April 3, 2014
Local News
The News Journal
Teachers seek evaluation moratorium
In a letter sent to legislators earlier this week, Delaware State Education Association president Frederika Jenner says trust in the system has eroded as the state makes changes that were part of its application for the $119 million federal Race to the Top grant. In addition to directing its leadership last month to send Monday’s letter, the assembly – made up of representatives from each school district – voted “no confidence” in how Delaware is implementing the new Common Core State Standards and pushed for legislation to allow parents to “opt out” of the state’s standardized test.
Cape Gazette
Cape voters pass referendum for new school
Cape Henlopen School District voters have passed a referendum to build a new elementary school and add classrooms to the middle schools. The referendum passed by a vote of 3,587 for and 2,410 against.
National News
Arizona Central
UA deserves a $15 million investment, lawmakers
An op-ed by Don Budinger, chairman and founding director of Rodel Foundations
Public land-grant universities like the University of Arizona were founded on the understanding that the participation of enlightened citizens is a hallmark of a democracy. As someone who has spent years working to improve grade-school education, create linkages between industry and universities and help grow a 21st-century workforce, the advantages our research universities afford Arizona is plainly obvious.
Scholastic
Some schools change the rules on traditional education models
A handful of schools are making radical changes to the traditional school model, opting to forgo incremental changes to curriculum and technology. The models are all different: In one successful school, kids help choose the lunch plan. In another, classes start at 10 a.m. with less homework and more field trips.
The Journal News
N.Y. Education Dept. abandons data-sharing plan
The New York Education Department is acknowledging that it will end controversial plans to store identifiable student data in a web-based cloud created by inBloom, a non-profit funded by the Gates Foundation.
Education Week
Performance gaps widen in high school
New research chronicles the performance of students who start high school as high achievers and finds that students of color and from disadvantaged backgrounds, on average, graduate with lower grades, pass fewer Advanced Placement exams and don’t do as well on the ACT or SAT as their peers from wealthier, white families.
The Hechinger Report
PISA: U.S. students score above average in creative problem-solving
On a new creative problem-solving test taken by students in 44 countries and regions, U.S. 15-year-olds scored above the international average and rank at number 18 in the world. That’s much better than the below-average performance of U.S. students on the PISA reading and math tests.
The Kansas City Star
Cyber attack shuts down student testing in Kansas
The Kansas State Department of Education shut down state testing after Kansas’ online testing engine came under a cyber attack. The state said that Kansas’ testing service went to work combating the attack and that no student information was accessed.