May 5, 2017

Delaware News

UDaily
Helping kids break the code
Teach kids how to program a toylike robot or a computer game and suddenly computer science looks like great fun. Coding – the letters and numbers that govern the robot’s every motion – is worth learning. The concepts and math behind all of that start to add up to something both interesting and significant. And later – down the road a few years – career doors start opening in science, engineering and technology.

The News Journal
Let the debate begin: Can Sussex Central win nationals?
In a courtroom sits six attorneys, a defendant, and five others ready to testify about a murder. But a life sentence isn’t on the line. Instead, it could be a national championship for the Sussex County mock trial team. Mock trial is found in many high schools and college campuses across America and is often seen as a way to prime students for law school, the bar exam and a career as a lawyer.

Indian River discrimination lawsuit amended
The discrimination lawsuit filed against the Indian River School District has been amended. The amended complaint, filed May 2 by the Coalition for Education Reform, now includes two families with children in the district as well as three other individuals who attended the George Washington Carver Academy in Frankford.

Delaware Public Media
Arts education touted at Arts Advocacy Day
Lawmakers, students and arts groups gathered at Legislative Hall in Dover for Arts Advocacy Day. The theme of this year’s advocacy day is education.  According to the Delaware Arts Alliance, there’s a direct link between arts education and business in the First State. “It is understood that when kids are educated more fully with the inclusion of the arts they have a competitive edge at the end of the day,” DAA Executive Director Dr. Guillermina Gonzalez said.

Newark Post
Christina School Board saves music program, Sarah Pyle Academy from cuts
After listening to parents, students and teachers plead their case for two hours, the Christina School Board decided Thursday not to cut elementary instrumental music and elementary and secondary string music classes, and to keep both the Montessori program and Sarah Pyle Academy intact.

Christina School Board election set for Tuesday
Residents of the Christina School District will have a chance to select two new school board members on Tuesday. Polls will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 17 district schools – Bancroft, Bayard, Brookside, Christiana, Downes, Elbert-Palmer, Gallaher, Glasgow, Jones, Keene, Maclary, Marshall, McVey, Newark, Oberle, Shue-Medill and Wilson – as well as Quaker Hill Place Apartments in Wilmington.

National News

NPR
Pre-K: Decades worth of studies, one strong message
Some of the nation’s top researchers who’ve spent their careers studying early childhood education recently got together in Washington with one goal in mind: to cut through the fog of studies and the endless debates over the benefits of preschool. They came away with one clear, strong message: Kids who attend public preschool programs are better prepared for kindergarten than kids who don’t.

Dallas Morning News
Texas House gives preliminary approval to major revamp of A-F grades for schools
Lawmakers took their first step in overhauling the controversial A-F system to grade how well schools educate students, with the House giving preliminary approval to major changes Wednesday.The bill by Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston, eliminates overall grades for schools and reduces the number of areas graded from five to three. The bill also reduces the accountability system’s reliance on STAAR tests by limiting their weight to 50 percent of overall scores.

U.S. News & World Report
The quiet wave of school district secessions
When a judge ruled last week that the predominantly white Alabama city of Gardendale can secede from the majority black Jefferson County to form its own school district, the decision paved the way for the eighth such secession of wealthier and whiter municipalities in the state since 2000. The judge’s ruling, which acknowledged that “race was a motivating factor” behind the effort despite its backers insistence they simply wanted more local control, garnered national attention because of a standing desegregation order the county has been under since 1965.

EdSource
New partnership with Khan Academy designed to expand ‘personalized learning’ in the classroom
In establishing relationships with several county offices of education in Southern California, the Khan Academy is hoping to expand its already large footprint in the world of personalized learning to make its online resources a more formal part of the school curriculum. The move could mark a quantum leap in the use of online materials in the classroom.