October 6, 2014

Local News

The News Journal
Delaware celebrates Teacher of the Year nominees
The Department of Education has named the 20 Delaware teachers who have been nominated for the state’s highest classroom honor, Delaware’s Teacher of the Year. Picked from among the state’s 9,000 public school teachers, the nominees represent each of the state’s 19 school districts and the Charter School of Wilmington. They were selected for their “superior ability to inspire students with a love of learning, exemplary demonstration of professional traits and strong sense of dedication and devotion to teaching.”

More work to be done to avoid college remediation
An op-ed by Rodman “Rod” Ward III, President and CEO of Corporation Service Company
Research also tells us that students who begin their college career in remedial courses are less likely to persist through college to earn a bachelor’s degree. And, remedial courses cost students hundreds of thousands if not over a million dollars in Delaware each year; some of which is borne by state scholarship funds. So, we as taxpayers are paying twice for education that should have happened once in high school.

Schools can’t go on operating the way they do
A commentary by Ronald Russo, Founding President, Charter School of Wilmington
It is apparent from recent newspaper articles that various groups and individuals have differences of opinion on how to improve public schools. The good news is they share the same common goal – to provide every Delaware student with the best possible education. The various proposals tend to be attractive and possibly successful for segments of the education market. These alternatives include such things as charter schools, vouchers, educational savings accounts, and increased funding. The state’s goal is more inclusive, and therefore, more challenging – every student is to receive the best possible education.

Delaware’s downtowns need solid plans, not just nostalgia
An editorial
The belief that people want to live and play near where they work is true only up to a point. For example, a city’s nightlife draws on a limited audience. The larger cities, such as Philadelphia, face a problem in coming years. Because of their size, these cities have successfully reinvented themselves with new art districts and new restaurant rows. They have attracted young people who want to be near the action. However, as these young people pass through that stage of their lives, they start looking for a good place to raise their kids. At that point, the quality of the schools becomes more important than the quality of the menus in the fashionable restaurants.

WBOC
State Senator honored with education award
State Senator Ernie Lopez (R-Lewes) has been named the winner of the 2014 Legislative Leadership Award by the Delaware Charter Schools Network (DCSN), according to state officials. Kendall Massett, Executive Director of the DCSN, praised Sen. Lopez’s commitment to the children of Delaware.

Delaware State News
Grant connects Wesley teaching students to schools
Wesley College is working to bridge the gap between aspiring teachers and seasoned professionals. The college has been awarded a $1.5 million federal grant to develop a sustainable model to support their education students in the field. Staff in the college’s Department of Education will use the money to “securely tie the teaching training program to school districts and their practices,” said Dr. Patty Patterson, director of graduate studies in education, who helped submit for the grant.

WHYY NewsWorks
School districts move forward with Delaware’s ‘Priority Schools’
The Dept. of Education-drafted MOU, however, read more like a state takeover according to district leaders. Murphy defended, “I actually think it’s the opposite of a state takeover … it is all about empowering the school community to make choices about their future of the school.”

National News

Education Week
Making the big LMS buying decision
Four learning management systems—Echo, Edmodo, Moodle, and MyBigCampus—are used in various classrooms in the 12,500-student Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. But now, leaders there have decided it’s time to choose just one that can meet their future needs. “One of our goals is to have a seamless solution for K-12,” said Michael A. Jamerson, the director of technology for the Columbus, Ind.-based district, who has led an exhaustive search for that replacement.

Third-year scores from Common-Core tests released by Kentucky
Kentucky has released scores from last year’s reading and math assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards. The 2013-14 school year was the third year the Bluegrass State has assessed students on tests, called K-PREP, that are aligned to the common standards. elementary school students showed the highest rate of improvement in both reading and math, followed by middle school students. However, the picture was mixed for high school students, where performance actually dipped slightly on the reading test and increased by a relatively small percentage in math.

Common Core: the real issues
There has been much Sturm und Drang about the Common Core in recent months, but it looks to me as though the Common Core, in most states, is safe for the time being. Its name may be changed in some states. It may suffer from nips and tucks on occasion, but in most states it will emerge into the highlands fairly unscathed. But that, in my view, does not mean that it is home free. Far from it. The real test for the Common Core, the fire it must go through to become a permanent feature of the national education infrastructure, lies in the extent to which it is well and truly implemented in the states. Unfortunately, for that to happen, almost everything else has to change.

New York Times
In Washington state, Political stand puts schools in a bind
Nearly nine in 10 Washington State public schools, including some high-achieving campuses in the state’s most moneyed communities, have been relegated to a federal blacklist of failure, requiring them to set aside 20 percent of their federal funding for private tutoring or to transport students to schools not on the failing list, if parents wish.

New school evaluations will lower test scores’ influences
New York City is overhauling its system for evaluating schools, de-emphasizing test scores in favor of measures like the strength of the curriculum and the school environment, and doing away with an overall A-through-F grade for each school, the schools chancellor, Carmen Fariña, said on Tuesday.

Los Angeles Times
John Deasy’s future
An editorial
It would be a great loss to the students of Los Angeles Unified School District if Supt. John Deasy left his job or were fired, especially if the enormous and welcome sense of urgency he brings to education left with him. Deasy’s leadership over the last 3 1/2 years has led to higher student test scores and graduation rates, as well as to improved results for students learning English, among other accomplishments.