November 25, 2013

Local News

Office of the Governor
Bringing innovation into Delaware classrooms
Governor Markell’s weekly message
In his weekly message, Governor Markell discusses innovative classroom methods to help children learn as the world changes around them.

WDEL
Murphy: Reach decision doesn’t change stance on charters
State Education Secretary Mark Murphy weighs in on his decision to shut down charter school Reach Academy. Murphy called the all-girls school the worst performing in the state, but says the decision doesn’t change his outlook on charter schools. “Charter schools are an important part of our educational establishment. They provide choices for families. Often they provide innovative opportunities for families,” says Murphy.

The News Journal
New school offerings showcased at Delaware charter expo
Charter schools from all over New Castle County packed a room above The Grand Opera House in Wilmington on Saturday morning, trying to get the word out to potential parents and students. More than 20 schools handed out literature and talked one-on-one with parents, pitching their specialized programs and targeted academic missions.

Young Health Program helps guide youth with positivity
The Young Health Program: IM40 is a five-year, $3.4 million partnership between AstraZeneca and United Way of Delaware. The initiative uses a community-centered, positive approach to improving the lives of young people. Rather than focusing on what children and neighborhoods lack, the program aims to highlight and increase programs that can help them develop characteristics to overcome hurdles.

Brandywine’s green campus a state model for efficiency
When it comes to energy efficient and environmentally friendly school buildings, Hanby Elementary and Bush Early Education Center may be the models for the future. Everywhere you look on the 80,000-square-foot campus that has housed both schools since opening in January 2012, you can find some way energy is being conserved.

Cape Gazette
Shields Elementary School principal earns national award
Jennifer Nauman, principal of Cape Henlopen School District’s Shields Elementary School in Lewes, was one of seven principals in the nation presented this week with the Terrel H. Bell Award for Outstanding School Leadership this year at the 2013 National Blue Ribbon Schools Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C. She is the first Delaware principal to receive this award.

National News

New York Times
Campaign seeks to recruit top students to become teachers
Seeking to combat such sentiments, the Department of Education — in partnership with the Advertising Council, Microsoft, State Farm Insurance, Teach for America, the nation’s two largest teachers’ unions and several other educational groups — is unveiling a public service campaign this week aimed at recruiting a new generation of classroom educators. Hoping to attract young, high-achieving college graduates — particularly in science, math and engineering — the campaign, called Teach, uses video spots and radio announcements that portray teaching as creative, invigorating and meaningful, and as compelling a career as medicine, acting or engineering.

Frequent tests can enhance college learning, study finds
Grading college students on quizzes given at the beginning of every class, rather than on midterms or a final exam, increases both attendance and overall performance, scientists reported Wednesday. The findings — from an experiment in which 901 students in a popular introduction to psychology course at the University of Texas took their laptops to class and were quizzed online — demonstrate that the computers can act as an aid to teaching, not just a distraction.

EdNews Colorado
AP scores, participation jump under pilot program
A program to increase the number of students taking and passing Advanced Placement tests has produced a 70% increase in the number of students passing such tests at participating high schools, the Colorado Legacy Foundation announced. The foundation last year partnered with the National Math and Science Initiative in a $10.5 million program to expand student AP participation at 13 state high schools.

New Orleans Times-Picayune
Louisiana announces major changes to how students, school held accountable under Common Core
Louisiana State Superintendent of Education John White announced the state would be delaying how students, teachers, and schools are held accountable under the Common Core standards and related testing for at least two years. He also said the state would be shifting to a “a long-term, 10-year view of what our education system can accomplish with these standards.”

Education Week
In many states, graduation requirements fail to align with Common Core
A new survey finds that while all states and the District of Columbia have adopted some form of college- and career-standards, the level of progress with implementation and accountability in making those goals a reality for students varies widely. And many states, according to the Achieve analysis, lack graduation requirements that align with the Common Core or other standards they have adopted.

Can the urban Harlem Children’s Zone model work for rural schools?
Geoffrey Canada, the founder of the Harlem Children’s Zone, told rural education advocates that the same approach that has helped to tackle the cycle of poverty in New York City can work in similar ways in their communities. The initiative offers cradle-to-career education, health, and social supports for children and their families. The zone was the inspiration for the federally-funded Promise Neighborhood competition.