December 2, 2013

Local News

The News Journal
Why we should give Reach Academy another chance
An op-ed by Jim Hosley, director of the Center for Education Excellence at the Caesar Rodney Institute
Reach Academy for Girls will close and that is unfortunate. Reach is the only all-girl charter school in the state. Delaware families reflecting a growing trend to select alternatives to traditional public schools and single-sex schools, decided all-girl Reach Academy was best for their daughter.

Toys that teach can be head start in the home
Toys can also be used to pique interest in certain academic areas or fields. The Delaware STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Council, for example, is encouraging parents to buy toys that build on natural curiosity in those fields. “Right now, parents have a perfect opportunity to promote a lasting love of science, technology, engineering and math, simply by buying toys that nurture their child’s natural curiosity,” said Judson Wagner, co-chair of the council and a father of three.

National News

Columbia Missourian
Nixon proposes increasing Missouri scholarship program
Missouri’s top students could receive a larger scholarship if they stay in the state after graduation day under a financial aid proposal from Gov. Jay Nixon. The plan would give students who receive Bright Flight scholarships the option for an extra $5,000 annually for agreeing to work full time in Missouri immediately after school. Nixon plans to include an additional $15 million with his budget recommendations.

Montgomery Advertiser
Bentley’s priorities to include teacher raises, funding for pre-K programs
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley said pre-kindergarten funding and teacher pay raises will be among his highest priorities during the next legislative session. Last year, lawmakers approved of an additional $9.4 million for pre-k funding and Bentley announced $7.3 million in state grants to raise the number of children enrolled in the programs. Only about 6% of 4-year-old children are enrolled in the programs.

Inside Higher Ed
STEM-ming the tide
About half of bachelor’s degree candidates in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) leave the field before completing a college degree, according to a Department of Education report. This finding roughly tracks the rate at which students in other majors—like humanities, education and health sciences—switched majors or dropped out of college.

Miami Herald
For thousands of Florida teachers, evaluations aren’t making the grade
As Florida prepares to release another batch of evaluation results under the state’s new job review process, officials are still struggling to improve a system that judges as many as two-thirds of teachers on the test scores of students they’ve never met or on subjects they don’t teach. A solution to the problem lies in the development of hundreds of new exams. But skeptics say creating and issuing the assessments could cost billions

Education Week
12 NCLB-waiver states want extra year for full teacher-evaluation rollout
A dozen states have applied for extra NCLB flexibility from the Education Department to give them another year of wiggle room as they roll out new teacher-evaluation systems. And 15 states have asked federal officials for a special waiver so they can give fewer tests to students. States including Maryland, Kentucky, and North Carolina want to delay tying teacher evaluations to personnel decisions.