November 1, 2016

Delaware News

Cape Gazette
Citizens speak out against school start plan
Several Cape district parents say a recent school board decision for later elementary start times would interfere with work schedules, childcare and children’s activities. “It’s a very long day for our kids,” said Mary Rogers, referring to afternoon bus rides that could bring some elementary students home at 5 p.m. “This will affect after-school activities,” said parent Jerry Windish.

Polar adventurer Douglas Stoup visits Sussex Academy
Douglas Stoup, the world’s leading polar guide, visited with Sussex Academy students. Stoup has skied to both North and South Poles and has led international scientific expeditions to both poles. An educator dedicated to sharing the profound beauty and fragility of the planet, Stoup continues to push the limits of human endurance while raising funds for charities, collecting scientific data for climate change scientists and leading disabled adventurers to the polar environments.

Delaware Public Media
Delaware commits to using open education resources in classrooms
Delaware’s Department of Education announced Monday it’s launching a statewide initiative focused on using more open educational resources. These are teaching materials in the public domain and free to use, distribute and repurpose. They’re typically in a digital form and include full courses, textbooks, software or any other teaching tools and techniques.

Mobile laboratory brings environmental science to the classroom
Water quality and watersheds may not be the most approachable topics for students, but Delaware officials hope to make it more digestible with a mobile laboratory. State officials unveiled DNREC’s “Science At Your Door” Monday afternoon. The traveling lab will visit schools in the southwestern portion of the First State.

Department of Education
State releases draft ESSA plan components
The Delaware Department of Education is sharing draft components of the state’s Every Student Succeeds Act plan for public feedback. The drafts released Monday follow the guidance the state has received from the U.S. Department of Education to date and are informed by the input the department received from community members and other education stakeholders at a series of community conversations and discussion groups and through online surveys this fall.

Newark Post
Newark fourth-graders describe what it means to be a good neighbor
For Henry Michel, being a good neighbor means helping and sharing with others. “For example, let’s say you have some clothes that you grew out of. You look online and see there is a kid in need of clothes,” the Newark Charter School fourth-grader wrote in a recent essay contest.

UDaily
Education centers merge
This fall, the University of Delaware created the Center for Educational Leadership, Teaching and Learning, uniting the professionals from the Delaware Academy of School Leadership, UD’s Professional Development Center for Educators in the College of Education and Human Development, and the Southern Delaware Professional Development Center in the College of Arts and Sciences. With this merger, the Center for Educational Leadership, Teaching and Learning now has a unified mission to facilitate ongoing professional learning opportunities for educators that maximize student growth through the use of research-based practices.

Hot topics in the classroom
The University of Delaware’s Center for Teaching and Assessment of Learning will host a Teaching and Learning Conversation about “Handling Hot Topics in the Classroom” from 12:30-1:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 1, in Faculty Commons. Registration is available online.

National News

Education Week
Georgia voters to decide state’s role in struggling schools
Georgia voters will soon decide whether to change their constitution to clear the way for state officials to play a more aggressive role in taking over long-struggling public schools. The ballot measure—known as Amendment 1—has generated heated debate and created strange political bedfellows, with teachers’ unions, the state’s school boards’ association, the Georgia PTA, and some conservative Republicans lining up against the measure.

Forbes
Why a world class education doesn’t have to break the bank
College application season has begun, and November 1 is a deadline for those applying early action to Harvard, Yale, MIT, Princeton, Georgetown and other top schools. While the focus of recent weeks may have been on the SAT scores, transcripts, recommendations and personal essays that will help to secure a place in these prestigious institutions, there is another factor that looms large for the average US household – how to pay for a college education.

The Hechinger Report
‘I spend half my days in accelerated classes and the other half in special ed’
Jack Bradley is a junior at Dupont Manual High School in Louisville, Kentucky, where he attends the public high school’s math, science and technology magnet. He and his family have started an organization called JackBeNimble to advocate for transforming special education by elevating student, family and educator voices, and by working with school districts to examine limiting assumptions and to encourage greater innovation. He gave this speech on Oct. 27 to about 3,000 attendees at the annual iNACOL conference on blended and online learning.

Tulsa World
Education forum targets parent involvement, student achievement gap in north Tulsa
A forum aimed at improving north Tulsa schools seeks to help close a “troubling” achievement gap by fostering a discussion about parent engagement and student accountability. A panel of education experts will share best practices on achieving student success through parental involvement and shared accountability at the North Tulsa Economic Development Initiative’s eighth annual education gathering. Parents, students, educators, community members and education advocates are invited to attend the event for improving Tulsa Public Schools.

NPR
How a happy school can help students succeed
Every day at Weiner Elementary School starts with a dance party, usually to Best Day Of My Life by American Authors — and that’s before the 7:50 a.m. bell even rings. Then comes the morning assembly, where all 121 students and the staff gather for 20 minutes in the cafeteria of the school in Weiner, Ark. They sing songs and learn about an artist, a musician and an international city of the week. They celebrate birthdays. A lucky student is crowned Student of the Day.