January 11, 2013
Local News
Delaware Department of Education
Delaware Educator
Winter 2012-2013 issue of DDOE newsletter
National News
Education Week
New science-standards draft includes many changes
A second and final public draft of common standards aimed at reshaping K-12 science education was released today for comment, following eight months of review and rewriting. Organizers emphasized that the latest version reflects substantial changes from the draft issued last May, with a clear focus on taking to heart feedback gathered from more than 10,000 individuals and organizations.
Quality Counts 2013 states show spotty progress on education indicators
Prekindergarten, K-12, and college- and career-readiness benchmarks show gains, but other Quality Counts measures are mixed. The 17th edition of Education Week’s Quality Counts continues the report’s tradition of tracking key education indicators and grading the states on their policy efforts and outcomes. Each year, Quality Counts provides new results for a portion of the policy-and-performance categories that form the framework for the report’s State-of-the-States analysis. The 2013 edition presents updated scores and letter grades, for the states and the nation as a whole, in three of the six major areas tracked in the report.
Baltimore Sun
O’Malley calls on colleges to use technology to boost graduation rates
Governor Martin O’Malley called on Maryland’s higher education institutions to devise new ways to use technology to bolster graduation rates. O’Malley has called for 55%—up from 45%—of Maryland adults to have a college credential. O’Malley urged educators to explore “new ways to use the Internet, online learning, and course redesign” to broaden access to higher education.
The Republic
Gov. Susana Martinez proposes $13.5M to improve reading for children through 3rd grade
New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez said she’ll recommend the legislature provide $13.5 million to improve reading skills of K-3 students, an increase of $5 million over current spending. Martinez also will ask lawmakers to approve a measure requiring schools to retain 3rd graders who can’t read proficiently, rather than promoting them to the next class.
Inside Higher Ed
Paying for proof
Coursera will offer a fee-based pathway with identity verification for students who want to earn a more meaningful certificate of completion, the company said in an announcement that also sheds light on an emerging business model for the largest massive open online course (MOOC) provider. The for-profit Coursera has enrolled more than 2.2 million students so far in its 213 free online courses.
Related Topics: Common Core, Education Technology, Higher Education, next generation learning, Online Learning