February 25, 2016

Delaware

Delaware 105.9
Audio: Cape Henelopen school district’s referendum is about rebuilding & renovating four elementary schools
The Cape Henlopen School District is going to the public to renovate and rebuild elementary schools in the district. Delaware 105.9’s Joe Irizarry has more. The plan includes construction of a new H.O. Brittingham Elementary School on its current property, construction of a new Rehoboth Elementary School on its current property and renovations and additions at Milton Elementary School and Shields Elementary School located in the Lewes School Building on Lewes School property.

Newark Post
Christina school still feeling effects of last year’s failed referendums
Libraries without librarians, world language classes without teachers and classrooms without adequate supplies are just some of the ways Christina School District schools are feeling the effects of last year’s failed tax referendums. After two referendum defeats last spring – one in March and one in May – the district was forced to cut $9.5 million from its budget. And as voters prepare to go to the polls for yet another tax referendum next month, district schools are still reeling from last spring’s cuts.

Newsworks
Do Delaware teachers really love Common Core?
In 2015, researchers from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education wanted to answer a basic question: What do teachers, principals and administrators think of the Common Core State Standards and how they’ve been rolled out? They surveyed schools in five states–Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Nevada, and, of course, Delaware–and released their findings last week in a report titled “Teaching Higher: Educators’ Perspectives on Common Core Implementation.”

Sussex County Post
Peden seeking to retain seat on Indian River school board
Amid growing pains from enrollment growth, Gerald T. Peden Jr. believes the Indian River School District is in good hands with a bright future ahead. The 48-year-old Georgetown resident would like to continue on as a decision-making part of that future. Mr. Peden filed Feb. 4 with the Sussex County Department of Elections in hopes of retaining the District 2 board of education seat he assumed last July through special selection following Shaun Fink’s abrupt resignation in late May.

The News Journal
Wilmington redistricting plan advances on shaky ground
They didn’t blink. With the clock running out and their plan to redistrict Wilmington schools on shaky ground, the members of the Wilmington Education Improvement Commission held firm and sent their proposal back to the State Board of Education without making a crucial, one-word change the board wanted on Wednesday. The commission’s members say they don’t trust the State Board and other leaders to provide the necessary funding without an iron-clad guarantee.

National

Associated Press
Ruling raises objections to release of personal student data
A recent federal court ruling ordering the release of personal data on more than 10 million California students highlights the growing amount of information schools now collect – and the loopholes that allow it to be released. The order involves a lawsuit filed in 2011 in which plaintiffs are requesting data kept by the California Department of Education to determine whether the state is fulfilling its federal obligations for disabled students. Judge Kimberly Mueller issued the order in late January directing state officials to release student information stored in Department of Education databases.

Charleston Gazette- Mail
House to consider bill with test opt-pot provision, no standards repeal
After the West Virginia House Education Committee adjourned Friday following Republican and Democratic members meeting separately on a bill that was initially intended to repeal Common Core standards, the committee quickly passed a bipartisan version Saturday morning that wouldn’t repeal the state’s K-12 education standards. But the bill, which now heads to the floor of the full House of Delegates, would end the state’s current Common Core-aligned Smarter Balanced standardized test.

The Hechinger Report
Personalized learning: Why your classroom should sound like a coffee shop
Opinion by Barbara Bray and Kathleen McClaskey, co-founders of Personalize Learning LLC
There seems to be confusion around the term “Personalized Learning” and what is and what is not personalized learning. Teachers are always asking us what does it look like and what happens in their role. The first thing we say is that the room sounds like a coffee shop. There is a hum with many people talking softly in different parts of the classroom. You don’t hear one person talking. Yet, in most traditional classrooms, the teacher is doing most of the talking. The traditional classroom is all most of us know or experienced as learners ourselves.

Politico
New law leaves test opt-out consequences up to the state
Under the new federal education law, consequences for high test-refusal rates will now be left up to the state, education officials said. How this will impact opt-out rates this year is still unclear. State education department Office of Accountability Assistant Commissioner Ira Schwartz at Monday’s state Board of Regents meeting gave a preliminary presentation of the Every Student Succeeds Act, a broad federal education law passed in December that replaced No Child Left Behind. The new law gives states more flexibility regarding assessments and accountability.

WBOC
MD. students lead nation in success on AP exams
Maryland education officials say the state’s students have led the nation in success on Advanced Placement exams for the 10th year in a row. Citing new data from the College Board, state officials say 31.7 percent of Maryland high school seniors earned a score of 3 or higher on one or more AP exams. The tests are scored on a 1-to-5 scale, and 3 is the threshold for earning college credit at many institutions. Nationally, 22.4 percent of seniors got a 3 or higher on at least one AP test.