April 29, 2016

Delaware

Cape Gazette
Two seek to fill Milton-area school board seat
Two candidates are vying for the area A seat vacated when three-term board member Noble Prettyman passed away and board appointee Jacqueline Brisco declined to run. Newcomer Jessica Tyndall and Terri Carey, who ran for an at-large seat in 2014, are seeking to serve the two years left on Prettyman’s term. The area A seat covers district area north of the Broadkill River. Candidates must live within that area, however, residents from the entire school district can vote for them.

Three vie to fill Brittingham’s shoes on Cape board
Three candidates are vying for the at-large seat held by Spencer Brittingham, who is not running for another term on Cape Henlopen school board. Former school board member Camilla Conlon, former Assistant Superintendent Janis Hanwell and newcomer Heather Ingerski are running for the five-year seat. Residents from across the school district can vote in the school board election. All district residents, no matter where they live, can vote for the at-large seat and also the area A seat.

Department of Education
Wilmington Montessori honored as 2016 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon winner
A Delaware school has earned a Green Ribbon award from the U.S. Department of Education for its exemplary achievement in reducing environmental impact, improving health and wellness of students and staff and providing effective environmental and sustainability education. The private Wilmington Montessori School — among 47 schools, 15 districts, and 11 postsecondary institutions nationwide to be recognized this year — was honored by state leaders and nonprofit partners during a ceremony at the school today.

Delaware State News
Students act natural at Delaware Envirothon
More than 100 students from across the state gathered in Brecknock Park Thursday morning to compete in the 21st annual Delaware Envirothon. The Envirothon is an outdoor academic competition in which high school students in groups of five are tested on their environmental knowledge in various areas of expertise. The students were required to go to three different stations and as a team had to demonstrate their knowledge of aquatic ecology, forestry, soils, wildlife, air quality and a special topic.

Newsworks
New bill would create “student loan ombudsman” for Delaware
Delawareans struggling with student debt and predatory loan practices may soon have a new ally.A bill introduced Thursday in the State House would create a “student loan ombudsman.” It would be among the first position of its kind in the country, according to legislative staffers. The ombudsman would field questions from borrowers and investigate bad behavior by student loan servicers.

National

ABC News
Career education making a comeback in US high schools
There was an emergency in Room 14. Three girls injured, one with a broken thighbone and maybe something more serious. Snapping on sterile gloves and kneeling before the worst-off patient, two 17-year-olds went to work. The pair cut open the girl’s pant leg, pinched her toes to see if she had feeling and fit her with a neck brace. Sweat flecked their faces by the time they had the patient — a perfectly healthy classmate — strapped to a back board 12 minutes later.

Education Week
Arne Duncan floats fixes for K-12 aid
The way many schools are funded is not only unfair to disadvantaged students, but also often lacks a clear basis in research and is unreasonably “opaque” for parents and community members, former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said last week in his first public return to the nation’s capital. Speaking at an Edunomics Lab event on school finance at Georgetown University, Duncan said there should be more public input into K-12 spending decisions, and that local flexibility in funding should be matched by robust transparency and clear accountability.

NPR
Reporting live from Miami: A bunch of fourth graders tell their teacher’s story
There are many qualities of a great teacher. Two big ones? Kindness and a willingness to make learning fun. At least that’s what Marlem Diaz-Brown’s fourth graders say. For our 50 Great Teachers project, we’ve searched all over for teachers like her. Which brings us to Sunset Elementary School in Miami … and “Mrs. D-B.” But this time around, we decided to shake things up: We asked her students to do the reporting. The fourth-graders (all 26 of them!) wrote a news story about their teacher.

The Hechinger Report
How can master teachers find the time to help their first-year colleagues stay on track?
Opinion by Stephanie Hull, executive vice president and chief operating officer for the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation
As more public and private funders attempt to transform teacher preparation via investment, they often look to create a corps of master teachers to oversee induction and ensure success among first-year and early-career teachers. A master teacher could be a curriculum and lesson planning partner, a critical friend, or a coach. The impact of mentoring on novice-teacher retention is well known. Beginning teachers who receive mentors report a deeper commitment to remaining in the profession than their peers who are not supported, and programs that include extensive mentoring often see retention rates of 80 percent or more.

The Washington Post
National Teacher of the Year: I was a teenage mom, and teachers changed my life
Jahana Hayes always knew she wanted to be a teacher, but she didn’t always believe she could be one. She grew up surrounded by poverty, drugs and violence in the fading industrial city of Waterbury, Conn. But she loved school, and her teachers told her she could someday go to college. Even when she became pregnant at 17, her teachers refused to give up on her. They showed her how she could continue her education. She graduated from high school and seven years later enrolled in a community college.