April 15, 2016

Delaware

Delaware Public Media
Concord High students win national engineering competition
A team of students from Concord High School in North Wilmington won first place at a national engineering competition this week.  SourceAmerica Design Challenge asked students from colleges and high schools to come up with innovative solutions to help people with disabilities find work. Six Concord High seniors partnered with Christiana Care, which runs a special internship for those with disabilities.

Newsworks
Delaware HS students win national engineering competition
A team of from Concord High School in Wilmington has won a national competition for an invention that helps hospital employees with disabilities. Concord’s team placed first in the high school division of the SourceAmerica College Design Challenge, an engineering competition that challenges students to create new technologies capable of increasing the workplace productivity of disabled employees or creating new job opportunities for disabled people.

Sussex County Post
Research report: North Georgetown Elementary ‘Beating the Odds’
A report released Monday looks at how North Georgetown Elementary and two other high-needs Delaware schools are “beating the odds” by supporting strong instruction and student learning through effective educator support, collaboration and evaluation practices. The Southern Regional Education (SREB) research “focuses on learning from teachers in high-needs schools who are effectively helping their students defy historic achievement statistics.”

The Dover Post
Lake Forest East upgrades security through renovations
When Lake Forest East Elementary School was built in 1931, the threat of access by someone dangerous wasn’t considered in the design, said Principal James Dick. “It was a different day and time,” he said. “Worries were different. They weren’t concerned about the safety concerns that we have today.” Today, however, schools have to deal with safety issues ranging from potential gunmen to students bringing weapons to school and the occasional bomb threat.

The Newark Post
Christina board votes to create superintendent search committee
After nearly two hours of debate, the Christina School District Board of Education voted Tuesday night to form a superintendent search committee and begin gathering input from board members on what they want in the district’s next leader. Though the committee’s exact role and who would be on it has yet to be decided, the school board agreed to meet again on April 26 to further define the search process and discuss their own thoughts on what type of person the district should hire for the top job.

The News Journal
Delaware students race solar-powered cars
Utilizing one of the most abundant, cleanest forms of energy there is, more than 100 middle school students, teachers and volunteers came together Thursday to build and race solar-powered cars. DNREC’s Division of Energy & Climate partnered with the Delaware Technology Student Association to hold the 22nd annual Junior Solar Sprint at the Delaware State Fairgrounds in Harrington.

National

Education Week
Students help design measures of social-emotional skills
Schools in this city, known for its aging casinos, are using a comprehensive social-emotional learning strategy to tackle student engagement and academic success. The 64,000-student Washoe County district wants to raise its graduation rate, which reached a record 75 percent in 2015, to 90 percent by 2020, an ambitious goal in a state where young adults can make a middle-class salary valet-parking cars without a diploma, Superintendent Traci Davis said.

Albuquerque Journal
New Mexico seeks charter school standards
New Mexico’s public education secretary is urging state lawmakers to establish standards for closing charter schools that do not measure up to academic standards and financial controls. Public Education Secretary Hanna Skandera on Wednesday told members of the state Legislative Finance Committee it was important to hold charter schools accountable by developing new standards. She also says it’s important to acknowledge excellence in charter-school education and share recipes for success.

Chalkbeat New York
New York considering using scores on AP exams and SAT subject tests in evaluations
Future evaluations of New York high school principals might incorporate student scores on SAT subject tests and Advanced Placement exams, state officials told local education leaders this week. According to a memo sent Tuesday to superintendents, districts will soon be required to send scores from a host of tests, including AP exams, SAT subject tests, International Baccalaureate tests, and career and technical exams, to the state.

The Denver Post
Student data privacy would be protected by Colorado bill
A bill that passed unanimously from the Colorado House to the state Senate on Thursday would force makers of educational software and apps to disclose what they’re collecting, why and how they intend to destroy it. Molly Vogt and other advocates for the bill argue that parents are worried about whether classroom details gleaned from technology paints an accurate picture of who their child is and who their child might grow up to be.

The Atlantic
The promise of teacher-residency programs
In her large, bright, pre-K classroom, the teacher turned to the group of 4-year-olds learning how to give a baby a bath. She sat on the carpet and cradled a doll carefully as eager students strained their necks to watch. “How am I holding the baby?” the teacher, Alina Kaye, asked, and then answered her own question: “Nice and calm.” She held up a small, empty plastic bottle and mimed squirting shampoo onto the baby’s head. The kids edged closer. Meghan Sanchez, a 23-year-old teacher in training, watched Kaye’s every move just as intently.