August 22, 2014

Local News

WDDE
State education officials seek reasons for lack of progress in narrowing achievement gap
Low expectations for African American students, limited resources for English-language learners and turnover among teachers of students with disabilities are among the challenges school districts say they are facing as they try to close the “achievement gap” between key student population groups, Department of Education officials told the State Board of Education at the board’s monthly meeting Thursday.

Sussex Countian
Indian River district working on new construction, assessment programs
The Indian River School District is facing a busy year, including construction projects at six schools and a new student assessment program. The district has several new principals and assistant principals this year.

Sussex Tech looks to continue improvements within district
The Sussex Technical School District is focusing on several key improvement areas as its more than 1,400 students begin the 2014-2015 school year, according to Superintendent A.J. Lathbury. “There is a constant need to maintain and improve the collaborative relationship with business and industry to ensure our programs maintain curricular standards that are appropriate for today’s workforce,” Lathbury said, adding that there also is a need to overcome an old perception that career and technical schools simply train students for blue-collar jobs.

Smyrna-Clayton Sun-Times
Curriculum and technology changes on the way in Smyrna, Clayton classrooms
Students in the Smyrna School District will start the 2014-2015 school year on Monday, Aug. 25. The first week of school will bring new classmates and teachers – but also many more changes in the district. Smyrna School District Curriculum Director Dr. Sandy Shalk talked with the Sun-Times about what’s new including state testing, state standards, courses and career pathways, and high-tech help for students.

Hockessin Community News
The big changes ahead for Red Clay schools in 2014-2015
Students, staff and parents in the Red Clay Consolidated School District are facing a number of major changes in the coming school year. Incoming students from third to 10th grade and the teaching staff will face the Smarter Balanced test for the first time this coming spring, while middle school students will start transitioning to their neighborhood schools when and if the district’s inclusion plan is in place.

Milford Beacon
Breaking down the Common Core
Despite any opposition, Common Core appears here to stay. As students fill their backpacks and settle into their new classrooms next week, they’ll be facing the challenge of taking charge of their learning. Common Core was implemented throughout the state last year as a way to bridge the gap between varying state standards and challenge students to become more involved learners.

The News Journal
As classes start, some celebrate new buildings
Principal Evelyn Edney has been in the soaring rotunda of the new Dover High School a lot recently, but she still can’t help but grin when she walks into it. “It’s so great, isn’t it?” Edney said.” I think this is my favorite part of the building. It’s so beautiful.”

National News

Education Week
Congress making headway on Higher Education Act
Both the House and Senate have made headway in charting their respective paths to reauthorizing the Higher Education Act, the mammoth law that includes the entire federal student loan system, the Pell grant tuition assistance program for low- and middle-income students, teacher-preparation provisions, and various programs that help disadvantaged students access higher education.

Accountability report urges fewer tests, more peer review
Accountability for the public schools should be far less test-driven and more the product of teachers holding one another to high professional standards, the National Center on Education and the Economy proposes in a report issued Thursday. More folks seem to be pushing the less-is-more approach to testing: A group of advocates held a forum on that topic earlier this summer, and the American Federation of Teachers passed a resolution at its July convention urging a dramatic scaling-back in the number of exams students must take.

Gov. Scott promises to raise school funding again
Florida Gov. Rick Scott is promising to boost school funding in Florida to its highest levels if he is re-elected. In an extraordinary move announced Thursday Scott says he’ll recommend a roughly $700 million increase for public schools for 2015. He’s making the announcement months before he is required to submit his recommendations to the Florida Legislature.

ABC News
Education Department tries to ease testing worries
Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Thursday that states can apply for extra time before they use student test scores to judge teachers’ performance. Duncan’s decision is an acknowledgement of the concerns by teachers’ unions and others that it’s too early to make teacher personnel decisions based on how well students do on new assessments developed under the Common Core standards that will be used in much of the country this school year.

New York Times
A faster track to teaching raises concerns over quality
Alternative certification providers say they are filling a need and preventing schools in poorer districts, which are more likely to suffer from shortages, from going without teachers. But some education advocates question whether the state has adequate control over the quality of training provided by such programs.

Fewer pass high school exams, and some in England cheer
After years of complaints about declining standards for high school exams, the British government has made them harder to pass: The latest results show the first drop in the passing rate in three decades. And in a nation where education has long been a political battleground between progressives and traditionalists, the changes are an emphatic victory for the old school. Results for English 18-year-olds, released last week, showed that 52.4 percent earned the highest grades this year, down from 52.9 percent in 2013. And after 30 years of steadily climbing passing rates for the A-level test, which determines university entrance, the figure dropped slightly this year.