July 30, 2013

Local News

The News Journal
Way to boost college graduation rates
An editorial
Those who pursue dual curriculums – both high school and college-level courses – have higher and firmer college graduation rates. This “good information about what happens to our children when they go to college,” Department of Education Secretary Mark Murphy said, has caused DOE to ramp up partnership efforts. It is providing real-time information to institutions of higher learning about the effectiveness and scheduling of remedial programs for struggling new students.

Dover Post
McIlvaine hosts Camp Ni Hao to further Chinese immersion
This week McIlvaine hosted Camp Ni Hao, a camp designed to help rising first graders who participated in McIlvaine’s Chinese immersion program last year hone their skills before they begin their second year of Mandarin at either W.B. Simpson or Allen Frear elementary schools. The camp also offered incoming kindergartens an introduction to Mandarin, prior to the start of the school year. McIlvaine started its mandarin program last school year and so far has had great success, said Principal Sherry Kijowski.

National News

Baltimore Sun
In light of declining test scores, Lowery looks to tackle reforms
The poor showing on the Maryland School Assessment spurred calls this week for a moratorium on testing, and led to questions about student preparedness and whether the new curriculum was being made a scapegoat. And that’s just one of the challenges facing Lowery, who recently completed her first year on the job. The transition to the new “common core” curriculum is a precursor to other reforms on the horizon in state education, such as a new teacher evaluation system and new student tests. Meanwhile, a number of school districts have new or interim superintendents at the helm.

New York Times
New roads to learning
Our online curriculum allows students to learn at their own pace, and helps them to develop skills like goal-setting and note-taking. With fewer resources, schools are cutting back educational offerings, but we can offer an online course in a foreign language or health science, for example, even if only a few students want to take it. We also offer professional development courses to help teachers use our online curriculum and tools in the classroom. So far, we are providing online courses to nine of the country’s 15 largest school districts.

Detroit News
Charter schools multiplying in Michigan
While enrollment in traditional public schools has fallen in Michigan over the past two decades, charter school enrollment has increased more than 500% since the first school opened in the mid-1990s. More than 130,000 children attended 277 charter schools this past year. Despite their popularity, charters continue to spark debate among educators, advocacy groups, and lawmakers.

USA Today
Early High School graduation programs gain traction
Fewer than 3% of students graduate high school early, according to a 2004 National Center for Education Statistics report. About half of states have policies that allow the practice, according to ECS’ Jennifer Dounay Zinth. Advocates of the programs say they help reduce state spending and can give students a jump-start on college and their careers.

Hechinger Report
With ‘parent trigger’ laws on the ropes, three overhauled schools reopen in Los Angeles
When classes resume in Southern California in coming weeks, three public schools will be the first in the nation to reopen under new management spurred by the “parent trigger” law. Only seven states have parent trigger laws on the books, with some versions weaker than others. In 20 states, bills to create or expand such laws stalled or died in legislatures this past session. Just one bill became law in Louisiana.

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