December 1, 2016

Delaware News

Cape Gazette
Delaware high school students to hear dangers of tobacco use
The Delaware Safety Council announced the launch of the annual Smoke and Mirrors campaign. The campaign message is aimed at high school students throughout Delaware. During the school year council staff visit high schools in each county and discuss the dangers of tobacco use. Last year they reached over 1,000 high school students.

Rodel Blog
3 helpful resources for teaching English learners
Blog post by Neil Kirschling, program officer at the Rodel Foundation of Delaware
Did you know that more than 11,000 English learner students attend Delaware schools, representing more than 100 different languages? Last week I had the pleasure of meeting Jennifer Bishop, an English as a Second Language teacher in the Brandywine School District who also serves as treasurer and membership chair of Delaware English Language Learners Teachers and Advocates (DELLTA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the English-learner population in Delaware.

Are Delaware teacher prep programs top tier?
Blog post by Liz Hoyt, research associate, and Shyanne Miller, policy fellow at the Rodel Foundation of Delaware
In November, the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) released new and improved Teacher Preparation Program Reports. These reports are a part of the effort to improve the quality and transparency of teacher preparation programs in Delaware. This year, four out of 30 Delaware programs* received the highest possible rating—Tier 1.

Sussex County Post
Above and Beyond: Little child in busy road rescued by bus driver
Ronna Cobb wears several hats with the Indian River School District. She is a bus driver for the district and a paraprofessional at Phillip Showell Elementary School in Selbyville. In the eyes of Selbyville Police Department Detective Larry Corrigan and the school district, she is a life-saver.

The News Journal
Christina School Board OKs settlement in charter schools suit
School board members on Wednesday approved a settlement to a lawsuit filed by 15 charter schools against the Delaware Department of Education and the Christina School District. Board members returned from an hour-and-a-half closed-doors executive session with counsel before the meeting conducted at Gauger-Cobbs Middle School in Newark.

Editorial: Denn stands for better special education
Parenting isn’t easy, and that job becomes even more challenging when dealing with a child that requires special attention and care. Education continues to be a hot topic in the state. It will be discussed further as a new governor takes over in Dover. But while we hope Governor-elect John Carney plays a significant role in improving our schools, Delaware Attorney General Matt Denn is already playing a role.

WDEL
High school journalists discuss post-election reactions on WDEL
WDEL’s High School Journalists and Communicators Night brought some interesting thoughts on President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, especially when it comes to bullying since the election. Zandrea Deleon, a Dickinson High School Student, said a fellow student posted threats to Trump supporters on Instagram.

National News

Education Week
Details awaited on Trump team’s early-ed. path
Making child care more affordable for working families was one of a handful of education policy positions that President-elect Donald Trump tackled with some specificity on the campaign trail, promising to offer “much-needed relief” through a combination of tax deductions and credits. But the incoming administration’s views on a number of other early-childhood initiatives championed by the Obama White House—including federal support of state-run preschool programs, home visiting, and Head Start—are as yet unknown.

Newsworks
Philly teachers trade tips for ‘Educating in the time of Trump’
On Tuesday night a liberal group of teacher activists held a workshop in North Philadelphia and titled it “Educating in the Time of Trump.” The organizers expected roughly 10 people to attend, about 70 showed up. Still more — some from other states — requested the session be shared on video.

The Columbus Dispatch
Education officials reject charter school-proposed standards
The Ohio Department of Education bluntly rejected arguments by charter school advocates who want to add a California measure to Ohio’s accountability system, calling the proposal “neither valid nor useful.” As called for under House Bill 2, the broad charter school reform law passed in October 2015, the education agency completed a 29-page report examining the accountability model pushed by the pro-charter Ohio Coalition for Quality Education.

The Seattle Times
Earlier and more often: Washington teachers seek broad boost to civics education
The next generation of voters show “a dismaying inability” to tell the difference between online advertisements and legitimate news stories, according to a study of nearly 8,000 middle, high school and college students released last week by Stanford University. “Overall, young people’s ability to reason about the information on the internet can be summed up in one word: bleak,” the researchers said.