August 3, 2017
Delaware News
Department of Education
Delaware receives final approval on ESSA state plan
Delaware has received final approval from the U.S. Department of Education (USED) for its Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) state plan, Delaware Secretary of Education Susan Bunting announced today. Today’s ESSA plan approval comes just days after the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) submitted an updated version of the plan to USED to reflect changes based on federal guidance, public feedback and feedback received from the Governor’s Office.
Delaware Public Media
Delaware’s ESSA plan first in the country to receive approval
Delaware is the first state to get a green light on its federal Every Student Succeeds Act plan. The approval by U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Tuesday comes after the department expressed concerns about the ambitiousness of Delaware’s student achievement goals and several other issues earlier this year.
Delaware State Housing Authority
DSHA honors 62 students for academic excellence
Press Release
The Delaware State Housing Authority honored more than 60 students from the DSHA housing community for academic excellence on Wednesday, recognizing elementary students through high school for making the honor roll at their schools. DSHA’s annual awards ceremony, held this year at Polytech High School, has been a tradition for more than 20 years, serving as a way to recognize the success of students whose families live in DSHA public housing and to highlight the importance of a support system.
National News
CBS
Pa. Department of Education unveils plan to track students’ performance
The State Department of Education released its proposed new plan to track the performance of more than 1.7 million students in Pennsylvania. The proposal is required under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, which replaced the No Child Left Behind Act in 2015. The new plan, required by all states, is due by Sept. 18 and has to show how states will look at student achievement.
Education Week
The school district where principals also teach
The common lament is that principals have extraordinarily demanding and near impossible jobs. Setting class schedules. Evaluating teachers. Drafting school budgets. Overseeing school bus drop-off and pick-up. But Dana McCauley, a principal in the Garrett County school system in western Maryland, does all of that—and more.
Philly.com
Will private funding save public music education?
Is a restoration of serious arts education to the lives of our children finally within reach? A lot is riding on the answer. Ask any arts leader why getting audiences is so hard and you’ll get the same response: Lack of arts in schools. Children today aren’t growing up with the sound of an orchestra in their heads, so, naturally, they aren’t becoming ticket buyers, the mantra goes.
The Atlantic
Japan might be what equality in education looks like
In many countries, the United States included, students’ economic backgrounds often determine the quality of the education they receive. Richer students tend to go to schools funded by high property taxes, with top-notch facilities and staff that help them succeed. In districts where poorer students live, students often get shoddy facilities, out-of-date textbooks, and fewer guidance counselors. Not in Japan.
The New York Times
Why kids can’t write
On a bright July morning in a windowless conference room in a Manhattan bookstore, several dozen elementary school teachers were learning how to create worksheets that would help children learn to write. Judith C. Hochman, founder of an organization called the Writing Revolution, displayed examples of student work. A first grader had produced the following phrase: “Plants need water it need sun to” — that is, plants need water and sun, too.