What Delaware’s Mid-year Race to the Top Evaluation Tells Us
This week, the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) released a mid-year “progress report” on Race to the Top reforms. The report includes statewide DCAS data, as well as highlights from the mid-year performance evaluations of the students in twelve districts (districts participated or not based on the size of their grant and/or their past...
Be the Change: A Perspective on Newark Charter School by a Local Resident
I live in the center of it all – and by center I mean smack dab in the middle of Newark Charter School’s five-mile radius. With such an incredible school so close by, it is no wonder that at some point nearly every family on my street has rolled the dice and entered Newark Charter’s lottery. Unfortunately, not everyone has been lucky...
Common Core Standards From a Delaware Teacher’s Perspective
I share Paul’s enthusiasm for the potential of a Common Core-based curriculum. I believe the Common Core Standards will better prepare students for the rigors of college and the 21st century economy. The Common Core are an improvement over the existing state standards and will be especially beneficial to students in low-income communities, who...
Settled By Two Votes: Delaware school board elections
Almost a year ago, a school board race in Delaware’s Christina School District was settled by just two votes. Had thousands of voters gone to the polls, a two-vote margin would have signaled a great race. Rather, the vote was 326 to 324, just a paltry number of Christina’s eligible voters. Does that mean that we don’t care about our...