September 27, 2013

Local News

The News Journal
Delaware charter school panel begins to delve into selective admissions
What impact do charter, vo-tech and magnet schools have on traditional schools in their areas? Are students from low-income families getting the same access to these schools as other kids? These are two of the biggest questions a task force of lawmakers, school officials and interest groups hope to address before the year is out, based on their first discussions Thursday.

Indian River District hosts family fitness fair Saturday
Bring the family to a free, action-­packed afternoon of play and learning at the Indian River School District’s Family Fun and Fitness Fair from 1-4 p.m. Saturday at Indian River High School in Dagsboro.

Huffington Post
A healthy dose of education
An opinion by Governor Jack Markell
In working to improve educational opportunities for our young people, we must recognize that different students learn best in different ways. Teachers need flexibility in their classrooms to find the best ways to reach individual students. However, some universal truths should be at the core of our efforts to prepare the next generation for future success.

WDDE
Delaware students lag behind rest of the country in SAT scores
A new report released by the College Board, which administers the SAT, ranks Delaware’s high school Class of 2013 well below the nation in college readiness. Out of the nearly 9,700 students from public and private schools statewide that took the SAT, only 27 percent met the college readiness benchmark set by the College Board. Nationally, 43 percent of students scored a 1550 out of 2400 – a score that the College Board says is associated with a 65 percent probability of obtaining a first-year college grade point average of a B- or higher.

Cape Gazette
Cape board to visit potential school sites
Cape Henlopen school board members intend to narrow down a location for a proposed new elementary school while they await news from state officials on whether the district can proceed with its plans.

National News

New York Times
For low-income students considering college, a nudge to aim high
The group that administers the SAT has begun a nationwide outreach program to try to persuade more low-income high school seniors who scored high on standardized tests to apply to select colleges.

Education Week
Charters adopt common application systems
In most school districts with charter school options, parents must navigate a complex web of charter school applications, deadlines, and lotteries specific to each individual school—but that is changing in a handful of cities across the country.

New SAT results show no change in average scores
SAT scores remained flat for students in the class of 2013, with just 43 percent performing well enough to be considered college-ready­—the same proportion as last year, according to new results issued Thursday.

Common Core given boost by key Michigan house vote
Michigan’s official support for the Common Core State Standards might be back on track following a key vote by the House education committee today.  House Resolution 11, passed by the committee, would undo Michigan’s budgetary freeze on implementing the common core and its associated assessments from the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. The freeze is slated to go into effect Oct. 1.