Statewide Education News

Standard tests will be done online (News-Sun)

SPRINGFIELD — Online testing would be cheaper and more efficient than the current tests, making it worth the cost to prepare schools for the change in coming years, said state Superintendent Stan Heffner. “The new test should actually cost less,” Heffner said. “They’ll get instant feedback and at a cheaper cost.” Heffner, the Ohio Superintendent of Public Instruction, was the featured speaker at the Springfield Rotary Club on Monday. Read More…

Officials look for ways to boost student use of free summer meal plans (Dispatch)

Kids get hungry in the summer, too. But when school lets out, the number of youngsters taking advantage of government-paid free-meal programs drops by about 80 percent. Federal, state and community officials gathered in a summit at a Mid-Ohio Foodbank location in Grove City yesterday to brainstorm about ways to boost the number of kids from low-income neighborhoods enrolled in free breakfast and lunch programs in the summer months. Read More…

Cleveland schools' New Tech program to be featured on national webcast (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND - Cleveland's New Tech high school serving the West Side will be one of the schools featured in a national Internet broadcast Wednesday celebrating Digital Learning Day with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. New Tech West will be one of several schools showcased in short videos during a morning webcast. Then New Tech Principal Erin Frew, Spanish teacher Marixa Marriero and 11th-grader Britany Dickens will talk about the school live via Skype in a "Town Hall" discussion that afternoon. Read More…

Local Issues

Local businesses, organizations work to promote science and tech learning (Newark Advocate)

NEWARK - Two actresses from the Licking County Players pondered aloud last week how they could use six simple machines to knock over 10 bowling pins without using their hands. On the stage of the Midland Theatre, they rode a bike over a homemade ramp -- er, wedge -- and sat on a seesaw -- make that lever -- while they considered the possibilities with the help of a robot named Hal, voiced by fellow local actor Dennis Kohler. The actresses asked questions of the students in the audience. Read More…

Panel OKs Liberty cutbacks (Tribune Chronicle)

LIBERTY - Contentions popped up Monday between the Financial Planning and Supervision Committee appointed by the State Auditor's Office and the Liberty Local School District over staff cuts the school board approved last week. The board eliminated or reduced to part-time status 16.5 employees next school year, which would save the district $1.2 million. "There's no other plan you think would be better?" committee member and Liberty parent Kristen Rock asked Superintendent Stan Watson. Read More…

Westerville school board to vote on support-staff pay freeze (Dispatch)

The Westerville school board will vote today on a deal that would freeze pay for the district’s support-staff workers for the next two years. Union members also would shoulder the full burden of their health-care deductibles under the deal, but only if the district’s other employee unions follow suit. Board members called the 4 p.m. meeting after being briefed by the district’s bargaining team yesterday morning. District officials said the support-staff union came to them with the proposal. Read More…

Northridge principals' salaries, duties increase (Newark Advocate)

JOHNSTOWN - Northridge Local School District administrators are earning a little bit more money this year to go along with their new and expanded duties. The district removed its high school principal position this past summer, bumping middle school principal Amy Anderson to principal of grades six through 12, Robin Elliot up to assistant principal for grades 6-8 and Marisa Knopp to intermediate school principal and special education director. Read More…

Editorial

Giving dropouts reasons to return (Plain Dealer)

Forget about the GED certificate, the usual alternative for high-school dropouts. An innovative program being introduced at Owens Community College near Toledo this fall aims to help dropouts drop back into high school and move on to college. The combination of intensive counseling, flexible schedules and free tuition and books has worked elsewhere in the country, but this will be the first time it's tried in Ohio. Read More…

How to grade a teacher (L.A. Times)

We're teachers who believe that teacher evaluation, including the use of reliable test data, can be good for students and for teachers. Yes, yes, we know we're not supposed to exist. But we do, and there are a lot more of us. In February the membership of United Teachers Los Angeles will vote on a teacher-led initiative urging union leaders to negotiate a new teacher evaluation system for L.A. Unified. The vote will allow teachers' voices to be heard above the din of warring political figures. Read More…