February 24, 2017

The News Journal
Middletown school’s project getting headed for space
One of the most amazing feats humans have accomplished is going into space. But for a group of Everett Meredith Middle School students, sending bipeds to the moon was just the beginning. Come April, the seventh-graders will help break a new frontier … for fish. “Fathead minnows,” seventh-grader Olivia Court clarified. She and five of her classmates — Alivia Alessandrini, Kainat Azhar, Noah Keller and Moulai Nije — designed a project that will be launched into space this spring.

Rodel Blog
Early Learning is a better investment than the stock market
Blog post by Madeleine Bayard, vice president of policy and practice at the Rodel Foundation of Delaware
It’s not just kids, parents, and teachers who feel the impact of our public schools. If you’re a citizen of Delaware, then you are—in one way or another—affected by our state’s education system. Check back regularly as we take a closer look at how When Students Succeed, We All Win. Experts equate a $4-$9 return for every dollar spent on high-quality early learning programs for low-income children. But that’s just the beginning.

Liberty wiithin Limits: Personalizied learning in the Montessori Classroom
Blog post by Cheryl Lynn Jones, Montessori Elementary teacher at First State Montessori Academy
I am a second and third grade teacher at First State Montessori Academy in Wilmington. This is my 12th year in a Montessori classroom environment and my first year on the Rodel Teacher Council (RTC). When I first joined the RTC, I learned all about their Blueprint for Personalized Learning in Delaware and was amazed to see the extensiveness and thoughtfulness of the plan. I was also encouraged to see that Montessori education fits right into personalized learning.

Third-grade literacy’s enormous impact on life
Blog post by Madeleine Bayard, vice president of policy and practice at the Rodel Foundation of Delaware
It’s not just kids, parents, and teachers who feel the impact of our public schools. If you’re a citizen of Delaware, then you are—in one way or another—affected by our state’s education system. Check back regularly as we take a closer look at how When Students Succeed, We All Win. Third-grade literacy has an enormous impact on a child’s life. Research indicates that third grade is a critical turning point for students. A child who can read on grade level by third grade is four times more likely to graduate by age 19 than a child who does not read proficiently by that time.

Delaware State News
CR student wins state-level Doodle 4 Google competition
A surprise presentation awaited Caesar Rodney High School 12th-grader Kiara Florez when she showed up to her morning art class on Thursday. She’d been selected by Google as the Delaware winner of their Doodle 4 Google contest and Google representatives, her art teacher Rob Sample, fellow classmates, school district administrators, U.S. Sen. Chris Coons and state Rep. Lyndon Yearick were on hand to celebrate the win.

National News

CNSNews
DeVos slams ‘Education Establishment,’ touts school choice
The U.S. “education establishment has been blocking the doorway to reforms, fixes and improvements for a generation,” Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday. And despite the $7 billion spent on school improvement grants during the Obama administration, the system is still failing too many children.

Charleston Gazette-Mail
Justice unveils education bill
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice wants to eliminate an agency that reviews public schools and public school systems, nix the eight multi-county Regional Education Service Agencies, remove the mandate for schools to have 180 separate “instructional days” and erase the requirement that the School Building Authority consider “economies of scale” among the “objective criteria” for choosing which public school construction and renovation projects to fund.

Inside Higher Ed
AP participation is up
As access to Advanced Placement courses continues to grow, student success rates are also improving, according to the 2016 AP Program results for the class of 2016.  “The Advanced Placement Program has radically expanded access without compromising quality,” said David Coleman, president and CEO of College Board, which oversees the AP Program. “I think it’s transformed from what was once an elite program for some to what’s an available program for all.”

Chalkbeat
Memphis charter office seeks to double in size to keep up with growing sector
Shelby County Schools is about to double the size of its staff overseeing charter schools. About a year after a national consultant called the district’s oversight deficient, the school system is seeking to reorganize its team and hire more help. With 45 charter schools, Shelby County Schools is Tennessee’s largest charter authorizer but has only three people to watch over the sector — “lean for a portfolio of its size,” according to a report by the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, or NACSA.