Higher education gets a bad rap these days. The public perception is that there is a growing rift between public universities and the elected officials who support them. In "What's Public about Public Higher Ed?," Stephen M. Gavazzi and E. Gordon Gee explore the reality of that supposed divide, offering qualitative and quantitative…

For two decades, Ohio's district and school report cards have been the linchpin to a transparent and accountable public school system and have highlighted student outcomes in the state's 3,000 plus public schools and 600 plus districts. Report cards offer key academic information about how students perform on the year's state assessments and how…

The expansion of private school choice programs has been accompanied by a growing call for regulation of those programs. Individual private schools decide whether to participate in voucher programs based on expected benefits and expected costs. An unintended consequence of attaching heavy government regulation to voucher programs is that it raises…

Since 2005, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute has published annual analyses of Ohio's state report card data, focusing on district and charter schools in Ohio's Big Eight urban areas: Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo, and Youngstown. For the 2017--18 school year, we provide an overview of Ohio's assessment and report…

Colleges and employers are demanding greater knowledge and skills from our graduates than ever before. As Ohio continues to help students in meeting higher expectations for what they should know and be able to do, student achievement is higher statewide. From 2016 to 2017, every subject area had an increase in first-time test takers scoring…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) offers state leaders the opportunity to refocus their education systems on improving opportunity and outcomes for young people who have been underserved for far too long. The law includes a number of important requirements to focus on equity in school accountability, but it also leaves many key decisions up to…

Ohio is raising its expectations for what their students must learn and their schools must accomplish. Ohio's School Report Cards are one good way to determine if they are meeting their goals. There are many changes on this year's report card, changes that reflect the increased expectations Ohio has for its students and schools. So this year's…