October 28, 2016

Delaware News

Cape Gazette
Cape students complete shed construction project
Students in the Processes of Design and Engineering III class at Cape Henlopen High School recently completed three sheds that are being sold to customers from the area. Students completing the sheds worked in teams of three to five. As part of the project, students learned computer-aided design, building systems, materials and methods, scheduling and cost estimating.

Delaware Public Media
English language learner, school discipline measures called for in state ESSA plan
A new requirement for states under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) that will replace the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is including the priority for English learner proficiency in its mandated school accountability system. Delaware Latin American Community Center president and CEO Maria Matos says states must set what’s called an n-size – a sample size for collecting data about students – high enough to protect personal student information, but low enough to yield statistically reliable data.

Dover Post
5 Delaware schools earn US Blue Ribbon awards
Five Delaware schools are among 329 schools that U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. recognized as 2016 National Blue Ribbon Schools, based on overall academic excellence or progress in improving student academic achievement. The school leaders will be invited to attend the national awards ceremony with a teacher representative from each of their schools.

Rodel Blog
Thinking ahead: Useful resources for post-high school plans
Blog post by Rachel Pleet, policy fellow at the Rodel Foundation of Delaware
It’s that time of year again–high school students all across Delaware are kicking off the fall season with exciting explorations of future and postsecondary plans. Finding the right job or college can be stressful, but there are numerous state and federal resources available for both students and parents that can ease the process.

WDEL
State Senate Candidates discus state test opt-outs and public vs charter schools
Should parents be able to opt their children out of state tests? Major party State Senate candidates in the 8th district have differing views. This was a hot button issue in the last General Assembly, and Republican candidate Meredith Chapman would support seeing it revisited. She favors an opt-out provision.

National News

Houston Chronicle
Early-education cooperation urged
Three key Texas agencies working with children should collaborate better to improve early-childhood education statewide, a yearlong study by Children at Risk determined. The Houston nonprofit plans to advocate for the three agencies – Texas Education Agency, the Department of Family and Protective Services and the Workforce Commission – to coordinate their efforts and share data through policy recommendations and proposed bills during the coming legislative session, which begins in January.

NPR
4 myths about school bullying and the ‘Trump Effect’
On Thursday, Hillary Clinton packaged a major new school policy proposal as an attack on her rival, Donald Trump. “Donald Trump has made no apologies to the growing list of people that he has attempted to bully since the launch of his hate-filled campaign,” read the press release from the Clinton campaign about a new $500 million initiative called “Better than Bullying.”

The New York Times
College is the goal. Will these three teenagers get there?
The knowledge Nate Triggs has gained from the farm may not be from books, but it is shaping his vision of his future, and of what he could do after graduating from Topeka High if he gets a college education. He works construction with his father. One of his favorite projects was the hip roof that they built for his grandfather’s house.

The Washington Post
1 in 4 U.S. teachers are chronically absent, missing more than 10 days of school
More than 1 in 4 of the nation’s full-time teachers are considered chronically absent from school, according to federal data, missing the equivalent of more than two weeks of classes each academic year in what some districts say has become an educational crisis.