September 18, 2013
Local News
The News Journal
Markell to announce plan to enroll more Delaware students in college
State officials will unveil today a new effort to help more students identified as “college-ready” to enroll in universities or colleges. Gov. Jack Markell, Secretary of Education Mark Murphy, and College Board President David Coleman will announce the effort at 10:30 at Mt. Pleasant High School. The state will partner with the College Board, the organization that administers the SAT, ACT and Advanced Placement tests. State officials use the SAT as a predictor of college success. The nationwide College Board benchmark says a student who scores a 1550 or better on the test has a 65 percent chance of making a first-year college GPA of a “B” or better.
Gov. Jack Markell faces packed house in first forum
Lyndon Yearick of Magnolia, who has had three children go through the Caesar Rodney School District south of Dover, questioned Markell on education, saying local school district administrators should have more discretion in how they spend state funds. Flexibility would improve innovation, Yearick said. “How are we going to change our funding system from a system based in the 1930s and 1940s that’s going to address a cost-efficient opportunity for kids?” Yearick asked. Markell said adding more flexibility into education funding “is something we have talked about. I can’t stand here today and say I have a specific answer.”
Delaware State News
Lake Forest first district designated ‘Fit Friendly’
“This is the first school district in the state of Delaware to receive this award. I am so excited about this,” Ms. Green said. Fit-Friendly companies and schools are recognized by the American Heart Association for going above and beyond when it comes to their employees and or students’ health. There are three criteria — health, nutrition and the overall culture of the school district and you guys met it with flying colors. Lake Forest School District Superintendent Dr. Daniel D. Curry said one way the district has developed a “Fit Friendly” culture was to offer the Lake Forest High School’s new fitness center to its employees free of charge. The center is open to the public for a membership fee of $15 a month.
New leadership team at Lake Forest North
During the Sept. 12 school board meeting it was announced that Lake Forest North Elementary School’s Principal Brian Swain resigned days in to the new school year. Mr. Swain was offered and accepted another offer with school district he came to Felton from. On Thursday, the board of education appointed Laura S. Lands as the new, Interim Principal of Lake Forest North. Ms. Lands had been the school’s assistant principal. During the meeting, the board also voted to promote W.T. Chipman Middle School Math Teacher Eric Walter to Interim assistant principal of Lake Forest North Elementary School.
WDEL
Child’s whole well-being being considered at Gallaher
Tackling a child’s entire well-being is a tough goal, but it’s one being met at a school in the Christina School District. Don’t be surprised if you see kids doing jumping jacks at Gallaher Elementary School. It’s all part of the Positive Action program’s lesson plan. Lee tells WDEL that physical fitness plays a vital role in the program, but the approach is four-tiered. “We believe in educating the whole child, emotionally, socially, physically, and academically,” she says.
Middletown Transcript
Fitness, nutrition programs earn $2,500 grant for Loss Elementary
it comes to promoting student health and wellness, few schools have racked up as many accolades as Olive B. Loss Elementary. Three years after being named the Healthiest Elementary School in Delaware, Loss Elementary has added another feather to its wellness cap by being chosen as one of 10 schools in Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia to receive a $2,500 Highmark Foundation grant for its work in preventing childhood obesity. Loss Elementary was the only school in Delaware selected to receive the grant.
National News
Education Week
Florida names Pam Stewart Commissioner, removing interim tag
The Florida Board of Education today voted to name Pam Stewart as the state’s education commissioner. Stewart is taking the place of former K-12 chief Tony Bennett, who resigned Aug. 1. Stewart had been serving as the state’s interim commissioner following Bennett’s resignation in the wake of the Indiana A-F controversy, and was also interim education commissioner after the resignation of Gerard Robinson the previous summer until Bennett took over last January.
The Washington Post
D.C. charter board approves new preschool evaluation tool
The D.C. Public Charter School Board has approved a revised evaluation tool for preschools that is one of the first efforts in the country to tie the success of early learning programs to the academic performance of their students. The original proposal prompted an outcry from parents who were concerned that the emphasis on academic testing could lead to a narrowing of what children learn in preschool.
The Los Angeles Times
An editorial by the Times
A showdown on Common Core testing
When it comes to education policy, California and the Obama administration have gotten along about as well as the Clantons and the Earp brothers. They’ve clashed over teacher evaluations, Race to the Top grants, you name it. Now, the switch to the new Common Core curriculum could prove to be their O.K. Corral.
Ed Source
Brown not backing away from decision to suspend state standardized tests
Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday defended the state’s decision to suspend state standardized tests this year and instead offer students a practice test in the Common Core standards that’s now being developed. And he gave no sign of steering away from a collision with the federal government over this issue. “I feel that a test based on a different curriculum does not make a lot of sense,” he said during a news conference in Oakland. “We are investing $1 billion to adopt Common Core.”
Education Next
New study latest proof that criticism aside, Teach for America
There’s hardly an education initiative that arouses stronger feelings than Teach for America. TFA seeks to address the problem of shortage of quality teachers by putting the country’s brightest college graduates in the classroom. Although in the early years of the program its effectiveness was loudly questioned, a number of high profile recent studies show that not only do TFA fellows perform as well as their non-TFA peers, in some subjects – especially math – they perform better.
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