. The effects were further magnified by the cancellation of year-end summative assessments based on the suspension of federal requirements. If a second year of waivers were to be granted, some students could be halfway through high school without an honest answer to how prepared they are for their desired future.

Fixing the rigor gap is not an easy proposition, but research from North Carolina and Florida tells us it will lead to students learning more — regardless of race/ethnicity, gender, or previous academic performance. Accomplishing this will require a collaborative effort among school leaders, teachers, parents, and students.

For district and school leaders, closing the rigor gap can be supported by, among other things, increasing the efficiency by which students’ course grades and EOC scores can be compared. Here in Florida, and we’re confident this issue exists in other states, the amount of effort that must be undertaken by teachers in certain school districts to compare their students’ course grades and EOC scores is unacceptable.

We believe that, once cognizant of the existence of, and educational damage caused by, the rigor gap, many teachers will naturally adjust their grading practices to better ensure that students are mastering state standards throughout the year and, thus, are more prepared for their EOCs. For those classrooms that persistently display a rigor gap, an infrastructure which provides clear, efficient presentation of this information will better equip school administrators to have an objective conversation with their teachers on this important subject.

For parents and students, the awareness of this rigor gap means a failing EOC score should spark sincere reflection, rather than them brushing it off because of a high grade in the corresponding course. If the local school district provides concise interim, formative assessments, it means the reflection and comparison of course grades and EOC scores can start earlier to avoid potentially finding out how behind one is at the end of the school year.

Although the rigor gap is likely nothing new, the time to address it is now. It is high time that students are told the truth so they can approach their dreams with the conviction that they are ready.

December 1, 2020 1 comment
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Florida Schools RoundupredefinED education roundup

Study calls state’s new academic standards ‘weak,’ school jobs, reopening plans and more

Compiled by redefinED staff June 10, 2020
Compiled by redefinED staff
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June 10, 2020 0 comment
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Florida Schools RoundupredefinED education roundup

Security and discipline, innovative new schools, sales tax hike fight and more

Compiled by redefinED staff August 20, 2019
Compiled by redefinED staff
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August 20, 2019 0 comment
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Florida Schools Roundup

Florida schools roundup: Reading, bargaining, school security and more

Compiled by redefinED staff May 29, 2018
Compiled by redefinED staff

Reading test results: More on how 3rd-graders performed on the Florida Standards Assessments language arts testing in districts around the state. Test results are a major factor in determining if students are promoted to the 4th grade. Miami Herald. Sun-Sentinel. Palm Beach Post. Gradebook. WUSF. Florida Today. Space Coast Daily. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Daily Commercial. Lakeland Ledger. Chipley Bugle. WMBB. State testing went smoothly for Sarasota County students, district officials say. More than 76,000 tests were taken this year. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Bargaining suit challenge: Officials of teachers unions around Florida say they will file suit against a new law that requires more than half of eligible teachers to be dues-paying members of a union or the union should be decertified. Teachers argue the law, which takes effect July 1, is unconstitutional because it defies a provision added to the constitution in 1968 after a teachers strike, and discriminatory because it targets only them. WLRN. Teachers talk about union membership and how they think it’s affected their paychecks and classrooms. WLRN.

School security: The Brevard County School District begins advertising to fill 28 school security specialist positions for the 2018-2019 school year. The pay is listed at $25,444 to $37,915 for the 10-month position, with benefits pushing the value of the package to about $40,400. The specialists, who will carry concealed weapons, will work at elementary schools that don’t already have a resource officer. Florida Today. Orlando Sentinel. WOFL. The executive director of the School Safety Advocacy Council says he has concerns about the Sarasota County School District’s ability to hire and train a police department by August, and has pulled out of a consulting role with the district. “We only lend our name and our expertise to processes that we have confidence are going to be 100 percent successful,” says Curt Lavarello. “At this point, I don’t have that feeling that this is on the path to success, from what I’ve heard.” Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

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May 29, 2018 0 comment
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Florida Schools Roundup

Florida schools roundup: Charter school ‘deserts,’ H.B. 7069 appeal and more

Compiled by redefinED staff April 27, 2018
Compiled by redefinED staff

Charter school scarcity: A new report concludes that Florida has one of the highest number of charter school “deserts,” which are defined as three or more contiguous census tracts with poverty rates above 20 percent and no charter elementary schools. The charter-friendly Thomas B. Fordham Institute identified about 20 such areas in and around Miami, Orlando and Tampa/St. Petersburg. “Despite the thousands of charter schools opened [nationally] over the past twenty-five years,” the report concludes, “many more are needed if low-income students in every part of America are to have the options they need.” Gradebook. redefinED.

H.B. 7069 lawsuit: Duval County School Board members vote against joining an appeal of the latest decision against 13 school boards that are challenging the constitutionality of the state’s 2017 education law, H.B. 7069, saying they can’t afford to continue. Lee and Bay county school boards have already committed to an appeal. School boards in Alachua, Broward, Clay, Hamilton, Orange, Pinellas, Polk, St. Lucie, Volusia and Wakulla counties have yet to decide. Florida Times-Union.

School shooting defense: The Broward County School Board is trying to limit its liability by having a court label the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre as a single incident with many victims. The board’s liability for each incident is $300,000. Seventeen were killed and 17 wounded on Feb. 14, and a lawyer for one of the wounded victims wants the court to declare each victim a separate incident. Sun-Sentinel.

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April 27, 2018 0 comment
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Charter Schools

Where are Florida’s charter school ‘deserts?’

Travis Pillow April 26, 2018
Travis Pillow

Florida is one of the leading states in the nation for public school choice. Its charter schools are widespread, often serving rural or suburban areas. Nevertheless, the state is home to more than its share of charter school “deserts,” according to a new report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

The charter-friendly think tank used data from the U.S. Census Bureau to map high-poverty areas around the county. It counted a string of three Census tracts with high or moderate poverty levels, and no charter schools, as a desert. Florida is home to 20 such areas.

Looking at the report, and three urban areas it highlights, offers several takeaways for Florida’s charter school movement.

This is why ‘Hope’ matters.

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April 26, 2018 0 comment
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