February 4, 2015
Delaware News
WDEL
State asks judge to dismiss Delaware charter school lawsuit
Attorneys for Delaware’s Department of Education are asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit by a struggling, predominantly black all-girls charter school trying to stave off a second state-ordered closure.
Cape Gazette
College financial aid workshops at Cape Feb. 11
Stand By Me and its College Funding Project team will offer free financial aid workshops through March at high schools throughout Delaware.
Wilmington Education Advisory Commission (WEAC)
“Solutions for Wilmington Schools”
A Facebook group
The members of the Wilmington Education Advisory Committee appointed by Gov. Markell are seeking comments, opinions and ideas on the best ways to strengthen education for all Wilmington students.
National News
The News York Times
What would it mean to ‘fix’ No Child Left Behind?
Opinions from five education voices including Diane Ravitch and Randi Weingarten
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act is up for reauthorization. What is and isn’t working?
Real Clear Education
Love ’em or hate ’em, here’s what you should learn from Teach For America’s success
Commentary by Sarah Mead, Principal with Bellwether Education Partners in the Policy and Thought Leadership practice
Whatever you think of Teach For America, its growth offers tremendous lessons for anyone seeking to expand the reach of education models or practices, as well as for non-education nonprofits seeking to extend their impact.
Education Week
Broad Foundation puts hold on its prize for urban education
Disappointing academic results are prompting the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation to “pause” its $1 million annual award that recognizes improvements in student achievement in the nation’s urban school districts.
Teacher-evaluation mandate unlikely in ESEA rewrite
Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill agree that teacher evaluations are necessary to identify and reward good teachers, target those in need of more professional support, phase out others who are underperforming, and help ensure a thriving public education system. But the pending reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, known in its latest iteration as the No Child Left Behind Act, isn’t likely to require states to use them.
U.S. teaching time greatly exaggerated finds new study
The long-held belief that American public school teachers spend at least twice as much time in front of the class than their counterparts in the world’s higher-performing school systems is a myth, according to a new study from Teachers College at Columbia University.
The Boston Globe
Finishing college a growing divide between rich, poor, study says
There is a growing divide between those who earn a bachelor’s degree by age 24 and those who don’t, with the gap between the richest and poorest students doubling in the last four decades, according to a report released Tuesday.
The Hechinger Report
School spending per student drops for the second year in a row
Jill Barshay, columnist
From 1996 to 2008, spending per student, on average, steadily climbed at least 1 percent a year, after adjusting for inflation, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). But newer data is showing that this seemingly inexorable upward climb hit a plateau with the 2008 recession, and then began declining in 2010.