October 3, 2013
Local News
The News Journal
Markell touts new Delaware website as recruiting tool for teachers
Educators who want to teach in Delaware’s public schools will have an easier time searching for work thanks to a one-stop website to find and apply for jobs. Gov. Jack Markell mentioned the website – joindelawareschools.org – as a new recruitment tool Wednesday while meeting with freshmen majoring in education at the University of Delaware. He encouraged them to stay in the state after they graduate. “The bottom line is we need you more than ever,” Markell told students gathered in Willard Hall to meet him.
The Dover Post
Dover High prepares students for life after high school with Passport to Success
Students spend much of their time in high school preparing to face academic challenges such as state testing, SATs and day-to-day school work. Not a lot of time is left to teach students valuable life skills or to prepare them for life after high school. Dover High School is seeking to give students a leg up by hosting its second consecutive Passport to Success day. The idea for Passport to Success came to PTO President Jerry Houston out of a need that Houston spotted in the school, he said. Houston decided the solution to this problem was to set aside a day to teach students life skills, as well as the tools they need to be ready for college and careers.
The UD Review
New emphasis on advanced education for Delaware public schools
The State of Delaware’s official website announced the Delaware State Board of Education approved a $300,000 grant on Sept. 19 in favor of Delaware Lieutenant Governor Matt Denn’s Accelerated Academic Achievement program proposal. The Accelerated Academic Achievement program, as stated on the official website, focuses on creating and funding a more challenging curriculum that emphasizes advanced courses in reading, writing, math and science for public schools in Delaware. The proposal was initiated by parents and teachers who demanded the state do more to challenge academically advanced students, Lt. Governor Denn said.
National News
Washington Post
Education reform advocate John White: We’re in danger of becoming the enemy
Advocates for charter schools, teacher evaluations and other changes to public education that have become mainstream in recent years are at risk of turning into the establishment they once railed against, warned the man at the center of Louisiana’s schools upheaval. Louisiana State Education Superintendent John White told a crowd Tuesday at the American Enterprise Institute that he and others pushing for new ways of educating children have grown in stature and impact.
Education News
Wisconsin next to consider hopping off Common Core bandwagon
First it was North Carolina, then it was Florida and now it’s Wisconsin swiftly backing away from Common Core, the standards that have been touted as toxic by Republican lawmakers in the past 12 months. Less than three years ago after the set of benchmarks were published and enthusiastically embraced by 45 states, Wisconsin has announced that it is convening a select committee charged with evaluating the new standards and potentially replacing them with something else.
After drop in SAT scores, College Board calls for action
According to the annual report published by the College Board, fewer than half the members of the 2013 high school class who took the SATs had the academic skills necessary to succeed in college. More troubling still, this percentage has not varied much over the past five years, breaking the trend of small but notable gains in the decade before. David Coleman, the College Board president, said that too many educational stakeholders have become complacent with the lack of progress in college readiness among high school graduates — and warned that such an attitude is dangerous. At a time when the country is battling to keep itself relevant in the global economic marketplace, failure to improve for five straight years should be considered a call to arms.
Education Week
Common-Core tests in Kentucky, year two: What’s the trend?
Kentucky was the first state to release test score results that were supposed to be aligned to the Common Core standards, and as expected, there were significant drops in proficiency in both reading and math. Second-year results for 2012-13 show some modest improvement in some grades and subjects, stability in others, and continued achievement gaps among student groups.
The Washington Post
Maryland hosts Common Core forum
Darlene Gamble, whose son recently transferred to public school in Prince George’s County, decided to attend a forum on the state’s new academic standards Tuesday night because she “needed to get up to speed” on Common Core. “I got a better understanding,” Gamble said after the 1 1/2 hour session hosted by the state Department of Education at Charles H. Flowers High School. State Superintendent of Schools Lillian Lowery said the Common Core standards will bring consistency to the educational system, ensuring that the standards are the same whether a child lives in Maine or Maryland. She said the state has not changed curriculum. It has changed how subjects are taught.