February 16, 2016
Delaware
Amtek
Delaware STEM panel on career readiness and 3D printing
Blog post by Christine Archer, marketing manager at Amtek Company
We recently attended the Delaware STEM Council’s panel “How to Develop a STEM Program in Your School or District” to hear firsthand from some of the best Delaware educators and administrators (not to mention the leading 3D printer supplier in education, Stratasys). It was an invigorating meeting of the minds, covering all things related to the STEM workforce, increasing STEM literacy, and getting students excited about STEM.
Cape Gazette
Still no decision on what time school will start
Cape Henlopen school board still has made no decision on what times schools should start. Even the question of whether elementary or older students should start first remains up in the air following a Feb. 11 school board meeting. The board has wrestled with specific start times for district schools since October, when it approved a motion to start elementary schools before secondary schools. The October vote reversed a July vote that called for starting secondary schools before elementaries.
Delaware State News
Caesar Rodney students advance with Chinese immersion program
The dawning of the year of the monkey was celebrated at Allen Frear Elementary School on Monday and led by Chinese immersion students. There are approximately 140 Chinese immersion students at Allen Frear, all of whom started the program in kindergarten at J. Ralph McIlvaine Early Childhood Center. The program first started in 2012 as the only Chinese immersion program in the state.
Delmarva Now
Cape district buffs up accelerated learning program
The Cape Accelerated Program, the Cape Henlopen School District’s gifted and talented program, will expand to the district’s two middle schools for the next school year. The program debuted in September at the district’s four elementary schools for fourth- and fifth-grade students. About 10 percent of fourth- and fifth-graders at each school take part in the program.
The Huffington Post
University of Delaware goes test optional. Who is next?
Never in my wildest dreams did I think that the test optional policy would go mainstream. For so long, the test optional bandwagon de-emphasizing SATs and ACTs in the college application was led by a small group of liberal arts colleges. Every few years another elite college would sign on to this admissions policy, but this trickle has become more of a steady stream over the past several years. Within the past week, the University of Delaware announced a four-year pilot program to make standardized tests optional for in-state students.
The Milford Beacon
Searching for answers: Milford district seeks community input
Superintendent Phyllis Kohel tried her best to stay away from the dreaded R-word during the district’s first community meeting of 2016 that included the future of the old Milford Middle School building. However, that familiar word – referendum – eventually came up. It had to. Kohel insisted the Feb. 10 meeting was about finding solutions for the vacated Lakeview Avenue building and other issues facing the district, not trying to gauge the public on whether or not it should go for another referendum.
The News Journal
Lawmaker: Make info on revoked teacher licenses public
A Delaware lawmaker wants to require the state Department of Education to make details public when educators lose their teaching licenses. Sen. Ernie Lopez, R-Lewes, says he will propose legislation after an investigation by The News Journal showed the state keeps track of teachers whose licenses are suspended or revoked, but does not share that information with the public. The News Journal this weekend reported that at least 80 public school teachers have been disciplined since 1990 statewide, according to data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
Help kids make smart college debt choices, Carper says
While Bernie Sanders and Hilary Clinton spar over multi-billion-dollar plans to make a college education tuition-free or eliminate student debt, fellow Democrat Tom Carper says one way to rein in the relentlessly soaring costs of higher education is to encourage students to make more affordable decisions. Carper, Delaware’s senior U.S. Senator, was at Delaware Technical Community College’s Stanton campus on Monday for one of three round-table discussions on college affordability he is holding across the state.
School tech allows virtual global field trips
Without leaving their classrooms, students at Mote Elementary School were able to visit the Pyramids in Egypt, coral reefs off the coast of Australia and even the moon last week. That’s because the school participated in the beta test of the Google Expedition Pioneers program, which is designed to use smartphone-style technology to take kids on virtual reality field trips. The program uses Google Cardboard, a headset into which devices can be placed.
National
Education Dive
Obama’s final budget proposal would send billions to higher ed
In his final budget proposal, President Barack Obama reiterated a number of higher education proposals that Congress has seen — and ignored — before. Among them: two years of free community college and a closing of the 90/10 rule loophole that allows for-profit colleges to collect more than 90% of their tuition revenue from federal sources.
Education Week
Teachers at low-income schools deserve respect
Opinion by Bruce Hansen, adjunct professor at Lewis and Clark College
For 14 years, I taught in schools with students from low-income households. It was a source of great professional fulfillment for me. I witnessed daily triumphs and joys that more than offset the particular difficulties in working with economically deprived children. On the day the district presented me with its Golden Apple Award for excellence in teaching, a colleague approached me, pointed to the award, and suggested that now I could finally “get out of this low-income school.”
EdSource
One way to improve kindergarten attendance: Take the school bus
Students who ride the school bus in the critical first year of formal education – kindergarten – are absent less often and have lower odds of being chronically absent, a key indicator of future academic success, according to a new study. The “school bus effect” improves kindergarten attendance in families of all income levels, said UC Santa Barbara professor Michael Gottfried, who conducted the study in partnership with the Truancy Reduction Pilot Projects initiative of California Attorney General Kamala Harris.
The Washington Post
These parents are interviewing teachers for a new D.C. charter school
The construction site in Southeast Washington barely resembles a school, yet the two parents already can navigate their way through the still-imagined gymnasium, computer lab and nursing station. “Oh, this is my favorite part of the building,” said Rhondesia Small, 26, pointing to doors at the city’s new branch of the Rocketship charter school. The doors connect classrooms so younger students “have no excuse” for lollygagging in the hallways.
WBEZ
Solving the special ed teacher shortage: Quality, not quantity
All over the United States, schools are scrambling to find qualified special education teachers. There just aren’t enough of them to fill every open position. That means schools must often settle for people who are under-certified and inexperienced. Special ed is tough, and those who aren’t ready for the challenge may not make it past the first year or two. Really good teacher preparation might be the difference. At least, that’s what the Lee Pesky Learning Center believes.