A Reuters special report examines techniques used by charter schools across the country to determine who will be admitted. Charters are public schools, funded by taxpayers and widely promoted as open to all. But Reuters has found that across the United States, charters aggressively screen student applicants, assessing their academic records, parental support, disciplinary history, [...]
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First Graders at Fairfax are Active Learners
Life is packed if you are a first grader learning English Language Arts (ELA) from teacher Debbie VanNostran’s at Fairfax Elementary School, and in ways that probably differ from most of our memories of elementary school. During an action-filled 90 minutes of reading, writing, and word play, each of her 22 students was busy learning. [...]
Reaching Heights Grant Supports Heights High Filmmakers
In May, Cleveland Heights High School hosted a crew of film professionals led by Director, Karyn Kusama, who directed the Hollywood movies Jennifer’s Body and Girlfight. Kusama’s crew arrived at Heights High to make the short film, Speechless, written by Cleveland School of the Arts senior Roxanne Lasker-Hall. Speechless was the winning script in New [...]
New Calculation of Graduation Rates on State Report Card Doesn’t Add Up
When you hear about high school graduation rates, what do you think they measure? The number of students in the 12th grade who finish their required courses plus the few brainiacs who graduate early, right? The U.S. Department of Education has redefined “graduation rate” on state Report Cards (starting with the 2011-12 school year) to [...]
Evaluation: A Tool for Building Effective Teachers
There’s little argument that high quality teaching is crucial, but determining who is up to snuff is more problematic. What does an effective teacher do? Teaching is complex and individuals develop expertise through experience. In this article, local public education advocate and former Reaching Heights Executive Director Susie Kaeser examines what teacher evaluation looks like [...]
Help Build New Softball Field for Lady Tigers
Together with the Heights athletic department and school district, the Heights Softball Booster Club is raising money for a new softball field at the corner of Washington and Goodnor at Cleveland Heights High School. The softball team has never had its own field. The team has played their home games at Forest Hill Park and [...]
Changing Culture to Provided Our Kids Needed Skills
By Krista Hawthorne It’s not just the economy that makes employers nervous about the future, says Dr. Ronald F. Ferguson, a Senior Lecturer in Education and Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. “Big employers are scared that we will not be able to replace the baby boomers when [...]
One in Five American Children Live in Poverty
Child poverty increased in 38 states from 2000 to 2009, and nearly 15 million children – 20 percent of the child population – were poor in 2009, a 2.5 million increase from 2000. These are among the findings in the 2011 Kids Count Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Nevada has the highest [...]
A Good Man or an International Competitor?
Here’s a thoughtful article that raises questions about what our goals are – and should be – as we educate our children. It was written by William J. Mathis, managing director of the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the former superintendent of schools for the Rutland Northeast Supervisory [...]
2012 Summer Music Camp
