May 2, 2017
Delaware News
Cape Gazette
Lisa Richardson named Teacher of the Year for Indian River School District
Lisa Richardson of Millsboro Middle School has been selected as the Indian River School District’s Teacher of the Year for 2017-18. The announcement was made at the district’s annual Teacher of the Year celebration April 26. Richardson was chosen as the district’s overall winner from a pool of 16 candidates, one from each school. Richardson has been a reading teacher at Millsboro Middle School since 2010.
Delaware State News
School board elections to be held on May 9
Elections for open school board seats will be held statewide on Tuesday, May 9, when voters can head to the polls from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. New Castle and Kent counties each have contested elections in five public school districts and Sussex County has elections in two. All school board members serve for five-year terms. New board members’ terms will begin on July 1.
Department of Education
Students bring home awards from 2017 Delaware Technology Student Association conference
Last week more than 1,000 students, advisers and judges from business and industry participated in the 39th annual Delaware Technology Student Association conference. Almost 40 schools were represented in more than 65 contests. Medalists will represent Delaware at the National Technology Student Association conference to be held in Orlando, Florida this summer.
State awards 21st Century Community Learning Centers academic enrichment program grants
The Delaware Department of Education has awarded five new 21st Century Community Learning Center (CCLC) program grants under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. The 21st CCLC programs are designed to provide students with academic enrichment activities to improve the academic success of students from Title I schools.
Newsworks
Nature and the environment come together in an art lesson for Wilmington students
A simple project like using colored pencils to draw their favorite animals could turn into a lifelong lesson for 5th graders in Mrs. Morris’ art class. The point of the art project at Wilmington’s Baltz Elementary School was to help students think about how they connect with animals.
Delaware’s surprisingly low turnout for school board elections
When it comes time to cast ballots for school board and tax referendum elections in Delaware, voter turnout is minuscule, a WHYY analysis has found. WHYY’s findings, which are highlighted at the bottom of this story: The 50 contested school board races since 2012 have drawn an average of 1.8 percent of a district’s registered voters. The range was 0.3 percent to 10.6 percent.
Rodel Blog
Recapping RTC Legislative Day
Earlier this month, members of the Rodel Teacher Council took a field trip to Legislative Hall in Dover, where they spoke to some of Delaware’s most prominent lawmakers—from Gov. John Carney, to Chief Information Officer Sec. James Collins, to a handful of state congressional leaders. On the agenda were discussions around school broadband connectivity, personalized learning, and the state’s tight education budget.
WDEL
Oberle Elementary students form heart for fallen state trooper
Students at a Bear-area elementary school stand together to honor the memory of a fallen state trooper. Dozens of Oberle Elementary students gathered in the parking lot to form a heart for Corporal Steven Ballard, who was gunned down outside a Bear Wawa last week. Students also made thank you cards to acknowledge and show their appreciation for law enforcement.
Brandywine School District changes policy after alleged unconstitutional search of student results in lawsuit
Changes to policy dictating how students are searched while at school in the Brandywine School District will go into effect in the coming school year. Students, and their personal property like backpacks or jacket pockets, will soon no longer be searched without parents or guardians present. The change follows a lawsuit filed by Pat Wahl. In 2015, his son, Joe Wahl, was a junior at Brandywine High School.
National News
ABC News
Trump administration relaxing Obama-era school lunch standards
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is easing school lunch regulations spearheaded by the Obama administration. Newly minted Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue unveiled a new interim rule on Monday to suspend sodium reduction requirements and whole-grain requirements as well as allow 1 percent fat flavored milk back into school cafeterias nationwide. The new rules will take effect during the 2017-2018 school year.
Education Next
Public school choice as competitive advantage: A look at Denver public schools
Denver Public Schools (DPS) has garnered a reputation for pragmatism, collaboration, and innovation. According to a 2015 report on district-charter collaboration from the Fordham Institute, DPS has “engaged charters more deeply than any of the other cities we studied, due in no small part to a decade of district leadership with a strong belief in the value of a portfolio strategy, a significant number of third-party stakeholders who have encouraged engagement, and an education landscape that gives the district a stake in charter success.”
Education Week
Customizing professional development through microcredentials
Personalized learning is a buzzword in education, but teachers’ own learning often comes in a one-size-fits-all package via a crowded room or a years-old PowerPoint. Enter microcredentials, a form of professional development in which teachers work to prove mastery of single competencies. They’re designed to be tailored to what a teacher needs or wants to know, from classroom management to analyzing student data.
The Los Angeles Times
Spending bill includes $2 million increase for NEA after Trump proposed eliminating funds
Congressional leaders rejected the Trump administration’s proposal to eliminate money for federal arts programs, providing a small increase as part of a bipartisan spending deal. The spending bill that Congress is expected to vote on this week includes $150 million for the National Endowment for the Arts and an identical sum for the Humanities endowment. In both cases, that’s a $2-million increase over last fiscal year.