December 19, 2016
Delaware News
Cape Gazette
Indian River Finance Director Patrick Miller under investigation
A former state senator says taxpayers of Indian River School District should recoup thousands of dollars that the state auditor says were improperly spent by the district finance officer. “What he has done has hurt future referendums,” said George Bunting, a former state senator who served both Cape Henlopen and Indian River school districts.
Delaware 105.9
IRSD schedules another expense referendum for March 2
The Indian River School District will go back to the voters in March 2017 to seek passage of an expense referendum. The Daily Times reports that the Board of Education will ask for an increase that would amount to 49-cents per $100 of assessed property value. It’s the same request that was rejected by only 30 votes November 22nd.
Delaware State News
At Dover High, students look for solutions to stop bullies
Dover High School is making peer pressure work to its benefit. In a new program to combat bullying, the high school has organized a small student group that meets with victims of bullying and the person creating the stress to understand the situation and offer advice on how to handle it.
Rodel Blog
The power of partnership: Leading students down the right path
Blog post by Rachel Pleet, policy fellow at the Rodel Foundation of Delaware
It’s a simple question with huge significance: “So, what do you want to be when you grow up?” Whether your mind’s been made or you haven’t a clue, Delaware high school students have more opportunities than ever to explore fields of interest and embark on a professional path. Delaware Pathways, a member of the Pathways to Prosperity Network, offers wide-ranging, career-based programs that allow students to gain hands-on professional experience, work toward earning a college degree, and/or master skills necessary to succeed in a job immediately after graduation.
Sussex Countian
Teacher Academy aims to counter teacher shortage
Milford High School senior Dyaishia Cherry noticed some of her peers were interested in becoming teachers, so she formed a branch of Educators Rising, a club that caters to such students. “I noticed that there was a club for everyone else, why not a club for students who want to be teachers,” she said.
The Milford Beacon
North Georgetown Elementary gets kids excited about reading
North Georgetown Elementary School is initiating two programs to promote reading. “Our big push this year is to really promote literacy with our students and their families, as well as to build relationships with our community members,” said assistant principal Samantha Gordy. The first program to be implemented is The United Way’s “My Very Own Library,” which provides students with free books with which to build their own home libraries.
National News
EducationDive
Chicago school transforms student engagement with personalized learning
When LeViis Haney took over as principal of Joseph Lovett Elementary School on Chicago’s west side about four years ago, the student failure rate was relatively high, discipline infractions were numerous, and a chief complaint of teachers was that students constantly interrupted class. About two years ago, Haney and his team connected with LEAP Innovations, a Chicago-based, national nonprofit focused on personalized learning.
NPR
Great books to inspire English language learners
I grew up speaking Spanish, and I didn’t start learning English until I was in preschool. When it came to books, I struggled — like many ELL students — to connect with characters that didn’t look like me or speak my language. To this day I have yet to pick up a copy of Anne of Green Gables. It wasn’t until Ms. Rueckert handed me a biography of Diego Rivera in the fourth grade that my relationship with books changed forever.
The Morning Call
Pa. school districts brace for higher pension costs
Pennsylvania’s school districts have gotten an early lump of coal this holiday season from Harrisburg: word that teacher pension costs, which have taken ever larger bites out of budgets in recent years, will rise faster than expected in 2017-18. The board that administers the state’s Public School Employees’ Retirement System, or PSERS, voted earlier this month to increase the rate of districts’ per-worker pension contributions from the current 30.03 percent to 32.57, amounting to an 8.5 percent hike.
The Tennessean
Nashville ESSA town hall creates plenty of feedback, questions
Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen made a stop at Pearl Cohn High School on Thursday to talk about the state’s Every Student Succeeds Act draft plan ahead of its release — possible sometime within the next week. The state has had the past year to work on the plan — expected to give states more control over education outcomes — since President Barack Obama signed the federal education into law.
The Washington Post
D.C.’s overhauled training program is paying off for some teachers
Kelly Vergamini feared that a revamped training program for teachers in D.C. Public Schools was going to be a waste of her time. To her, many of the professional development sessions the school system offered teachers had felt that way. But after spending 90 minutes each Wednesday morning for the past four months with other teachers at H.D. Cooke Elementary, Vergamini said the new approach to improving teachers’ skills feels different.