All Schools Meeting inspires and informs
Ninety individuals – including representatives from all 47 BCHF-sponsored schools – came together on Sept. 18 for Buckeye Community Hope Foundation’s (BCHF) annual All Schools Meeting.  READ MORE

Engagement Center announces website for families and educators
The Center on Education and Training for Employment within the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University recently launched the Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center — a website providing resources for building strong connections between home and school.

The website provides quick and easy access to essential information and tools offering a comprehensive understanding of how families, schools and communities can work together to ensure all children have the opportunity to succeed in learning and life.

Resources will be updated regularly with new assets, examples of family engagement practices from families and schools, webinars, research reports and other assistance. Learn more online at: ODE

Nation’s report card places Ohio in middle of pack
Ohio ranked 21st overall – with a score of 76 out of 100 and a composite grade of “C” – by Education Week’s recently released Quality Counts report, also known as the nation’s report card. Ohio scored just slightly better than the national average of 75.6. States’ overall rankings are based on scores in three categories: chance for success, school finance and K-12 achievement.

Ohio’s ranking remains unchanged from the previous report. Pulling down Ohio’s overall score and ranking was the gap in achievement and funding between poor and more-affluent students and their schools. Ohio also ranked in the lower half of states with respect to workforce indicators and having adults with postsecondary degrees.

Ed Board makes reading guarantee recommendations
Last month, the State Board of Education unanimously approved a resolution to ask legislators to make a number of changes to Ohio’s Third Grade Reading Guarantee, including requiring schools to expand the use of improvement and monitoring plans – and providing “intensive reading instruction” for students reading below grade level -- from third grade to fifth.

The State Board also recommends that local officials be given authority to determine whether English learners should be exempt from the guarantee promotion score “based on the student’s English language proficiency.” Under current law, the exemption is permitted when a student has been enrolled in a school in the U.S. for less than three full years and has had less than three years of English as a second language.

Youth art competition celebrates women’s suffrage
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, the National Archives Foundation is sponsoring an art competition for students in grades four through six. The competition, based on the Rightfully Hers exhibit, will highlight historical achievements in women’s history while promoting the significance of the 19th amendment.

The grand prize includes a free trip, including travel, to the National Archives Museum in Washington, D.C., for the Spring 2020 Sleepover. The entry deadline is Nov. 5. Learn more online at: National Archives Foundation

New industry-recognized credentials posted
The Ohio Department of Education, jointly with the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation, has released additions to its fiscal year 2020 Industry-Recognized Credential List. These credentials are available immediately for students to earn as points toward graduation.

A panel of industry professionals reviewed all currently approved credentials, as well as all credential applications received in Spring and Summer 2019. The industry panel did not recommend removing any previously approved credentials from the 2019-2020 list.

Learn more online at: Ed Connection

Updated CCP resources available
Over the summer months, the Ohio Department of Higher Education’s College Credit Plus (CCP) team was hard at work updating the CCP website and guidance documents to have things ready for students, families and program administrators at college and secondary schools.

Updated documents include:

• Professionals’ Resource Guide (formerly the “handbook”)

• Student Eligibility Process

• Underperforming Students Rule Summary

• Course Eligibility Summary

• Guidance for Grades and Tuition

• Information Session Presentations

• Intent to Participate Forms

Learn more and access resources online at: Ohio Higher Ed

Ohio among six states to receive adult learners funding The National Governors Association (NGA) recently announced that Ohio is one of six states in line to receive funding and assistance to develop programs to benefit adult learners through its Educate for Opportunity project.

Ohio, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Wyoming will share a $2.3 million grant from the Strada Education Network to improve connections between adult education and career pathways.

NGA will also provide technical assistance and access to state-specific data from the Strada-Gallup Education Consumer Survey. Ohio will utilize the funds to assist students who have not attended college or took college classes but did not earn a degree.