4/1/08

Plain Dealer

Scott Stephens

Students learn in different ways. So why should everyone be tested the same way?

A couple of foundations seem to agree. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation announced Monday that they are awarding Ohio $1.3 million in grant money to explore new ways for students to demonstrate their skills and knowledge.

“There are multiple pathways for students to succeed in school,” says State Superintendent Susan Zelman, “and there are multiple ways to measure that success.”

The Gates grant of $1.2 million will help the Ohio Department of Education in developing new assessment tools and identifying best practices from around the world for diagnosing and intervening in low-performing schools. The Hewlett grant will provide $150,000 to help with a four-year assessment project that the state hopes will become an international example.

In addition to examining traditional testing, the Department of Education will explore measures such as end-of-course exams and student portfolios to identify readiness for college and employment. These assessments also will provide high-quality feedback to students linked to rich and engaging problem-based learning.

Zelman has attracted $150 million in competitive grants for the state since 1999.

Funding fix:

The Cincinnati-based KnowledgeWorks Foundation has asked two big hitters on the school-funding issue to offer some ideas on how Ohio might fix its system.

In an article on the foundation’s Web site, Allan Odden, of the University of Wis consin, and Lawrence Picus, of the Univer sity of Southern Cali fornia, describe their evidence-based ap proach to estimating how much Ohio should spend on edu cation.

The piece details several strategies that must work together to improve performance, such as a rigorous curriculum program, intensive professional development, extra help for struggling students and class size of 15 in grades K-3. The article also outlines strategies that have been used by schools that have doubled student performance.

The Ohio Supreme Court has four times declared the state’s funding system unconstitutional, but state officials have resisted a radical overhaul of the system.

To read the article, visit: kwfdn.org/enewsletter/primer/.

Getting in:

Want tips on how to get your high school student into a good college? Check out Elizabeth Wissner-Gross.

She’s the author of “What High Schools Don’t Tell You: 300+ Secrets to Make Your Kid Irresistible to Colleges By Senior Year.”

For a $15 ticket, you can meet her and hear some of her tips at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 17, at Beachwood Middle School, 2860 Richmond Road, Beachwood.

The event is sponsored by Beachwood PaGES, a parent support group for the talented and gifted children of Beachwood schools. Tickets for paid PaGES members are $5.