August 5, 2014

Local News

U.S. Department of Education
Obama administration approves NCLB flexibility requests for Delaware, Georgia, Minnesota, New York and South Carolina
A press release
The Obama administration announced today that five states—Delaware, Georgia, Minnesota, New York and South Carolina—have received a one-year extension for flexibility from certain provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

Washington Post
Hearing set for struggling Delaware charter school
State education officials are holding a public hearing regarding the fate of a struggling charter school that serves mostly low-income black children in Wilmington. Officials put the Maurice J. Moyer Academy on formal review two weeks ago, noting that the school turned in the lowest standardized test scores of any charter school in Delaware for the 2013-2014 school year.

The News Journal
Summer jobs critical for Delaware teens
An op-ed by Chip Rossi, Delaware Market President, Bank of America
Giving America’s youth opportunities to attain the vital job experience and skills they need to become productive and contributing members of the workforce is essential to creating and sustaining a thriving nation. Since 2004, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation has partnered with local nonprofit organizations across the country to place well-deserving teens in paid summer internships through the Student Leaders program.

Brainard named president at Delaware Tech
Delaware Technical Community College hired Mark Brainard, the school’s No. 2 official, to be its new president on Monday, the Board of Trustees announced after a special meeting. The unanimous vote comes after the seven-member board could not reach an agreement with outsider Murray Hoy, who expressed concerns about navigating the position’s political waters as a Delaware newcomer.

Class notes: News from Delaware schools
Indian River amends schedule for weather cancellations; Christina schools hosting back to school barbeques; ‘State champions in sportsmanship’ named; STEM grants offered to nonprofit organizations

Delaware State News
Teachers receive training in new science standards
As part of the state’s NextGen Teacher Leader Academy, teachers from across the state spent their week flipping through text books and conducting experiments in Dover. Terry Phelps, lead science teacher at W.T. Chipman Middle School in the Lake Forest School District, said that students will learn mostly the same topics in science class in the coming years — they’ll just study them in new ways.

National News

Education Week
Head Start endures, evolves as 50-year milestone nears
The ambitious early-childhood program launched in 1965 as part of the War on Poverty is going through dramatic—and sometimes painful—changes, while continuing to pursue its mission.

How we can strengthen schools serving low-income children
By upgrading the skills required by hundreds of middle-class occupations, technology has increased what the nation asks of its schools. At the same time, growing income inequality has affected where families live and how much money they can spend to nurture their children’s abilities. These changes have placed great strains on America’s decentralized approach to public education, particularly in schools serving large numbers of children from low-income families.

Washington Post
Legislature taking state education into their own hands
The backlash against the Common Core has prompted lawmakers in at least 12 states to get more involved in setting their own K-12 academic standards, injecting politics into a process usually conducted in obscurity by bureaucrats.

The Star-Ledger
Get ready for AP: Schools offer summer camps to help students prep for Advanced Placement Classes
A New Jersey high school is holding AP Pre-season, a weeklong summer camp to teach the writing, study and critical-thinking skills essential for success in Advanced Placement courses.

EducationNext
Inside successful district-charter compacts
Not far from the heart of Houston, unlikely alliance between a school district and nearby charter schools is bringing the best of both worlds to area students. Duncan Klussmann, superintendent of schools for the Spring Branch school district, wondered just what was going on in those high-performing charter schools peppered around Houston, where both YES Prep and KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) operated several schools.

New York Times
Teaching teaching
Small-scale successes won’t ultimately matter much unless they are embraced by the country at large. You can’t teach every kid in a charter school. And schools of education need to change their priorities. Learning on the job just shouldn’t cut it anymore.