August 19, 2013
Local News
The News Journal
Celebrating innovation in Delaware schools
The Rodel Foundation of Delaware announced 15 teachers, principals and other community leaders as finalists for this year’s iEducate Delaware initiative. The public is invited to vote for the person they think has made the biggest difference at ieducatedelaware.org. The site includes each finalist’s story along with program details and rules.
Making a difference with STEM’s learning and kids
An opinion by Anne Hogan
In addition to the three sectors highlighted on the Governor’s STEM Council – government, education, and businesses — nonprofit organizations are also developing programming and resources to strengthen STEM education for Delaware’s children. Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay is dedicated to working with other organizations to improve access to STEM for girls. Every summer we conduct the Girls in Gear camp targeted to middle-school girls with Girls, Inc. and the YWCA of Delaware. We also partner with many other organizations throughout the Delmarva Peninsula to offer information and programming to girls.
WHYY
First Conversations: Mayor Dennis Williams
The Wilmington Mayor speaks about education and University of Delaware professor Dr. Yasser Payne’s research depicted in the film “The People’s Report.”
Content Delaware
Preschool FRIENDS program
Families Reading to be Invested, Engaged, Nurturing, Devoted and Supportive (FRIENDS) focuses on literacy and language by welcoming and engaging parents and family members in reading activities in the Red Clay Consolidated School District. Winner: 2013 Superstars in Education.
[Program leader Dawn Alexander is a finalist of the Rodel Foundation initiative iEducate Delaware.]
Delaware State News
Capital School District plans renovations as KCCS expands
With enrollment at Kent County Community School on the rise, officials in Capital School District are planning to renovate their buildings this year to make room. The state is footing the bill for the work, which should come in at a little more than $13 million.
National News
The News Journal
States embracing electronic high school transcripts
Electronic transcript initiatives in several states could help give students control over sending their transcripts to colleges. Although high schools in some states have used e-transcripts since the 1990s, the movement has accelerated in recent years as states build data systems containing student information, says John Stewart, a committee member at the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO).
Teachers are afraid of tests
An op-ed by Ruben Navarrette Jr.
A lot of teachers, the unions that represent them, and misguided third-party defenders of the status quo determined to fight efforts to bring accountability to public schools until the last reform measure dies.
Stanford Social Innovation Review
When good is not good enough
Many of the fastest-growing nonprofit organizations begin with well-intentioned interventions and relatively naive ideas about the magnitude and complexity of the problems they aim to solve. By some measures our organizations were successful US nonprofits—growing rapidly, engaging numerous partners, and improving the lives of tens of millions of children. Yet all the while, the problems we were tackling—hunger and the lack of opportunities to play—were getting worse and even accelerating in recent years as the economy took a downturn.
Chronicle of Higher Education
Georgia regents to align colleges’ missions with system goals
The University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents adopted a new institutional function and mission policy that seeks to ensure that the missions of each of the state’s colleges and universities are in line with the system’s broader goals. The system will classify the institutions into one of four sectors: research universities, comprehensive universities, state universities, and state colleges. The Regents also adopted a new strategic plan.
Education Week
NCLB waivers in Kansas, Oregon, Washington at ‘high risk’
The Department of Education is threatening to revoke No Child Left Behind waivers for three states at the end of the 2013-14 school year over their failure to come up with new teacher-evaluation systems tied to student growth. Kansas, Oregon, and Washington have been placed on “high-risk” status and given one more year to get their teacher-evaluation systems on track.
Teacher evaluation: What the Hope Street Group has learned that works
A blog post by Dan Cruce, Vice President, Education at Hope Street Group
Everyone wants a fair and accurate system, but achieving that goal has been a struggle. Teachers say the system must reflect their unique student populations, and policymakers say hard data must inform decisions. In fact, both needs can be satisfied, but only if diversified teacher voices sit side-by-side with student-centered policy makers.
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