U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was in Cleveland last week to tout the Cleveland Plan. StateImpact Ohio caught up with him and managed to ask him about a few other topics as well. Here’s how the country’s top education official feels about Common Core naysayers, the reliability of data, and pre-K education.
Ken Colwell / Flickr “Early education is one of the few school reforms — if not the only one — with extensive research showing its value in academic, social and other ways,” Washington Post columnist Valerie Strauss says. And yet, as we reported last month, Ohio continues to fall short on providing state-funded, high-quality preschool. [...]
Sarah Gilbert / Flickr Gov. John Kasich wants schools to make sure students can read by the time they leave third grade, but says schools should do that without new state funding. He’s calling it a third-grade reading guarantee. But the researcher who wrote a report the Kasich administration cites in support of the proposal [...]
For the first time, Head Start programs in Ohio and nationwide that have fallen short of federal standards must compete for funding. For the past 48 years, the programs had received the funds automatically, Education Week reports. Ten Ohio Head Start programs must reapply for funding, and there’s no guarantee that they’ll receive it. Only one [...]
Researchers and politicians on both sides of the aisle agree: good pre-kindergarten programs are essential for success in school, particularly for low income children. But for the second year in a row, state funding for pre-K has dropped nationwide. And in Ohio, the cuts have been particularly deep. StateImpact Ohio’s Molly Bloom reports.
Saint Francis Academy / Flickr Ohio has submitted its application for a $70 million share of federal funds intended to help states provide more and better pre-school, particularly for “high-needs” children. (Scroll down to read the full application.) In this case, high-needs means children who are from low-income families, are English language learners, or who [...]
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