August 9, 2017

Delaware News

Delaware Public Media
Delaware receives highest federal ranking for special education this year
Delaware’s Department of Education received the highest federal ranking possible for special education this year. The rating has continually improved over the last few years – going up from 53% in 2014 to 68% in 2015. Last year, they received a 76% rating, and this year, they’re at 83%. Delaware Department of Education Assistant Secretary Michael Watson says several factors have contributed to that.

Newsworks
Taco Bell surprises Wilmington student with scholarship
Wilmington student Johnny Means is one of just 100 nationwide to win scholarship money from the Taco Bell Foundation. Means has made a name for himself over the past few years by teaching area youth how to master the game of chess. This year, all of his hard work and drive to make a community impact has paid off.

The Dover Post
Dr. Elaine Heffner: Reading, ‘riting’ and ‘rithmatic’
“School days, school days, good old Golden Rule days, Reading and ‘riting’ and ‘rithmatic’…” Just the beginning of August but already there are thoughts — pleasant and unpleasant about the return to school. In recent years, much attention has been paid to reading and arithmetic as essential to academic success.

National News

Education Week
Charter principals are more diverse (and other highlights from new federal data)
A larger share of charter school principals are black and Hispanic compared to their peers who run traditional public schools, new federal data show. The profession—across charter and traditional public schools—is still largely white and female, according to the data, which provide a snapshot of who sits in the principal’s chair in the nation’s public schools.

The 74 Million
Quality early learning programs are a key to future success. Why don’t states put them in their ESSA plans?
Grades are a touchy subject. Understanding how students are doing, and how well schools are serving their students, is an imperfect science. But as states rethink what success looks like, they can use more holistic measures of school quality to improve school and student performance. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the main K-12 federal education law, gives states this opportunity.

The Hechinger Report
How it works: A new report explains the research behind a school model
Almost five years ago, Summit Public Schools decided that scoring high on standardized tests wasn’t enough to ensure success after high school. Leaders at the California-born charter school network decided that students needed to have the skills necessary to understand how to survive in life after a teacher stopped holding their hand.

Times Daily
Common Core debate begins anew
The renewed effort to undo the state’s education standards, known as Common Core, is on the Alabama State Board of Education’s work session agenda Thursday. At several recent meetings, at least one board member has asked for a discussion on repealing the Alabama College and Career Readiness Standards. Other members have questions about a draft resolution.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Critics say education savings accounts proposed in Pa. are just vouchers by another name
School vouchers have failed multiple times to get enough support in Pennsylvania, but some GOP legislators are hoping a new school choice program may be the next accompaniment to charter schools and scholarship tax credits: Education Savings Accounts.