February 26, 2016

Delaware

Daily Journal
Markell in Washington to discuss school-to-work efforts with business, education leaders
Gov. Jack Markell is meeting with business leaders and educators in Washington to discuss ways to help high school students move from the class room to the workplace. Deputy federal labor secretary Christopher Lu also was among Friday’s scheduled speakers at a luncheon hosted by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. The meeting is aimed at strengthening the “School-to-Workforce Pipeline” by bringing business leaders together with more than 100 principals from top-performing STEM and magnet high schools from around the country.

Delmarvanow
Cape senior serves as translator at law firm
Billy Deleon-Velasquez sits in the far corner of attorney Ted Murphy’s office, to the right of Murphy and facing a client. He’s translating word for word every time Murphy or his client speaks. The cases the clients face have major implications. Deportation is on the line in many instances. But in the back of his mind, the 18-year-old from Lincoln, Delaware, also is worried about his math class, college scholarships and life as a senior at Cape Henlopen High School.

Delaware Department of Education
Applications available for summer fellowships
Press Release
The Delaware Department of Education is accepting applications for summer fellowships for promising future leaders and current educators who have a passion for education and want to gain hands-on exposure to policy work.  There are two opportunities, one developed specifically for current college students and recent graduates and a second for current Delaware public school teachers and specialists. Participants in both programs will own tightly-defined projects critical to Delaware’s policy agenda. They also will participate in weekly sessions with Delaware leaders in state government, district and school leadership, the business community and non-profit organizations.

Delaware 105.9
Markell to speak at School-to-Work conference
Gov. Jack Markell is meeting with business leaders and educators in Washington to discuss ways to help high school students move from the class room to the workplace. Deputy federal labor secretary Christopher Lu also is among today’s (Friday’s) scheduled speakers at a luncheon hosted by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. The meeting at noon at the Grand Hyatt in D.C. is aimed at strengthening the “School-to-Workforce Pipeline” by bringing business leaders together with more than 100 principals from top-performing STEM and magnet high schools from around the country.

WEIC votes against state education board’s proposed change to redistricting plan
Members of the Wilmington Education Improvement Commission have rejected proposed changes to a plan to redistrict city schools. Last week, the State Board of Education conditionally approved the plan but requested a wording change so the word “shall” would be replaced by “may” in regards to necessary and sufficient funding for the redistricting process But Commission Chairman Tony Allen says the panel voted Wednesday night to resubmit the initial proposal to redistrict Christina out of Wilmington, with Red Clay assuming that area.

Newsworks
Wilmington redistricting plan in peril after committee rejects state board demand
A ballyhooed plan to redraw school district lines in Wilmington and increase state funding for city students may be headed toward stalemate. This after the Wilmington Education Improvement Committee (WEIC) refused Wednesday to change one word in its original redistricting proposal, despite requests to that end from the Delaware State Board of Education. WEIC, a collection of local administrators and advocates assembled by Governor Jack Markell, instead voted 15-6 to resubmit its original plan to the state board. Last week at its regular monthly meeting, the state board approved that plan, but only on the condition that a single word be changed.

Town Square Delaware
Common Core and critical thinking: Helping students hone this important skill
The Common Core State Standards are intended to help students prepare for college and the working world, wherein they must think critically and apply the skills they learn in the classroom to a variety of real-world scenarios. The “buzz” about the standards is that they go much deeper into all math and English-language arts areas and emphasize comprehension and building understanding more so than rote memorization. The standards are meant to strengthen students’ ability to think, analyze, comprehend, defend and support one’s ideas, and much more.

National

EdSurge
Chicago public schools announce computer science graduation requirement
Chicago public schools, the nation’s third-largest school district, has instituted a computer science graduation requirement that will go into effect next school year, according to a CPS press release. Students graduating in 2020 must complete one computer science class as part of their two-credit career education requirement. The system aims to implement the new curriculum in 50-60 new schools per year, with 107 having already adopted it.

The Baltimore Sun
Baltimore education advocates make plea for money
Education advocates called on Gov. Larry Hogan Thursday to send more money to Baltimore schools. Standing outside the gate of the governor’s mansion in Annapolis, members of the Baltimore Education Coalition said after a tough year in Baltimore, city students need all the help they can get. A good education is a “ticket out of poverty,” said Del. Cheryl Glenn, a Baltimore Democrat. “We still find ourselves begging this year to put the money back for our children,” she said.

The Columbus Dispatch
Ginther says preschool education key to lifting neighborhoods
A former school building in the Linden neighborhood will take a central role in Mayor Andrew J. Ginther’s first State of the City address tonight. Ginther plans to announce a redevelopment of the Linden Park IGE Alternative School building, 1400 Myrtle Ave., and a nearby neighborhood recreation center into a preschool education center during his inaugural address at 6:30 p.m. at Whetstone High School. The city plans to partner with Ohio State University and Columbus City Schools to create 14 classrooms that will begin serving 200 pre-kindergarten students in the next year or two.

The Hechinger Report
How high school would be different if students could design it
The day would start later and end earlier. Testing and school uniforms would be banned. There would be dancing in the hallways. And – some changes adults might get behind, too – there’d be more art, more projects and more computers. “I want a school where the kids can choose what they want to do,” said Elias Leon, 13, a sixth-grader at Brooklyn Lab Charter School, a public school that draws students from across the city to a building a few blocks from the Brooklyn Bridge. Opened in 2014, the school is already focused on individualized learning.

The New York Times
4,100 students prove ‘small is better’ rule wrong
A decade ago, Brockton High School was a case study in failure. Teachers and administrators often voiced the unofficial school motto in hallway chitchat: students have a right to fail if they want. And many of them did — only a quarter of the students passed statewide exams. One in three dropped out. Then Susan Szachowicz and a handful of fellow teachers decided to take action. They persuaded administrators to let them organize a schoolwide campaign that involved reading and writing lessons into every class in all subjects, including gym. Their efforts paid off quickly.