July 16, 2013
Local News
The News Journal
STEM in Delaware
An Opinion by Teri Quinn Gray and Justin Wagner
There are conversations happening all over Delaware about Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, and the conversations are not just in classrooms – they are happening in boardrooms and conference rooms and office buildings and laboratories up and down the state. As members of the governor’s STEM Council, our goal is to help shape those conversations and improve the local STEM landscape for the better.
WHYY
Delaware congressman discusses higher education affordability
Is there a way to make college more affordable? Delaware Congressman John Carney hosted a roundtable discussion with education specialists from across the state to find out. The meeting comes in the wake of congress arguing over federal student loan interest rates and students protesting outside offices of private student loan providers while the cost of college continues to grow.
WDEL
Coons wants to boost family-school partnerships
Senator Chris Coons wants to help schools and families work together to improve education for your kids. Citing research showing increased parental engagement in schools enhances student success in the classroom, Coons introduced the Family Engagement in Education Act. He says it’s designed to promote effective family engagement strategies and programs at the national, state, and local levels, to ensure that all students are on track to be career and college-ready.
National News
Stateline.org
Getting teachers ready to teach
A growing number of states are trying to improve the quality of teachers by transforming the programs that are supposed to prepare them for the classroom. Delaware Gov. Jack Markell last month signed a bill requiring his state’s teacher preparation programs to include at least 10 weeks of full-time student teaching and to collect and report data on the performance and effectiveness of their graduates.
The Washington Post
2nd key vote in suburbs adds to uncertainty surrounding new merged school district in Memphis
More than two years of legal fighting, political acrimony, and parental anxiety are culminating in a massive merger of the Memphis and suburban Shelby County districts in Tennessee, but a key vote could change the landscape of the new system after just one year. Suburbs of the Shelby County district want to avoid the merger with the low-performing Memphis district. Experts call it one of the largest U.S. school consolidations in recent history.
The Los Angeles Times
Charter schools — a report card
An Opinion by The Times Editorial Board
What can the education world conclude about charter schools after their first couple of decades in existence? Something so simple that it’s almost earth-shattering: The best ones benefit students enormously, especially those students who are low income, African American or still learning English. And the bad ones are far worse than if the students had stayed in their public schools. It’s not hard to ensure that charter schools are good; it just takes a modicum of oversight and the political will that too many school boards have been unwilling to exercise.
The New York Times
Study finds spatial skill is early sign of creativity
A gift for spatial reasoning — the kind that may inspire an imaginative child to dismantle a clock or the family refrigerator — may be a greater predictor of future creativity or innovation than math or verbal skills, particularly in math, science and related fields, according to a study published Monday in the journal Psychological Science.
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