April 13, 2017

Delaware News

Rodel Blog
Delaware in the national Pathways spotlight: 5 takeaways
Last month, from up on stage at the Chase Center on the Riverfront, Beatriz Ramirez told her story. Today a senior at William Penn High School, Beatriz originally came to the U.S. not speaking English as a first language. She felt isolated at school, and often didn’t connect to her lessons or her fellow students. Until, that is, she discovered the school’s culinary arts program. In the kitchen, Beatriz found her calling.

The News Journal
Delaware students bake bread to give back
Students from across Delaware have been busy the past two weeks baking bread and dinner rolls for low-income families to have with their Easter dinners. As part of the Bake for Good Program, culinary arts classes from more than 20 schools are donating the baked goods to the Food Bank of Delaware. The goal is to donate 20,000 rolls, according to the Department of Education.

WDEL
Christina School Board becomes 1st district in Delaware to bolster protections for undocumented students
The Christina School has become the first district in the state to implement a policy protecting undocumented students. The “Protection of Undocumented Students’ Right to a Public Education” policy was passed in a vote of 4-2 at its regular board meeting Tuesday night. Passage came after lengthy debate.  The policy was first introduced in February, and will now be formally introduced to the district’s policy manual.

EdWatch: Imagine a kindergarten with no toys–in order to prevent addiction
Can you imagine a daycare or kindergarten with no toys? It’s par for the course in Germany. “They take all the toys away for about three months, and it’s to encourage the children to find different ways to play, to use their imaginations and deal with boredom and frustration,” Sara Zaske told WDEL. Zaske is the author of Auchtung Baby and reported on the issue for The Atlantic. She lived in Berlin; her own children experienced toy-free education.

National News

Education Week
Digital communication tools target ESSA parent-engagement mandate
School districts face new demands under federal law to show that they’re engaging parents in students’ education. And many ed-tech companies are convinced that they have the platforms to strengthen and streamline those school-to-family connections. Yet whether those tools will end up bolstering parent engagement in keeping with the vision of the Every Student Succeeds Act, or do so in only limited and superficial ways, remains to be seen.

Teacher prep slow to embrace social-emotional learning
As social-emotional learning gains traction in schools, many teachers are coming into their jobs unprepared to develop students’ skills in areas like self-awareness and navigating relationships, advocates say. That’s because many teacher-preparation programs don’t provide enough training on how to identify the skills students need to be successful, and how to teach those skills, they say.

Knowledge Works
Can teachers really personalize learning for every student?
Blog post by Emily Smith, marketing and communications director at KnowledgeWorks
A few months ago, I had an interesting conversation with one of my husband’s high school teachers. Now retired from teaching, she showed up to his 20-year high school reunion to catch up with some of her former students. When she asked me about my career, I started talking to her about personalized learning, competency-based education and my role at KnowledgeWorks.

Idaho Ed News
Thousands of high school juniors take the SAT on Tuesday
Thousands of high school juniors across Idaho will take the SAT college placement exam Tuesday, with the state picking up the tab. The State Department of Education has sponsored the $1 million SAT Day initiative for six years in an attempt to encourage more students to continue their education after high school.

Las Vegas Review – Journal
Sandoval’s ESA bill gets move to keep it alive in Nevada Legislature
The governor’s Education Savings Account bill was sent to the Senate finance committee before being discussed by the Senate education committee Tuesday, a necessary measure to keep the bill alive. With a Friday deadline looming in the Nevada Legislature, the education committee sent the bill forward without a recommendation. Senate Bill 506 makes changes to the program that passed in the 2015 session.

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