January 2009

PD editorial: Gov. Strickland’s big-idea speech deserves Ohioans’ applause »

1/30/09 Plain Dealer Editorial Gov. Ted Strickland’s State of the State speech was light on details but rich in ideas, especially ideas to address Ohio’s school-funding debate by measuring (and correcting) school districts’ performance; teaching 21st-century students what they actually need to know; and eventually boosting the state share of public school costs to 59 [...]

Cleveland schools take lead in governor’s reform plan »

1/30/09 Cleveland Plain Dealer Thomas Ott CLEVELAND – The Cleveland schools will be the first district in Ohio to pursue Gov. Ted Strickland’s proposed education reforms. The state will pay consultants to evaluate the schools’ curriculum and operations, Strickland and aides told editors and reporters in an interview Friday at The Plain Dealer. District Chief [...]

Teacher proposals grading high now: Strickland’s ideas resonate with college students, union officials »

1/30/09 Columbus Dispatch Charlie Boss and Catherine Candisky The dean of Ohio University’s College of Education asked future teachers yesterday what they thought about the governor’s proposal to require them to complete a four-year residency after spending four years in college. The students’ reaction surprised her — they liked it. “They said, ‘If we moved [...]

Kindergarten not easy fit: Requiring all-day classes would prompt scramble for room »

1/30/09 Columbus Dispatch Jennifer Smith Richards If all-day kindergarten becomes required this fall, Dublin schools says it will need another 19 classrooms and 22 1/2 more teachers. In Grandview Heights, the art room would have to give up its space to a kindergarten classroom and the subject become a traveling course, sort of an “art [...]

Chinese beat U.S. students in fact test: But American freshmen just as good at scientific reasoning »

1/30/09 Columbus Dispatch Kevin Mayhood Chinese college students outscored their American counterparts on tests of scientific facts, but both recorded the same average scores in solving problems, a study shows. “The misconception is that by including high-order science and math classes in the curriculum, students would automatically develop scientific-reasoning skills,” said Lei Bao, a physics [...]