November 13, 2015
Delaware News
The News Journal
Appoquinimink plans for growth amid influx of kids
Facing a rapid influx of new students, the Appoquinimink School District is gearing up for a campaign to build new schools and renovate old ones. Plans are in the works to build a new middle and high school at the Fairview campus in Odessa and a new elementary school in the northeastern corner of the district, which encompasses most of southern New Castle County. That means asking local voters to approve a property tax increase to pay for new construction and receiving funding from the state government, which is struggling with budget shortfalls.
WHYY
First Year, first generation: Jada’s diary
We’ve been following a group of first-generation college students from Delaware as they transition to higher ed. In addition to running periodic stories about their journeys, we’ve helped each student keep an audio diary. The below diary is from Jada Smack, a freshman at Swarthmore College near Philadelphia. You can meet Jada and read more about the first year, first generation project here.
Cape Gazette
Misinformation on school start time decision
Opinion by Michael Tigue, Milton
One article has stated: “You start talking about changing start times, and people immediately jump to [all kinds of conclusions]. Teens will miss out on sports. Little kids will go to school in the dark and get run over by a car. What will happen to my child care?” Snider said. “A lot of these fears and speculations turn out to be red herrings. The real obstacles are failure of imagination.” That is what the problem is, the failure of imagination of how we can make this work. Instead we immediately jump to “what-ifs” and speculation.
Dover Post
High school mascot origins unmasked
From Smyrna to Delmar, the 14 schools in the Henlopen Conference — the 14 public high schools in Kent and Sussex counties — have nicknames covering a wide array of people and animals. Some of them are a close fit with the school, with a mascot tied to the area. Others are seemingly unrelated, the reason for their selection simply being the students liked the name. After all, who has seen a Spartan or a buccaneer in Delaware? Most of the mascots have been around for more than 45 years, meaning it can be difficult to track down the origin.
Dover Post
Capital sees Hartly as potential teaching, test-prep model
Capital School District plans to send the academic equivalent of scouts to Hartly Elementary School. This select group of teachers will be there to capitalize on the school’s performance on the Smarter Balanced Assessment Test. Certain Hartly student subgroups performed significantly better than in the rest of the elementary schools in the district.
Partnership offers opportunity for young artists
A new partnership hopes to open doors for young aspiring artists in Delaware. The Biggs Museum of American Art and the Delaware Multicultural and Civic Organization (DEMCO), a non-profit that offers educational and counselling support to Kent County students, recently formed a partnership focused on enhancing students’ interest in art. Through the new partnership staff members at the Biggs Museum will teach DEMCO students about American art. It will also give them to opportunity to have their own works of art put on display.
Delaware Department of Education
Delaware leads RTTT states in college enrollment gains
Delaware’s work to increase its college enrollment rates was highlighted in a U.S. Department of Education report released today looking at the progress made by states under the federal Race to the Top grant. Delaware was cited as having made the greatest gains (10.7 percent) in college enrollment. Tennessee was second at 3.3 percent. Race to the Top also provided Delaware students with more opportunities for Advanced Placement and pre-AP courses.
National News
Michigan Radio
Michigan has new science standards for K-12 students
Michigan school districts will implement new science standards over the next seven years. Supporters say the standards will increase interest in science by applying lessons to real-life scenarios.
Education Week
PARCC restructures, allows states to customize test
By guest blogger Catherine Gewertz
PARCC announced Thursday that it will now offer states the option of buying parts of its testing system and choosing their own vendor. Previously, states could purchase only the entire system, and they had to use Pearson for test administration. The restructuring comes as testing plans for 2015-16 show a dwindling number of states using PARCC’s assessment. A new analysis by the Education Commission of the States lists only six states and the District of Columbia as planning to use PARCC this school year.
Philadelphia Inquirer
Phila. schools to borrow $250M just to stay open
As the state budget stalemate dragged into its fifth month, School Reform Commission officials underscored their dismay with what one called a seeming failure of lawmakers to do their basic jobs. Philadelphia is among dozens of districts statewide that have had to borrow to make ends meet in the absence of a state budget.
Governing Magazine
The crucial difference between policies and programs
Ultimately, programs can’t eliminate the systemic injustices that any group faces. They can help people manage the effects of these injustices, but they don’t overcome or cure them. Policies, conversely, actually shift the way communities and their members react and relate to one another, empowering people to improve their own well-being in a systematic way. We can only achieve equity for all in America through collective commitment to policy intervention and a clearly articulated picture of success.
The Washington Post
D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson celebrates 5 years at helm
Most urban superintendents leave after three years; many credit stability at the top for D.C.’s improvement.