The Ohio Department of Education has released thefull draft, including technical submissions, and overview, of Ohio’s plan for the Every
Ohio’s draft plan addresses Academic Standards, Assessments, Accountability, School Improvement, and other important elements of Ohio’s education system.
The documents were created after engagement through webinars, public forums, and online surveys with more than 15,000 parents, educators, and community members.
Colleen Grady, a senior policy advisor for the Ohio Department of Education, who oversaw the compilation of results from the online survey, indicated, “The responses are all remarkably consistent.”
Results indicated that while most parents were happy with the schools that their children attend, many of therespondents criticized the amount of standardized testingcurrently required, the quality of charter schools, and the rapid pace of change in specifictests and expectations in the past few years.
Lisa Gray of Philanthropy Ohio, who helped run the forums, also indicated consistency in the comments she heard; she cited testing and report cards as “the area where we had the most amount of pushback”
While testing was the top area of concern, major changes were not included in the new plan in this area. Instead, the plan indicates further exploration will take place before changes are recommended as indicated in the following excerpt from theDraft Overview(see pages 7-8)
As part of ESSA, Ohio will reexamine its testing requirements. The Department is poised to work closely with the Governor, legislature and education leaders to examine the pros and cons of adjusting the testing schedule—guided by the lens of what is best for future student success.
This plan isnow available for public comment through March 6, 2017.
State Superintendent Paolo DeMaria acknowledges the many comments have already been received on the plan overview and indicates that forthcoming comments will be incorporated before final editing and submission of the final draft of Ohio’s plan to the US Department of Education in April.
Resources:
Full Plan and Technical Submissions
Also access thefull plan, along with technical documents and overview here,
Additional resources, including a PowerPoint presentation and link to the
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