May 30, 2013

Local News

The News Journal
McKean students at the forefront of cable TV venture
It’s a recent Friday at McKean High School, and teens are studying audio, radio and video design and engineering. Those disciplines form a career pathway started in 2010 that now draws 80 to 100 students. McKean students are required to take one of eight pathways for three years. Students in the pathway research, write, produce and announce the weekly show, one of several local components of what the Red Clay School District calls “Delaware’s first 24-hour educational cable access channel,” aired throughout northern New Castle County on Comcast’s Channel 965.

WDEL
Red Clay School District kicks off projects to cut energy costs
Red Clay School District broke ground today on two projects to improve energy efficiency across the district. The Energy Efficiency for Tomorrow Project will provide 20 million dollars in renovations to buildings in the school district to cut energy costs. The Major Capital Improvement Plan will provide another 120 million dollars in renovations. Delaware Governor Jack Markell, Red Clay School District officials, and project contractors were at A.I. Dupont High School today to help kick off the projects.

The Newark Post
Markell: STEM education necessary in ‘brave new world’
Surrounded by high-tech W.L. Gore products on Tuesday at the Gore Capabilities Center on Barksdale Road, Gov. Jack Markell and the Delaware STEM Council issued the second annual report of the ambitious initiative promoting science, technology, engineering and math in Delaware schools. The main thrust of the report is that students who choose to study STEM fields have much higher academic success rates as well as employment prospects.

National News

The New York Times
In raising scores, 1 2 3 is easier than A B C
Educators, policy makers and business leaders often fret about the state of math education, particularly in comparison with other countries. But reading comprehension may be a larger stumbling block.

Philadelphia Inquirer
Proposed school budget cut begin to hit home
Central High School teacher Jacquelyn Mancinelli said she and everyone she knew were in “a state of disbelief” when they learned about the school district’s proposed budget cuts. The school’s 27 athletic teams, many of them champions, gone. The guidance counselors who assist students through the difficult process of college applications from September to Christmas vacation each year: also gone. “But now it’s starting to become more of a reality and everybody is really scared,” said Mancinelli, 25, a ninth- and 10th-grade English teacher.

Texas Tribune
Major education bills headed to TX Governor’s desk
Two major education bills are headed to Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s desk. Senate Bill 2 allows the cap on charter schools to increase by about 15 a year to 305 by 2019. Senate Bill 5 revises high school graduation requirements and allows students to select one of five diploma “endorsements” in areas including science and technology, and the humanities. The bill also reduces the number of tests required for graduation.

Boston Globe
Some states push back against new school standards
The Common Core standards continue to receive pushback from some policymakers. Lawmakers and governors are reviewing the standards in at least nine states. Meanwhile, some U.S. senators have signed a letter asking the Senate Appropriations Committee to stop the Education Department from linking adoption of the standards to eligibility for other federal dollars. And the Republican National Committee passed a resolution calling the standards an “inappropriate overreach.”

Washington Post
24 Virginia schools apply for third-grade testing waivers
Two dozen Virginia elementary schools have applied for waivers from the state board to free them from mandatory testing requirements in science and social studies for 3rd-graders so they have more time to develop reading skills. The new flexibility was proposed by Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and the legislature approved H.B. 2144 this past session.

Education Week
States tighten disclosure of teacher evaluations
In the wake of several news media projects disclosing how teachers fared under student achievement measures, Education Week produced a story and chart last year outlining each state’s laws regarding access to teacher evaluation ratings. At least five states—Utah, Tennessee, New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey—subsequently altered their education codes or open-records laws in 2012.

Related Topics: A.I. DuPont High School, Albany, Alexandria, asssessments, charter schools, Common Core State Standards, ED tv, Energy Efficient for Tomorrow, Gore, Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, Governor Markell, Jack Markell, KIPP, Major Capital Improvement Plan, McKean High School, NAEP, Philadelphia, Philadelphia School District, Philadelphia School Reform Commission, Red Clay School District, Richey Elementary School, School Boards, school budget, school finances, school funding, standards, STEM, student learning gains, Superintendent William R. Hite Jr., Teacher Evaluation, Texas, Troy Prep, Virgina