School Choice Study Pushes Ohio to Follow Florida’s Lead

October 27, 2011 | 12:15 PM

Our colleagues at StateImpact Florida wrote today about a publication from the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice and School Choice Ohio that suggests that Ohio should adopt some of the education policies currently in effect in Florida.

The publication basically says that because Florida’s black and Hispanic fourth graders do better than Ohio’s in the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress, Ohio should do what Florida does in regard to rating schools, expanding vouchers and charter schools, and promoting students from grade to grade based on whether or not they’ve passed the state standardized tests.

The publication’s author, Matthew Ladner, writes that he focused on fourth grade reading because they demonstrate the development of early literacy literacy skills, which are “crucial to the overall academic success of students in the years that follow.” But I’d note that focusing just on fourth graders and just on reading proficiency is a narrow approach to analyzing the performance of a state’s entire school system.

Read the publication for yourself here.

Note: A previous version of this story mischaracterized the performance of students in Ohio and in Florida. Please read more about the two states’ performance in this updated post.

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http://scohio.org/PDF/Ohio%20Policy%20Recommendations%20based%20on%20Lader%20Report%20October%202011.pdf Sarah

Ho hum, low-income students making 3 grade levels worth of gains in a decade in Florida and now being a full grade level ahead of Ohio, while Ohio’s low-income students have stagnated. Ho hum, closing the achievement gap which PLAGUES Ohio students and perpetuates poverty cycles. Whatever.

The thing that is remarkable about the outcomes in Florida is the *trajectory* of the results, which have already caught them up with Ohio and, if they continue, will leave Ohio students in the dust. I work every day with low-income families whose students aren’t achieving at levels that will help them meet their potential. And I can assure you that it’s of little consolation that Florida students haven’t completely blown them out of the water yet. The status quo is not good enough – we have one shot at educating our kids and if there are proven tools out there, we ignore them at our state’s peril.
http://www.edchoice.org Paul DiPerna

Molly,

“But I’d note that focusing just on fourth graders and just on reading proficiency is a narrow approach to analyzing the performance of a state’s entire school system.”

In the first figure of the report (pg. 3) Ladner reports combined gains for 4th and 8th grade, reading and math, for low-income students.. So what you say is in your last paragraph is not accurate.

Ladner also goes into some lengthy discussion regarding rationale for his analysis.. and he explores other possible explanations for the OH/FL differences (pgs. 4, 14-17).

We appreciate the attention you bring to the study. StateImpact is certainly playing an important role casting some sunlight on current developments in K-12 Education in Ohio. That said, we want to make sure Matt Ladner’s study is reported as accurately as possible.

Best,

Paul DiPerna
Friedman Foundation

Anonymous

Hi Paul: I get what you’re saying. But it still looks to me like most of the discussion of Florida’s performance and the comparison to Ohio focuses (with the exception you note) on fourth grade reading scores on the NAEP. the comparison, but I honestly haven’t compared the two states’ performance on the NAEP in other areas, so don’t know if the results are the same. (Are they?)

Early literacy is certainly important. I’m not discounting those gains in Florida. But it still seems to me that the line connecting just “big gains in Florida fourth grade reading for low-income children” to “let’s adopt this entire basket of policies in Ohio” isn’t clear.

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