September 6, 2013

Local News

Middletown Transcript
State officials get a lesson in Common Core at Silver Lake Elementary
School teacher Melissa Bowser did her best this week to present a typical third-grade English lesson to some very atypical students. “Like usual, I’m differentiating my instruction to make sure all my students get what they need,” she said. “But to be honest, I’m used to third-graders who are a little shorter.” Bowser’s students on Tuesday evening included Gov. Jack Markell, Delaware Secretary of Education Mark Murphy, a handful of state legislators, as well as state and local education officials. The dignitaries visited Silver Lake to take part in demonstrations being held throughout the state this week on the Common Core Standards, which set a baseline for what students are expected to know at a given grade level.

Delaware State News
Officials get schooled on Common Core basics
“We want to make sure we’re speaking clearly and loudly so everyone can hear our thoughts,” Cathy Schrieber instructed her class on Wednesday night. “And we want to make sure we’re taking turns sharing our ideas.” Crowded into a third-grade classroom, lawmakers, district administrators and school board members nodded, listening attentively. This week, state officials headed back to school to learn about the new Common Core State Standards where they matter most — in the classroom.

WDDE
Delaware public schools by the numbers
As members of the Class of 2017 begin their journey through Delaware’s public high schools, it’s time to look at some cold, hard stats. Yes, these numbers, compiled for the state Department of Education by the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University are both cold and hard. The report used data based on students entering ninth grade from 2006 to 2010.

WHYY
Educating Delaware
A video with Delaware’s Secretary of Education, Mark Murphy
Changes are coming to Delaware schools as the amount of federal dollars given to the state through the Race to the Top program start to wind down. Delaware Secretary of Education Mark Murphy visited First to discuss that, school security, and the cost of college.

National News

The Los Angeles Times
L.A. schools Supt. Deasy withdraws support for new testing plan
L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy has withdrawn his endorsement of legislation that would speed up the overhaul of the state standardized testing system. The current plan, he said, imposes unfair cost burdens on school systems, especially those that serve low-income, minority students.

San Jose Mercury News
Education officials propose to eliminate some standardized tests
California education officials presented a proposal that would immediately do away with the standardized STAR tests for reading, math, and social science. Instead, the state would introduce the new assessments aligned with the Common Core. The state previously had planned to sample the new tests with about 20% of students. The plan requires approval from the legislature and the U.S. Department of Education.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
New school year brings heightened focus on reading
Wisconsin’s budget set aside $2.5 million this year to fund a universal literacy screener for kindergartners and 1st-graders, as part of a number of initiatives aimed at ramping up reading achievement. A task force on reading spearheaded by Gov. Scott Walker and State Superintendent Tony Evers set much of the activity in motion, as have the Common Core standards. The spotlight also is on teacher training programs.

Hechinger Report
Higher Education Is headed for a shakeout, analysts warn
Facing skeptical customers, declining enrollment, an antiquated financial model that is hemorrhaging money, and new kinds of low-cost competition, some universities and colleges may be going the way of the music and journalism industries. Their predicament has become so bad that financial analysts, regulators, and bond-rating agencies are beginning to warn that many institutions could close.

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