April 11, 2016

Delaware

Rodel Blog
Maria Matos: The Power of advocacy, investments in early learning
There are three traits that the Hispanic community has in common: our faith in God, our dedication to family, and the notion that we as a people are extremely patriotic to our country. Faith is what inspired my dad to move our family from Camden, New Jersey to Wilmington in 1964. It was this faith and service to community that inspired him to open the first Spanish language Pentecostal church in Delaware. My dad was not only motivated by his faith and community service but also made sure that he instilled these traits to me and my siblings.

The News Journal
Bees buzz in at William Penn
Six pounds of honey bees are busy building their waxy hive home behind the William Penn High School. The school got two batches of bees – which are sold by the pound – this week and set them up in wooden boxes near its greenhouses. There are two hives, each with a queen, and they house about 18,000 bees between them. They were given sugar water and a pollen patty to get started, said Kathleen Pickard, an agriculture teacher at the high school, which is divided into different areas of study, like agriculture, culinary arts and legal studies.

WBOC
Seaford School District adopts new attendance zones
The Seaford School District Board of Education this week voted to create new attendance zones for its district elementary schools. The new attendance zones will pair kindergarten through second grade and third through fifth grades in two attendance zones in Seaford and Blades. According to the new zoning configuration, students living in the Northwestern part of the district will attend West Seaford Elementary (K-2) and Central Elementary (3-5). Students living in the southeastern part of the district will attend Blades Elementary (K-2) and Frederick Douglass Elementary (3-5).

National

Education Week
Hard truths: Examining how students spend their time in our classrooms
Annie Dillard wrote, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” If you want to know a teacher’s philosophy, asking us is not the best way to find out. We could, of course, fill your ears with eloquent lines about “the whole child,” “high expectations,” or “helping students to live the lives they dream.” There’s no guarantee, though, that what you hear will line up with our actual practice.

EdSource
Early education advocates take $800 million ‘ask’ to Sacramento
Early childhood education advocates and providers head to budget hearings in Sacramento this week with a big “ask”: $800 million for preschool and other early learning programs. That would put early education spending somewhat higher than it was before the 2007-08 economic collapse, though still with about 75,000 fewer preschool and child care slots than in 2008.

The Hechinger Report
Rate of increase in degree-holders continues to lag behind national goal
The rate by which Americans are earning two-and-four year degrees continues to lag stubbornly behind what’s needed to meet national goals, and declining college and university enrollments threaten to make things worse, according to a new report. But a change in the way the figure is being calculated has caused a one-time leap in in the percentage of adults considered to have higher educations.

The Tennessean
Tennessee Promise boasts 80 percent retention rate
More than 80 percent of Tennessee Promise students who went to college in the fall returned for their second semester, the clearest indication yet of the scholarship program’s continued durability. Data released by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission showed an average retention rate of 80.6 percent for the 16,291 students who used the scholarship program to go to community or technical college tuition-free.

WTTV
New education law aims to reduce Indiana teacher shortage through scholarships
Governor Mike Pence and top state officials are now looking to the next generation of students to fill Indiana’s classrooms. Thursday, the governor signed the New Generation Hoosier Educators Scholarship bill into law in the Plainfield High School Auditorium. He was joined on stage by more than a dozen Plainfield seniors planning to major in education.