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Articles by Patrick O’Donnell

Patrick O’Donnell is a correspondent at The 74, covering the impact of the pandemic on America's education system

Reinventing Report Cards: Reading, Writing, Collaboration and Other Work Skills

Patrick O’Donnell

Private School Just For Low Income Kids Looks To Create Thriving Adults

Patrick O’Donnell

New Indiana ‘Checkpoint’ Tests To Give Mid-Year Snapshots of Student Progress

Patrick O’Donnell

Growing ‘What Works’: Indianapolis Summer Learning Goes Statewide

Patrick O’Donnell

Indiana Science of Reading Teacher Training: More Than Most States, But Not All

Patrick O’Donnell

To Hold Back Struggling Readers or Not: Indiana & Ohio Take Different Paths

Patrick O’Donnell

Indianapolis High School Carves Time Away from Class for Internships for All

Patrick O’Donnell

School Vouchers Skyrocket in Ohio; 50% More Students Applied to Program in 2023

Patrick O’Donnell

A Reckoning in Cleveland: COVID Cuts Slash Laptops, Summer School, After-School

Patrick O’Donnell

Ohio’s Dept of Education & Workforce: New Name Signals New Student Priorities

Patrick O’Donnell

Indiana’s New Career Scholarships Create Training Choice, Cut Student Costs

Patrick O’Donnell

Indiana Advocates: Expiring COVID Funds May Derail Summer, Afterschool Learning

Patrick O’Donnell

Indiana Seeks to ‘Transform’ High School, Making Work Skills a Priority

Patrick O’Donnell

College Promise Programs Add a ‘Higher Promise’ of Jobs Along with Scholarships

Patrick O’Donnell

FAFSA Delays Raise Concerns Some Students Will Miss Out On College Aid

Patrick O’Donnell

A Tale of Extremes: More High & Low Scores in Ohio’s K-Shaped Learning Recovery

Patrick O’Donnell

Why Wait to Graduate? Georgia Apprentices Start Training as Sophomores

Patrick O’Donnell

Ohio’s Pandemic Recovery Slows As Achievement Gaps Fail To Close

Patrick O’Donnell

Ohio Spending Millions on Online Math Program For Pandemic Recovery

Patrick O’Donnell

Paramount Schools Succeed With Goats, Art And ‘Boring’ Looking Classes

Patrick O’Donnell

Airbus Afterschool Classes Help Aviation Careers Take Off

Patrick O’Donnell

Cutting Violence By Cutting Hair: How One School’s ‘Barbershop Talks’ Help Kids

Patrick O’Donnell

Outgoing Cleveland Schools CEO Reflects on Push to Remove Learning Barriers

Patrick O’Donnell

Report: Training of Ohio Teachers in the ‘Science of Reading’ Earns Mixed Grades

Patrick O’Donnell

Indiana Joins States Mandating the Science of Reading in Classrooms

Patrick O’Donnell

Cleveland Schools Pick Indianapolis Academic Chief Warren Morgan as New CEO

Patrick O’Donnell

From Fast Food to Savings Accounts, $50 Weekly Payments Shift Students’ Thinking

Patrick O’Donnell

‘Heavy Hand’: Ohio Teachers Oppose Governor’s Science of Reading-Only Edict

Patrick O’Donnell

Mastery Learning Backers Launch New HS Transcript to Help Grads Apply to College

Patrick O’Donnell

‘The Evidence is Clear’: Ohio Gov Pushes For Science of Reading As Only Approach

Patrick O’Donnell

Indianapolis High Schools Using ‘Badges’ to Help Students Land Jobs

Patrick O’Donnell

Cleveland Sticks With Recovery Plans After Worst-in-Nation NAEP Drop

Patrick O’Donnell

Path to Middle Class Jobs: New Manufacturing Center Combines Classroom, Museum

Patrick O’Donnell

New York City’s Apprenticeship Boom for High School Students

Patrick O’Donnell

Pandemic Widened Ohio Achievement Gaps, Leaving ‘Vulnerable’ Students Further Behind

Patrick O’Donnell

Los Angeles Skilled Trades Program Mixes Summer Jobs and Training All in One

Patrick O’Donnell

Indianapolis Students Get Leg Up On Careers With European-Style Apprenticeship

Patrick O’Donnell

New Cleveland Mayor Demands Faster Learning Recovery for Students After Pandemic

Patrick O’Donnell

‘Adults Have Power. Students Don’t’: Cleveland Schools Aim Bias Lessons at Staff

Patrick O’Donnell

One City’s Bold Youth Poverty Plan: Have Schools Partner Directly With Companies

Patrick O’Donnell

Schools Are Open, But Cleveland Kids Keep Cutting Class

Patrick O’Donnell

Shipwreck Camp Delivers a Treasure Trove of Science

Patrick O’Donnell

Science Erupts at Lessons Snuck Into Community Park

Patrick O’Donnell

Schools Are Adopting ‘Mastery’ Approach to Help Kids Recover COVID Learning Loss

Patrick O’Donnell

Cleveland Schools to Offer Remote Classes in the Fall

Patrick O’Donnell

Cleveland’s Kinder, Gentler Summer School: Camp, Academics Lure Kids to Class

Patrick O’Donnell

Lost Lab Time Makes Trades Teachers Adapt

Patrick O’Donnell

How 2 Schools in Ohio Have Stayed Open (and Safe) Through the Pandemic

Patrick O’Donnell

The Governor’s Gambit: Trading Vaccines for School Reopenings Mostly Worked for DeWine, But There Are Holdouts

Patrick O’Donnell

A High School in Ohio Is Giving Students a Choice: Keep Up With Remote Learning — Or You Have to Come Back to the Classroom

Patrick O’Donnell

Lifeline: How Bilingual Learning Pods Are Helping English Language Learners Navigate Classes During the Pandemic Without Teachers or Peers

Patrick O’Donnell

Cleveland Schools Comply with Governor’s March 1 Opening: Teachers Union Could Resist

Patrick O’Donnell

‘Simply Unacceptable’: Ohio Gov. DeWine Threatens to Withhold Early Vaccines From School Staffers if Cleveland Schools Fail to Reopen Classrooms By March 1

Patrick O’Donnell

Cleveland Schools an Ohio Outlier: April Reopening Likely With Parents and Teachers Cautious About Classroom Return

Patrick O’Donnell

‘Inequalities Grow Before Our Eyes’: Alarming New Data Show Ohio’s Black Students Have Lost a Half-Year of Learning, Are Missing More School, During the Pandemic

Patrick O’Donnell

One Dose? Or Two? Ohio Districts, Teachers Disagree with Gov. DeWine Over How Many Vaccine Shots it Takes to Safely Reopen Schools

Patrick O’Donnell

Cleveland Pledges to Reopen Schools March 1: Vaccine Shortages Complicate Return to Classrooms

Patrick O’Donnell

Will Preschools Survive the Pandemic? Ailing Cleveland Pre-K Programs Hope Federal Funds Can Salvage Seven Years of Progress Among High-Poverty Children

Patrick O’Donnell

Ohio’s Urgent Push to Open Classrooms During the Pandemic: New Policy Drops COVID Quarantine Rule if Students Wear Masks

Patrick O’Donnell

The Concerning Case of Cleveland’s No-Show Students: More Than 8,000 Kids Are Missing From City’s Online Classes as Absenteeism Rates Double

Patrick O’Donnell

Poorest Students Avoided COVID Slide on NWEA Tests, Cleveland Data Show

Patrick O’Donnell

How Schools Are Keeping Families Afloat During the Pandemic: COVID Shut Cleveland’s Classrooms, But Not the Wraparound Services So Essential For Both Parents and Students

Patrick O’Donnell

COVID-19 Budget Woes Pose Challenge for Ohio’s Long-Awaited School Funding Overhaul

Patrick O’Donnell

North Dakota State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler Sails to Third Term With 59 Percent of Vote

Patrick O’Donnell

Cleveland Schools Tax Increase Winning Big Even in Pandemic Recession, Averting Massive Cuts

Patrick O’Donnell

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice Wins Second Term After Two Teacher Strikes and Charter School Bill In First Four Years

Patrick O’Donnell

High-Stakes Day for Cleveland: District CEO Warns of Drastic Cuts If $23M Tax Hike Fails

Patrick O’Donnell

State Tests at Risk During Pandemic: Low Turnout for ‘Required’ Ohio Reading Test in Cities Suggests COVID-19 Could Keep Kids Home

Patrick O’Donnell

Pressing Through a Campaign Under COVID: Five Ways the American Federation of Teachers Has Changed How it Rallies Members

Patrick O’Donnell

Ohio COVID-19 Spike Blocks Cleveland’s Hybrid Hopes For ‘Academically Vulnerable’ Students

Patrick O’Donnell

New Data Show Ohio Charter Schools Have Seen 8% Jump in Student Enrollment During Pandemic, Fueled By 38% Surge in Students Seeking Online Programs

Patrick O’Donnell

An Unusual Form of Hybrid: Private School Students Take ‘Remote’ Classes at School

Patrick O’Donnell

Cleveland School District Wanted to Buy Every Student a Computer: COVID-19 Forced It; Tax Increase Would Make It Permanent

Patrick O’Donnell

Bringing Back The Neediest Students First: Cleveland Considers Joining Emerging Trend

Patrick O’Donnell

‘Falling Through the Cracks’: Enrollment Drops in Cleveland Schools as COVID-19 Pushes Kids Online and the District Starts Hunt for Kids

Patrick O’Donnell

How Does Remote Learning Work If Students Can’t Even Get Online? Census Data Show Major Cities Like Cleveland, Miami and Memphis Lag Behind in Basic Internet Access

Patrick O’Donnell

Church Pews and Gymnasiums Become Learning Spots as Cleveland Scrambles to Help Students With Online Lessons

Patrick O’Donnell

Cleveland Schools Have ‘Bumpy’ Opening, Delay Real Instruction, With 6,000 Students Still Needing Computers

Patrick O’Donnell

Giving Parents Choices as Pandemic Continues: How Some Cleveland Parochial and Charter Schools Go Against County Health Recommendations and Open for In-Person Classes

Patrick O’Donnell

As Hewlett-Packard Can’t Deliver Computers on Time, Cleveland School District Sent Scrambling to Find 9,000 New Laptops in Two Weeks

Patrick O’Donnell

Masks, Divided Tables, Assigned Spots on the Rug: Inside One Preschool’s Strategy for Coping With COVID-19

Patrick O’Donnell

‘Learning Centers’ Take In Kids Locked Out of Schools During Online-Only Classes

Patrick O’Donnell

School Names Come Under Fire in Cleveland After Black Lives Matter Protests: Patrick Henry and Louis Agassiz First on Chopping Block

Patrick O’Donnell

Cleveland’s ‘Mastery’ Hopes Fade as COVID-19 Surges and Classes Are Forced Online

Patrick O’Donnell

Lessons From a Global Reckoning: Ohio’s ‘Whitewashed’ History Lessons Need Brutal Truths, Unheard Voices, Cleveland Teachers Say

Patrick O’Donnell

Cleveland Schools Delay Opening by Three Weeks as COVID-19 Cases Surge

Patrick O’Donnell

Cleveland Schools Seek Tax Hike Even as COVID-19 Hammers Families

Patrick O’Donnell

Grandmother Fills the Gap From Closed Pools and Camps While Single Mother Works Through COVID Summer

Patrick O’Donnell

Masks, Distancing and State Health Mandates Loom as Land Mines for Ohio’s School Reopening

Patrick O’Donnell

Closing the Digital Divide: Inside Cleveland’s Plan to Treat Broadband Like a Public Utility Service — and to Pay for Every Student to Get Online

Patrick O’Donnell

Cleveland and Ohio’s Urban Districts Say DeVos’s Pandemic Aid Plan Would Cost Them Millions Meant for High-Poverty Students

Patrick O’Donnell

Cleveland’s Surprising College Trend: Despite Pandemic, Data Show City’s HS Seniors Bucking National Trends, Taking Steps Toward Higher Ed Ahead of Last Year’s Pace

Patrick O’Donnell

Cleveland Schools Considering Bold Plan to Confront Coronavirus Learning Loss: A ‘Mastery’ Learning Initiative That Would Scrap Grade Levels, Let Kids Learn at Own Pace

Patrick O’Donnell

Cleveland Teachers Take Lessons to TV to Stem Learning Loss, Stay Connected to Students Through Coronavirus

Patrick O’Donnell

On His Way to Top HBCU, Former Problem Student and ‘Distinguished Gentleman’ Lost Major Milestone Celebration to Coronavirus

Patrick O’Donnell

Giving Back, Principal Delivers a Chance to Succeed

Patrick O’Donnell