April 21, 2014
Local News
The News Journal
State approves four charters, rejects one
Delaware officials approved four new charter schools Thursday, rejected one application, placed two charters set to open this fall under tight scrutiny over enrollment concerns and allowed an existing school to shrink its enrollment targets. The four charter school proposals approved by Secretary of Education Mark Murphy and the State Board of Education are: Freire Charter School, Delaware STEM Academy, Great Oaks Charter School and the Mapleton Charter School at Whitehall.
College president takes a wise course
An editorial
So you are a struggling university and can’t manage to snatch the attention of contributors to some of those overly well-endowed institutions of higher learning.
So what’s your game plan then? Invite the board members to the campus so they can see firsthand how much the campus’ physical plant needs a face-lift? Or perhaps tap into the private social network of the foundation’s chair and rework your social calendar to bump into him or her at a must attend think-tank’s symposium?
WDDE
Gov. Markell highlights workforce-strengthening education collaborations
In his weekly message, Gov. Jack Markell highlights some of the state’s collaborations designed to give Delaware students a leg up in the global workforce. Markell says the First State has many gaps in its workforce, especially in high tech sectors like cyber security, data analytics, and engineering.
National News
Education Week
Studies offer insights on implementing Common Core
In 2013 alone, state legislators introduced nearly 300 bills related to the Common Core State Standards. This year, they are on track to do the same, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Yet in a series of meetings convened last year by the Center on Education Policy at George Washington University, lawmakers, advocates, and educational leaders said they were starved for research that might help them make evidence-based decisions about the standards.
Common Core at four: Sizing up the enterprise
The Common Core State Standards have been reshaping the American education landscape for four years, leaving their mark on curriculum and instruction, professional development, teacher evaluation, the business of publishing, and the way tests are designed. Even as those touchpoints of schooling shift with the new standards, another key milestone hovers. A year from now, all but a handful of states will do something they’ve never done before—give exams based on one shared set of standards. In fact, more than three dozen of those states will use two shared sets of assessments, too.
Entrepreneur
White House pushes schools to teach finance basics
Financial education is taking center stage at many colleges, high schools, middle schools — even some kindergarten classrooms thanks to a new effort from the White House.