OHIO — The Ohio Education Policy Institute is citing a new study as it calls for a further look at what it takes to support Ohio’s most economically disadvantaged students.
What You Need To Know
- The Ohio Education Policy Institute examined and compared urban, suburban and small town districts
- The goal was to look at how each district supports low-income students
- All three districts were using similar approaches to support their students
Dr. Howard Fleeter, former OSU Professor and a research consultant for the organization, discussed the reasoning behind the study.
“Twice in the last four years, the legislature has removed a comprehensive cost study for what it takes to provide the necessary resources to help economically disadvantaged students,” said Fleeter.
The educational non-profit is pushing for the legislature to follow through on a comprehensive cost study. Fleeter also noted that students in Ohio and across the US who are economically disadvantaged don’t perform as well on standardized tests as students without the same challenges. While that points to the achievement gap, he said districts need to be able to provide additional services in order to help them learn at the same rate as other students.
In the study, researchers took a look at a large urban district in Columbus, an affluent, suburban district in Shaker Heights and a rural district, Jackson City Schools.
“A lot of the strategies that they’re using to help support economically disadvantaged students are the same (regardless of district),” said Fleeter. That includes the use of early intervention services, continued support after third grade, behavioral health services and the offering of high school credit recovery to reduce dropouts.
You can watch the full interview in the video above.
