August 3, 2016
Delaware News
Delaware Public Media
Feds tout First State’s early childhood education efforts
U.S. Education Secretary John King praised Delaware’s progress in bettering its early childhood education system during a visit to Wilmington Tuesday. State officials are closing out a nearly $50 million federal grant Delaware received in 2001 and have used to boost developmental screenings and improve pre-K centers and access to them for low-income families.
New task force set to tackle school safety issues
A task force examining how to better address school violence in First State schools is ready to get to work next week. State Sen. Bobby Marshall (D-Wilmington West) pushed for the panel earlier this year in response to the death of 16 year-old Amy Joyner-Francis following an assault in a bathroom at Howard High, and the shooting of another Howard student, 15 year-old Brandon Wingo, just blocks from the school.
The Milford Chronicle
Teachers complete research projects over summer break
For some, summertime means soaking in the sun before they find themselves behind a desk again in the fall. For others, it presents an opportunity for additional study. Lindsay Luzier, for example, has spent several weeks as a summer fellow with the Delaware Department of Education along with 30 other future and current educators from around the state.
The News Journal
School safety committee to tackle violence, cyber bullying
A newly appointed 23-person committee of educators, public safety officials and lawmakers will try to tackle school safety statewide by mid-October. The group, formed by state Sen. Bob Marshall, D-Wilmington West, and Senate Concurrent Resolution 83, aims to identify areas where the school system may be weak or unsafe and present solutions on how to curb issues like cyber bullying, social media and violence.
Time for a reset on Delaware’s economic development approach
Opinion by Mark Turner, President and CEO of WSFS and Chairman of the Delaware Business Roundtable
Delaware’s government, business and community leaders must join together to fundamentally change our approach to economic development and nurture a growing entrepreneurship base in the face of intense competition for jobs, investment and talent. That’s the conclusion of the Delaware Growth Agenda, which was commissioned by the Delaware Business Roundtable. Among its recommendations, the framework calls for improving the state’s public education system as a way to enhance Delaware’s business climate.
U.S. Education Secretary John King praises Delaware
As the Obama administration pushes for billions of dollars in federal funding to expand early childhood education across the country, U.S. Secretary of Education John King has been on an “early learning tour,” touting the progress of states that have won federal grant money to bolster their pre-kindergarten programs over the last few years. On Tuesday morning, he was in Delaware.
PR Web
Pearson collaborates With Red Clay Consolidated School District to offer GradPoint online courses to hospitalized students
Press release
Today Pearson announced a three-year collaboration with Red Clay Consolidated School District in Wilmington, Delaware, to provide GradPoint® online and blended learning courses to hospitalized students. The new collaboration gives students in grades 6-12 who are hospitalized and homebound with diabetes, sickle-cell anemia, severe asthma, cancer and other illnesses that preclude attendance at traditional school an opportunity to attend First State School with their peers at Wilmington Hospital while receiving the medical treatment they need. First State School is co-sponsored by Christiana Care and the Delaware Department of Education through Red Clay Consolidated School District.
Sussex County Post
IR students and alumni win over $10,000 in IR alumni scholarships
This year, 10 students of all ages won college scholarships from the Indian River High School Alumni Association totaling more than $10,000. The alumni far surpassed their original goal of awarding four IR Pride Scholarships, which were presented to college students and to recent high school graduates at the Aug. 1 alumni meeting.
UDaily
Improving literacy through technology
Rachel Karchmer-Klein, associate professor in the University of Delaware School of Education, has received the 2016 Technology in Reading Research Award from the International Literacy Association. Karchmer-Klein’s research centers on the complex relationships between internet technologies and reading and writing. Her work examines how educators can use technology to strengthen students’ literacy development.
National News
The Atlantic
One principal, two schools
In 2014, New York City commenced a high-stakes experiment: It would put one principal in charge of two schools. Its test case was Michael Wiltshire, who would run a high-flying Brooklyn school along with one of the most troubled high schools in the state.
Education Week
Advocate moves needle on website accessibility
Every year, thousands of complaints flow into the office tasked with investigating disability discrimination for the U.S. Department of Education. This year, Marcie Lipsitt, a special education advocate from Michigan, has been responsible for about 500 of those complaints—and counting.
The Hechinger Report
For ed-tech use, why schools use technology is just as important as how
Many public school districts don’t have the resources to partner with an education technology company to develop customized digital learning tools for their classrooms. But when it comes to selecting ed-tech products or figuring out how to use them in the classroom, they could still learn something from the successful partnership between Leadership Public Schools (LPS), a charter network that serves the San Francisco Bay area, and Gooru, an ed-tech nonprofit.
U.S. News and World Report
Rural schools improving despite continued obstacles
Rural school districts in the U.S. are plagued by many obstacles when it comes to providing a quality education. But a new report says progress has been made over the last decade and stands to continue, largely through the expansion of broadband internet and a recent recognition by government officials that rural schools need increased flexibility to make the most of what they have.
The Washington Post
A new all-male high school gets a head start
Most of the District’s public schools won’t officially begin until Aug. 22, but the first class of students at Ron Brown is getting a jump start this week and next as they and the faculty prepare to open the only single-gender public high school in the city.