March 1, 2017
Delaware 105.9
Over 150 DE schools will participate in Special Olympics ‘Spread the Word to End the R-Word’ campaign today
Special Olympics Delaware is uniting with schools statewide in a global movement called Spread the Word to End the Word. The goal of Spread the Word to End the Word is to end the use of the word retard or retarded. On Wednesday, nearly 150 Delaware preschool, elementary, middle and high schools will conduct assemblies, hang banners and hold activities in support of the campaign. Special Olympics Delaware Director of Media Relations Jon Buzby explains why it’s wrong to use the R-word.
Delaware Business Times
Chamber of Commerce awards innovation in education
The Delaware State Chamber of Commerce announced today the 2017 Superstars in Education award winners. The winners were selected, according to a news release, based on their contribution to “innovative teaching, integrated classroom technology practices, and school-to-career pathways.” The winners will be recognized at an awards ceremony on Monday, May 8 at Wilmington University’s Doberstein Admissions Center Auditorium.
Department of Education
Final draft of state ESSA plan released for comment
Following two public drafts and months of stakeholder input, the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) today released the final draft of the state’s Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan. Delaware’s final draft plan has been submitted to Governor John Carney and is open for a 30-day public comment period, ending March 30. Department staff will continue to review and incorporate feedback until the submission of the plan to the U.S. Department of Education in April.
Cape Gazette
Free showing of ‘Screenagers: Growing up in the Digital Age’ set at Sussex Academy March 16
Sussex Academy will present a free showing of “Screenagers: Growing Up in the Digital Age” at 6 p.m., Thursday, March 16, in the school auditorium, 21150 Airport Road, Georgetown. Parents and students are encouraged to attend. The documentary is appropriate for students 10 years and older. The documentary explores the impact of screen technology on kids, and offers parents proven solutions that work.
Middletown Transcript
Candidate filing deadline March 3 for Appoquinimink Board of Education election
One seat on the Appoquinimink School Board is open for election this year, and so far one candidate has filed, incumbent Charlisa Edelin. Edelin, who is finishing her current five-year term, is seeking to keep her seat for another five years. The filing deadline for candidates is Friday, March 3 at 4:30 p.m.
Newsworks
Gov. Carney discusses budget concerns during WEIC meeting
Gov. John Carney, D-Delaware, and Education Secretary Susan Bunting met with members of the Wilmington Education Improvement Commission at a public meeting to discuss feasible ways of improving education. During Tuesday night’s meeting in Wilmington, Carney spoke of financial burdens in the state, and how it would affect WEIC’s goal of moving Christina School District students to the Red Clay Consolidated School District, as well as their proposal for a new state funding formula.
Smyrna-Clayton Sun-Times
Department of Education releases final ESSA plan for public comment
The Delaware Department of Education released the final draft of the state’s Every Student Succeeds Act plan Feb. 28. Delaware’s final draft plan was submitted to Gov. John Carney and is open for a 30-day public comment period, ending March 30. Department staff will continue to review and incorporate feedback until the submission of the plan to the U.S. Department of Education in April.
Sussex Countian
Indian River ExCEL program wins Superstars in Education Award
The Indian River School District’s ExCEL program received the Superstars in Education Award from the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce. ExCEL, which stands for Exceptional Cognitive Enrichment Learning, was among the 2017 Superstars winners announced Feb. 24. ExCEL is a differentiated enrichment program for fourth- and fifth-graders who demonstrate, or have the potential to demonstrate, intellectual abilities and academic aptitudes.
Sussex County Post
Celebration of services, programs, teachers the basis of Special Education Week
With special recognition and programs, the Indian River School District will host its first-ever Special Education Week Feb. 27 through March 3. Activities are scheduled in every school in the district to promote and celebrate special education services, special education programs and special education teachers who make it possible for students with disabilities to reach their full potential.
The News Journal
Carney: Funding WEIC proposal would handcuff state
Gov. John Carney said Tuesday a weighted funding model proposed by the Wilmington Education Improvement Commission would “handcuff the state,” especially as it faces a $350 million budget deficit. He also made it clear there would be little to no funding available in the state’s budget for an ambitious redistricting plan proposed by WEIC in 2015.
Colonial School District referendum fails
Colonial School District residents on Tuesday voted down a two-part referendum that would have raised an additional $10.9 million in taxes annually and given the district the authority to take out $4.7 million in bonds for one-time school security upgrades. More than half of the $10.9 million would have supported already-existing programs and staff, administrators said.
Town Square Delaware
Doggone innovative design puts concord students on national map
A team of bright students at Concord High School have invented a device that may just land them at the top of a national competition while helping bakers at the popular Waggies by Maggies and Friends doggie treats company do their jobs a little better! The device is called the Weigh Master, which virtually eliminates the cognitive confusion involved with weighing just the right amount of dog biscuits for an 8-ounce bag.
National News
Education Week
Study: Kindergartners start school with more academic skills than in past
Kindergarten students in 2010 started school with noticeably stronger literacy, math, and behavior skills across the board compared to their peers that started school just 12 years earlier, says a study published this month in the journal Educational Researcher. The new research was developed by the same researchers who found in a 2014 study that the kindergarten classrooms of today are more like the 1st-grade classrooms of years past.
Los Angeles Times
Essential education: Trump doubles down on his school voucher push
President Trump announced steps toward creating a national school voucher program during his speech to Congress on Tuesday night. “I am calling upon members of both parties to pass an education bill that funds school choice for disadvantaged youth, including millions of African American and Latino children,” Trump said.
NPR
Just what is a charter school, anyway?
We’re all familiar with the term “hidden in plain sight.” Well, there may be no better way to describe the nation’s 6,900 charter schools. These publicly-funded, privately-run schools have been around since the first one opened in St. Paul, Minn., in 1992. Today, they enroll about 3.1 million students in 43 states, so you’d think Americans should know quite a bit about them by now. But you’d be wrong.
The Hechinger Report
New Orleans schools still struggle with integration
Six years ago, author and creative writing teacher Anne Gisleson was looking for a school for her 4-year-old son, Otto, who attended a private Lutheran preschool in her Bywater neighborhood. But for kindergarten, she wanted him to attend a public school, with kids from all backgrounds and neighborhoods. “It’s something valuable,” she said about the opportunity for diversity in public school.