Ohio State News Tips - April 11, 2014

Hunger doesn't take a spring break – Ohio State Social Work students volunteer to serve lunch to hungry kids –April 14 - 18. Spring break may be a welcomed respite for school-aged kids, but it may also place an extra burden on families already struggling to make ends meet. During spring break, many kids miss out on the free- and reduced-price lunch programs at school – and their families may not be able to budget for the additional expense of lunch while they're home. To remedy the situation, students at Ohio State's College of Social Work are volunteering for a project that provides free lunches to kids during the week of April 14 - 18 at the city's Barnett Recreation Center. For more information about the project or to talk to a student about why they’re volunteering, CONTACT: Frankie Jones-Harris, jones-harris.1@osu.edu, (614) 292-3540 or (614) 330-2206.

Research: Kindergarten test reveals who is likely to read in third grade. A test that all Ohio children take in kindergarten can predict with striking accuracy if they will be proficient readers by third grade, new research reveals.
The study of students in Columbus City Schools found that two-thirds of children who showed potential reading problems when tested in kindergarten later failed the reading portion of the third-grade Ohio Achievement Assessment (OAA).
Those students who had the highest scores on the kindergarten test (24 to 29 points) were eight times more likely to pass the third-grade OAA than those students who scored the lowest (0 to 13 points).
The study was published recently in a white paper by the Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy (CCEC) at The Ohio State University College of Education and Human Ecology.
The researchers found that schools do have some impact on how well students fare on the third-grade test, but the effect was relatively small.
“In some ways, it is astonishing that we can predict so well in kindergarten how well kids will be able to read in third grade,” said Laura Justice, co-author of the study, executive director of the CCEC and professor of teaching and learning at Ohio State. SEE: http://www.osu.edu/news/newsitem3993.

Ohio State Study: What Happens to a River When a Dam Comes Down? Tear down a dam and a river will change. But just how much? And what will it do to what lives in the river?
To find out, scientists in The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences are looking no farther than their own backyard.
Mazeika Sullivan and Kristin Jaeger, assistant professors in the college’s School of Environment and Natural Resources, are studying the effects of dam removal at two former dams in Columbus: the Fifth Avenue dam on the Olentangy River, which flows through Ohio State’s campus, and the Main Street dam on the Scioto River some five miles south downtown.
“There’s a growing trend toward using dam removal to restore rivers, but studies documenting both short- and longer-term river responses to dam removal are limited,” Sullivan said. “This work links exciting basic science questions with outstanding opportunities for applications to river management and conservation.”
SEE: http://cfaes.osu.edu/news/articles/ohio-state-study-what-happens-river-when-dam-comes-down.

The person listed as the CONTACT will have the most current information about the story. Call on our media relations staff for help with any Ohio State story: Jane Carroll, 614-292-5220 or carroll.296@osu.edu; Liz Cook, 614-292-7276 or cook.17@osu.edu; Gary Lewis, 614-688-2048 or lewis.330@osu.edu; or Amy Murray, 614-292-8385 or murray-goedde.1@osu.edu.