October 12, 2012
Local News
WHYY
Lunch time in Delaware: Rep. Carney eats his vegetables with New Castle County students
Students got to eat their lunch with Congressman John Carney who was on hand to promote National Farm to School Month. The program encourages schools to use locally grown produce in school lunch meals. During the month of October, the Colonial School District is serving a variety of farm fresh fruits and vegetables in their lunches. Students across the district sampled Brussels sprouts which came from John Detweiler’s farm in Dover. The sprouts were prepared in a slaw-style salad which was made by culinary students at William Penn High School.
National News
Hechinger Report
Are new online standardized tests revolutionary?
New high-tech tests for the Common Core standards are being developed, but will these exams really revolutionize how we measure whether children are learning? The two coalitions that are designing the new tests, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC), have posted examples of what’s coming on their websites.
Henderson Gleaner
Only one in four children ready for kindergarten
Just one in four children in Kentucky is prepared for kindergarten, according to preliminary data. The data show that 24% to 28% of children are considered prepared for kindergarten. The data are from preliminary results of kindergarten readiness tests taken by 34,500 children in more than 100 districts. Next year, all 174 districts will be required to use the assessments.
Education Week
State chiefs’ races blend K-12 issues, state politics
School finance, the role of standardized tests, and local control of education policy are among the hot issues as candidates vie for the top school leadership spot in four states next month, with three incumbent state superintendents running hard on their records as they seek another term in office. Voters in Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, and North Dakota will elect state schools chiefs.
Associated Press
Nonprofit Idaho reform backer shields donors
The Idaho Statesman reported Wednesday a pro-reform nonprofit, Education Voters of Idaho, created by Boise-based lobbyist John Foster, gave $200,350 to another group, Parents for Education Reform, for broadcast ads touting the reforms. Though Parents for Education Reform disclosed its contribution — its only one, according to the Idaho Secretary of State — Education Voters of Idaho won’t file a similar sunshine report detailing its backers. That’s because it’s exempted from such requirements by federal tax laws governing nonprofit, 501(c)(4) “social welfare organizations,” Foster said, adding there’s precedent in Idaho for such donor protections.
Chicago Tribune
Brizard out as CPS chief: ‘We agreed it is best’
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s hand-picked choice to head the Chicago public schools resigned Thursday, just three weeks after the end of the city’s first teachers strike in a quarter century. Jean-Claude Brizard said he and the mayor agreed he should step down after serving in the post about 17 months. He will be replaced by the school system’s chief education officer, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, a former CEO in the Cleveland school system.
Related Topics: Achievement Gap, Common Core, DCAS, project based learning