August 21, 2013
Local News
The News Journal
State using $1.5 million in grants to seed school projects
The state Department of Education is handing 14 grants worth almost $1.5 million to schools and districts in the first year of a competitive effort, officials announced Tuesday. The money will pay for programs ranging from interventions for struggling students to more teacher training to an astronomy program to revamped Advanced Placement Biology courses. State officials say the grants are an attempt to put more resources directly in the hands of teachers. “It’s most important to empower our educators, the ones who are closest to our children, to do great work and make great decisions,” said Secretary of Education Mark Murphy. He said the state is rerouting money from annual grants that it received to fund the projects.
WDEL
Innovation in the classroom awarded grant money
The state Department of Education gives grants to more than a dozen schools and districts for innovation in the classroom. Nearly $1.5 million will go to 14 schools and districts. Among the winning programs, bullying prevention at H. duPont Middle School, a one to one iPad ratio in Laurel School District with i-Impact.
The Newark Post
Newark Charter High School ready to open
In 2001, Newark Charter School opened with 450 students housed in two nondescript modular buildings on Barksdale Road. Now, the school stands ready to open its third permanent building, one that will house a high school and allow students to attend kindergarten through 12th grade at NCS. It will make Newark Charter the second high school in Newark and the only school in the city to offer all grades.
National News
Education Week
Most Americans unaware of Common Core, PDK/Gallup Poll finds
Nearly two out of three Americans have never heard of the Common Core State Standards, and among those who have, fewer than half believe the new, more rigorous academic goals in English/language arts and mathematics adopted by all but four states so far will make the United States more competitive in the world, according to a new poll from Phi Delta Kappa and Gallup. Sixty-two percent of respondents in PDK/Gallup’s annual national survey on public education hadn’t heard of the common core.
Students not prepared for rigor of college, ACT data show
The report released today by the Iowa City, Iowa-based organization found just 39% of test-takers in the class of 2013 met three or more of the ACT college-readiness benchmarks in English, reading, science, and math. Nearly one-third did not meet any. View the new ACT report on college readiness.
Detroit Free Press
Some Michigan school leaders criticize new scorecards that give few schools high ratings
A new accountability system for Michigan schools shows many have a long way to go to meet ambitious goals set by the state—with most schools and districts earning a mark that indicates they are in need of improvement. The Michigan School Accountability Scorecards is a new system for holding schools accountable under the federal No Child Left Behind law. Schools and districts are assigned one of five colors—green, lime green, yellow, orange, and red—based on how well they meet goals, with the color green being best and red being worst. The majority of schools in the state—2,605—got a yellow.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
Minnesota tops nation again in ACT scores, college-readiness
For an eighth consecutive year, Minnesota can lay claim to being best in the nation in the ACT college admissions test. State seniors again posted higher scores than those in other states in which at least half of students took the exam. Progress was made, too, in the percentage of state graduates deemed college-ready in each of the four subject areas being tested. This year, 39% of Minnesota seniors were proficient across the board, compared with 36% in 2012. “That is tops in the nation,” state Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius said. Results were mixed, however, in another chief area of concern: the large, persistent gap between white and minority test takers.
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