December 13, 2012

Local News

Dover Post
South Dover Elementary School receives $50,000 for academic performance
South Dover Elementary School continues to bask in the limelight due its $50,000 win as an academic achievement award winning school in the state of Delaware. “This school was first among equals in overall growth and every single category, including closing the achievement gap for low income students, minority students and special education students,” Lt. Governor Matt Denn said, citing state test scores “They’re were a bunch of schools that got awards for progress, but these guys have been doing it for years.

National News

Education Week
Ed. department focus on English-learners seen waning
As the number of English learners continues to grow faster than that of any other group in the nation’s public schools, concerns are mounting that the distinctive needs of those students and the educators who work with them are receiving diminishing attention from the U.S. Department of Education. Even as the federal government spends roughly $750 million a year to help educate a population that’s grown to be one out of every 10 students, the department’s office of English-language acquisition, or OELA, has seen its clout steadily shrink.

Tony Bennett named new Florida education chief
Former Indiana superintendent Tony Bennett has been selected as the new education commissioner in Florida, the state board of education announced Dec. 12, just five weeks after Bennett lost his re-election bid in Indiana. Ever since he lost the Nov. 6 election in Indiana to Democrat Glenda Ritz, Bennett, a Republican, seemed like a natural fit for Florida’s top education post. He is the president of Chiefs for Change, a group of state superintendents who push for changes to teacher evaluations and for expanded school choice.

Philadelphia Inquirer
Hite to announce plans to close 37 school buildings
Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. is expected to announce the proposed closures of 37 school buildings: around 20 elementary schools, a handful of middle schools, and about 10 high schools. He also emphasized that “significant” investments would be made in the district’s remaining programs, and said all closing decisions were made with two goals in mind – improving academics in all schools and ensuring the district’s long-term financial viability.

EdSource
Darling-Hammond elected new chair of Credentialing Commission
The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing has elected Linda Darling-Hammond as its chair, placing one of the nation’s foremost authorities on education in a position to shape the state’s policies affecting the recruitment and training of teachers and principals in a year where major changes are in the works.

Related Topics: Achievement Gap, Arne Duncan, ED, high-need