BCHF launches annual Writing Challenge
Buckeye Community Hope Foundation has launched its annual writing competition aligned to Ohio content standards and the writing rubrics. READ MORE

Ohio School Safety Working Group members encouraged to “dream big”
Gov. Mike DeWine (R-Cedarville) created the Ohio School Safety Center and Working Group through an executive order issued last August.

At the working group’s first meeting, held in December, the governor’s senior advisor for criminal justice policy, Andy Wilson, told members it has the administration’s full support.

“Dream big,” Wilson said. “The governor wants this to be the shining example of how school safety can be done right.”

The group is expected to meet at least quarterly. In addition to discussing trends and needs, members will help develop an annual “climate report,” and will collaborate with staff to plan a summer school safety summit funded with a Bureau of Justice Assistance grant.

The School Safety Center is a specialized division of the Department of Public Safety’s Ohio Homeland Security.

Computer science licensure reimbursement available
To increase the number of educators qualified to teach computer science in Ohio, the state budget includes $1.5 million in funding for fiscal years 2020 and 2021 to reimburse teachers for the costs associated with meeting the licensure requirements.

The Ohio Department of Education reimburses educators directly for the costs of content exams and pedagogy courses required by state law by summer term 2021.

Priority will be given to educators who agree to teach at least one remote computer science course at a school that lacks access to computer science educators, and to educators assigned to schools that have more than 50 percent economically disadvantaged students and few or no teachers licenses to teach computer science. Learn more at: Ed Connection

Stakeholders encourage lawmakers to keep educator assessment
Legislation (H.B. 322) to eliminate the last two years of the Ohio Teacher Residency Program and the Resident Educator Summative Assessment (RESA) drew opposition from various education stakeholders during legislative hearings held in the House of Representatives.

While some believe that RESA limits teachers’ time — which would be better used working with students — and limits local control, opponents say elimination of the assessment would likely result in scaled-back mentorship programs and reduced support for new beginning teachers.

In additional to testimony offered in support of H.B. 322, committee Chair Rep. Don Jones (R-Freeport) – an agriculture teacher for 23 years – believes that videos and student feedback fail to tell the “whole story” about teacher performance, and feels that the RESA process is burdensome for districts that can’t afford to employ full-time staff to oversee it.

Health standards bill has critics
Despite the fact that Ohio is the only state in the nation without health education standards, legislation (H.B. 121) introduced earlier this year remains controversial.

Recognizing the potential for criticism by those who believe that state health standards would likely lead to changes in sex education curriculum, the bipartisan bill’s sponsors – state Sen. Stephanie Kunze (R-Hilliard) and Sen. Vernon Sykes (D-Akron) – included language that would require any changes to venereal disease education standards to be approved by the legislature. But that hasn’t satisfied those who are concerned that adopting broad health standards could lead to students learning more about sex, which they believe exposes children to higher risk.

“The battle lines are the usual ones, which is unfortunate,” said state Sen. Peggy Lehner (R-Kettering), who chairs the Senate Education Committee, which has held several hearings on the bill.

Lehner intends to continue working to convince the bill’s opponents that Ohio should join the nation’s other 49 states in adopting health education standards.

Gov. open to elimination of A-F report card grades
Gov. Mike DeWine signaled that he is open to elimination of the use of letter grades to frame school and district performance on state report cards. READ MORE