March 28, 2016
Delaware
Cape Gazette
Milton resident runs for board to address start times, redistricting
Newcomer Jessica Tyndall sees a lot of issues facing the Cape Henlopen School District, and she says she’s running for school board to get involved. “I always thought about doing this,” the Milton resident said. “Since I have three kids, I have a vested interest in the next two decades for what’s going on in the district.” Tyndall, 32, is running for the area A seat once held by the late Noble Prettyman.
Department of Education
Teachers of the Year visit Legislative Hall
Delaware 2016 Teacher of the Year Sandra Hall, joined by the state’s 2016 District Teachers of the Year, addressed legislators in both chambers today after lawmakers passed a concurrent resolution honoring the educators. Governor Jack Markell also invited the teachers to his office to hear their insights on education issues in the state.
Delaware Public Media
Enlighten Me: William Penn students dive into sports data
A new baseball season is nearly here and one of the things that fans of the national pastime have always enjoyed – and at times obsessed over – is the host of statistics that go with the game. They range from the traditional batting average, home runs, strikeouts and ERA to newer ones like walks and hit per inning pitched (WHIP), and wins above replacement (WAR).
Brandywine School District mulls next move after referendum defeat
Brandywine School District is regrouping after voters rejected its tax referendum this week. The plan sought to bolster the district operating budget while renovating three schools and installing artificial turf fields at three high schools. It failed by a slim 163-vote margin. The district has the option to try again with a revised referendum later this year – one that addresses concerns raised by residents who voted “no.”
Newsworks
In Delaware, hotly debated school referendum squeaks through
Following two failed attempts last year, voters in Delaware’s second-largest school district appear to have approved a long debated tax hike. The results have not yet been certified, but initial returns suggest residents of the Christina School District—which covers Newark and a largely low-income swath of Wilmington—approved the modest tax increase by a scant 145 votes. According to the unofficial tally, 6,770 (50.5%) voted for the hike and 6,625 (49.5%) voted against.
Rodel Blog
Do You #KnowYourLegislator?
Blog post by Michelle Johnson, member of the Rodel Teacher Council
On March 15, members of the Rodel Teacher Council assembled at Legislative Hall in Dover to get to know our legislators and other key education policymakers. All of us would admit to being far more at ease in our classrooms than a legislative boardroom, but with growth mindsets and a passion for excellent teaching—we came to talk about personalized learning and the gains we have made with our students.
The News Journal
Markell supports ‘Testing Bill of Rights’
Gov. Jack Markell has signed on to a nationwide effort aimed at beating back the focus on school testing, an issue that has become a major point of contention in education over the last few years. He joined a coalition of supporters behind a “Standardized Testing Bill of Rights,” a project intended to encourage states and districts to take the emphasis off of tests in their curriculum.
National
Education Week
In Maine, intervention smooths 9th graders’ paths
It’s critical for students making the transition from middle to high school to know that the adults around them understand and care about them, but high school is also the time when parent and teacher attention can become hard to come by. “When you have 100 kids on your caseload, you have to deal with the bigger issues in class, and the kid who comes 30 seconds late to class every day can slip under your radar,” said Josh Tripp.
Governing
‘Fragmented’ School Districts: A Complicated and Controversial Issue
Cook County, Ill., has nearly 150 elementary and high school districts. Students in the Pittsburgh metro area are assigned to 105 different local districts. More than 500 districts are scattered across Oklahoma, with fewer than 1,300 students enrolled in each. Numbers such as these have long drawn the ire of policymakers, and in an era of budget cutbacks, “fragmented” school districts serve as prime targets for consolidation.
The Hechinger Report
The end of “no excuses” education reform?
Several students sit around a conference table at Simon Gratz High School in North Philadelphia on a surly winter’s day, the kind that makes even the school’s drafty classrooms seem welcoming. They are there to give their assessment of the school – and they’re not afraid to be blunt. “I like this school, but I kind of don’t,” says Chynah Perry, age 15, a thin girl with straight posture and stylish black-rimmed glasses. “It’s strict. Real strict.”
The New York Times
Schools Nationwide still grapple with lead in water
Anxious parents may wonder how a major school system like Newark’s could overlook lead in the drinking water of 30 schools and 17,000 students. The answer: It was easy. They had to look only a few miles away, at the century-old classrooms of the schools here, across the Hackensack River. The Jersey City Public Schools district discovered lead contamination in eight schools’ drinking fountains in 2006, and in more schools in 2008, 2010 and 2012.
WAMU 88.5
How Can Schools Identify The Most Effective Teachers? Just Ask The Students
For several years now, classroom observations and student test scores have factored into teachers’ evaluations and by extension their job security. Starting in the fall, teachers in D.C.’s traditional public schools will face another measure of how good they are at their job — and it will come from their students.