July 10, 2013
Local News
The News Journal
Moyer Academy for at-risk students again fights to survive
A Wilmington charter school that serves many at-risk students and has battled slim enrollment and low test scores is asking the state for permission to reduce its required student count and overhaul its curriculum. The New Moyer Academy’s student population is 90 percent black and almost exclusively low-income, drawing students from some of the city’s most troubled neighborhoods. The school serves grades 6 to 12.
WDEL
Students win scholarships from Mayor of Wilm
Twenty-one of Wilmington’s top high school students were awarded scholarships by the mayor’s office Tuesday. Mayor Dennis Williams presented $19,250 among the college-bound kids, hailing from Brandywine, Christina, New Castle County Vocational Technical, and Red Clay School Districts, as well as various private and parochial schools. “Educating and developing our youth is one of my top priorities,” Mayor Williams said.
National News
Education Week
Gallup-EdWeek Poll: What superintendents really think
While many of the nation’s superintendents are optimistic about the potential of the common-core standards and new technology to improve what goes on in classrooms, a healthy percentage are also skeptical about such developments, according to results from the first Gallup-Education Week Superintendents Panel survey.
Ed. Dept. panel says test consortia need sharper focus on accessibility
A technical review panel set up by the U.S. Department of Education is urging both Common Core assessment consortia to pay better attention to ensuring that their tests are accessible to students with disabilities and those whose native language is not English. That is one of the more stern outcomes of the panel’s first appraisal of the work so far of PARCC and Smarter Balanced.
The Los Angeles Times
California to weigh science standards stressing experimentation
California schoolchildren would study fewer concepts more deeply and emphasize hands-on investigation over rote memorization of facts under new science standards set for consideration Wednesday by the state Board of Education. The proposed benchmarks are based on the Next Generation Science Standards, which were unveiled in April by California and 25 others states in the first national effort since 1996 to transform the way science is taught.
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