What Drives Our Research
Fordham Ohio advocates for policies that advance educational excellence for all Ohio students. High-quality research and analysis—conducted in-house and by external researchers and experts—helps us advance that goal by framing key issues with sound data.
Ohio Education By the Numbers
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute is pleased to present Ohio Education By The Numbers, which is an impartial, fact-based overview of K–12 education in the Buckeye State. We hope these data will inform conversations about improving education throughout the state.
Did the emergence of Ohio charter schools help or harm students who remained in district schools?
For more than twenty-five years, public charter schools have served Ohio families and communities by providing quality educational options beyond the local school district. But it’s no secret that we’ve also had a long-standing debate over whether increasing school choice impacts students who remain in traditional districts. In important—and sometimes impassioned—discussions such as these, rigorous research is critical to ground conversations in facts and evidence.
Did the emergence of Ohio charter schools help or harm students who remained in district schools?
For more than twenty-five years, public charter schools have served Ohio families and communities by providing quality educational options beyond the local school district. But it’s no secret that we’ve also had a long-standing debate over whether increasing school choice impacts students who remain in traditional districts. In important—and sometimes impassioned—discussions such as these, rigorous research is critical to ground conversations in facts and evidence.
Ohio Education By the Numbers—2024 Edition
In the post-pandemic era, Ohio’s K–12 education system continues to be the source of much debate. A mix of hot-button and bipartisan policies ranging from workforce readiness to early literacy to school funding to quality educational choice are drawing attention at the Statehouse and in communities statewide.
Ohio’s Career-Technical Education Landscape: An overview of CTE at the high school level
Our latest policy brief provides an overview of the CTE landscape for Ohio high schoolers.
2023 Fordham Sponsorship Annual Report
Our 2022-23 Fordham Sponsorship Annual Report shares our work during the last school year, overseeing thirteen schools that served approximately 6,000 students in Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati and Portsmouth, Ohio.
Modernizing the traditional school district in Ohio: How state lawmakers can strengthen local accountability and drive higher performance
Our latest policy brief offers recommendations aimed at enhancing local, citizen-led accountability for district performance, while also loosening bureaucratic constraints on district leaders so that they can focus on what matters most: Lifting student achievement.
Do Ohio’s teacher preparation programs follow the science of reading? How stronger teacher preparation and curricula policies can ensure scientifically based reading instruction in Ohio
This study takes a look at Ohio's elementary-school teacher preparation programs and the extent to which they're training candidates in the science of reading. Based on analyses of programs' course materials and syllabi, the report identifies exemplary preparation programs that cover the five components of the reading science. Other programs, however, are lagging behind. The report offers recommendations that will better ensure that all incoming teachers are well-trained in the science of reading.
Reinventing Ohio’s Charter School Sector, 2015–2023: Ohio’s successful charter turnaround—and what’s needed next
For more than two decades, the charter school movement has aimed to provide parents with more public-school options, empower educators to launch innovative schools, and boost student achievement. This report looks at the progress Ohio is making toward achieving these ambitious goals. It includes an overview of the landmark reforms that state lawmakers enacted in 2015 to strengthen accountability for charter school performance, as well as the improvements the sector has made since then. The report also discusses the large funding disparities that public charter schools in Ohio still face, and how legislators can work to bridge those gaps.
Will Ohio’s Covid Generation Get Back on Track? An analysis of 2021–22 state test results—and how to accelerate learning
In fall 2022, the Ohio Department of Education released state assessment results from the 2021-22 school year. The data continue to reveal the massive learnings losses that occurred during the pandemic, along with the uneven recovery in its wake. This report offers a close look at Ohio's achievement data from the 2018-19 to 2021-22 school years, and concludes with four recommendations that can help accelerate student learning across the Buckeye State.
Ohio Education By the Numbers—2023 Edition
Ensuring that all Ohio students receive an excellent education remains an important priority for state and community leaders. As Governor DeWine himself recently noted, a quality education for all is a “moral imperative” for Ohio. Making good on this obligation starts with a solid understanding of the state of K-12 education in Ohio.
Fine-tuning Ohio’s school report card: An analysis of the state’s revamped report card in its first year of implementation, 2021–22
Executive summary
The Ohio EdChoice Program’s impact on school district enrollments, finances, and academics
This report explores the impacts of Ohio’s EdChoice program on school district enrollments, finances, and educational outcomes. The study includes detailed analyses of the state’s “performance-based” EdChoice program that, as of 2021–22 provides vouchers to approximately 35,000 students as well as its “income-based” EdChoice program which serves approximately 20,000 low-income students.
2022 Fordham Sponsorship Annual Report
The latest edition of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation’s sponsorship annual report highlights our work during the 2021-22 school year, overseeing twelve schools that served 5,500 students in four Ohio cities.