December 23, 2014
Delaware News
The News Journal
Hunger persists in Delaware
The Delaware Department of Education has offered incentives to school districts that increase how many of their students eat breakfast at school. That’s led several districts to simply make breakfast a schoolwide event, like lunch is, often serving it in homeroom. And some districts have found a need for food pantries within schools, where donated food and toiletries are given toe kids who need them.
Dover Post
DOE lets students submit essay questions early
The Delaware Department of Education is offering students a chance to fill out the essay portion of DOE scholarship applications early. Students can visit the DOE website atwww.delawaregoestocollege.org/state-aid where they’ll be able to view the 2015-16 essay questions. The full application won’t be available until January.
Hockessin Community News
Expanding horizons with STEM
Last fall, the Hockessin Montessori School launched an innovative new Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics pilot program that starts addressing important fundamental concepts with students as young as three. And with the second half of the school year approaching, the school administration is pleased with the feedback they’re getting from across the school community.
National News
Education Week
President Obama’s ed-tech record: Sizing up its impact
Connect Ed, Connected Educators, Future Ready, Maker Faires, and ed-tech photo-ops. There’s been plenty of activity on digital learning issues from the administration of President Barack Obama, but has it been more about public relations than lasting impact? Education Week decided it’s time to take a look back at some of the ed-tech issues tackled by the country’s first “Internet president.”
Missouri’s education department has a new leader
A new Missouri education commissioner has been chosen to replace a leader who faced frequent criticism while dealing with struggling districts, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced Wednesday.
Politico
Feds push for equal access to quality teachers
Senator Lamar Alexander, Representative John Kline, and their respective staffs have successfully freaked out sizable portions of the education-reform crowd—especially those who spend our days inside the Beltway bubble—by threatening to eliminate No Child Left Behind’s annual testing requirement. I’m hoping that this is just a bluff or feint—a way to strengthen their negotiating position—because the idea is so insane.
EdSource
State to fight lawsuit by low-income students
State finance officials last week granted the California Department of Education $3.4 million to fight a lawsuit that demands the state fix disruptive conditions in some high-poverty schools where students allegedly are being denied the fundamental right to an education.
Education Gadfly
What the Dickens! 2014 in education reform
Lest we forget to be humble, recall that 2014 was the year, as decreed by No Child Left Behind, that every state would achieve universal proficiency. The grand work of ed reform complete, this was to be the last Education Gadfly ever produced, as we honored the Cincinnatean ideal, quit the capital and statehouses, and returned to our fields.