February 8, 2016
Delaware
Delaware 105.9
DSU President meets with NCCo Corporate Leaders
Delaware State University President Dr. Harry Williams met with New Castle County corporate leaders to report on the “State of DSU” last week in Wilmington. President Williams traveled to Wilmington on February 3 to present The State of the University to a gathering of nearly 30 New Castle County corporate leaders. Dr. Williams gave the attendees the latest DSU enrollment figures, student profiles, and an overview of the University’s academic programs, international partnerships.
Delaware Public Media
Student mural project debuts at Delaware Art Museum
The Delaware Art Museum unveiled a mural celebrating Black History Month Thursday night, but it didn’t come from a professional artist. Eight students from Dickinson and William Penn High Schools created the piece as part of the museum’s recently launched Mural Arts Interpretation Project. The initiative brings together students with limited exposure to arts education to work on a project. In this case, they spent 10 weeks working on three-panel mural inspired by the piece Study for a Mural by African American illustrator and muralist Aaron Douglas, known for his place in the Harlem Renaissance.
Delmarva Now
IR starts council for parents of special needs students
The Indian River School District has formed a new council for parents of special needs students. The group formed as the result of a state Senate bill last year which called for its establishment. District administrators and some parents are enthusiastic about its potential. “When you have peers it’s more comfortable and easier to ask questions to get better understandings,” said Regena Izzo, the school district’s special education implementation specialist.
Newsworks
Delaware delays new science exam amid over-testing concerns
In late January, Acting U.S. Secretary of Education John King visited Delaware and praised the state’s push to reduce standardized testing. At the same time, unbeknownst to most, state officials were mulling a proposal designed to create state-mandated science and social studies tests for grades 3-10. That plan would have increased the amount of time Delaware students spend taking statewide standardized tests by roughly 25 percent, and contradicted the spirit of King’s kudos. Weeks later, the plan was dead.
Rodel Blog
Make time for the RTC workshop
Blog post by Jennifer Hollstein, secondary English teacher and teacher evaluator at the Charter School of Wilmington
Time. Ask any teacher what’s in short supply and that is most likely what you’ll hear. We’d love to meet, to collaborate, to learn something new, to reflect, and to capitalize on our own strengths, but finding the time to make that happen feels like a feat of mythical proportions. Yet, an opportunity awaits! The Rodel Teacher Council has created a day dedicated to helping teachers grow in their understanding of personalized learning, and working alongside colleagues who are currently practicing this method. On February 27, the Rodel Teacher Council will host a free Personalized Learning Workshop at St. Georges High School from 8 a.m. til 12 p.m.
The Dover Post
Governor’s Summit to address early childhood
Gov. Jack Markell and Secretary of Education Steven Godowsky will host the Governor’s Birth to 8 Summit: First 3,000 Days in the First State from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 10 at Delaware State University, 1200 N. Dupont Highway, Dover. The summit will include a speech from Linda Smith, deputy assistant secretary for early childhood development at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and other child development experts. Smith also will participate in the panel discussion.
The Milford Beacon
Students display robotics skills at state contest
Students put their engineering skills to the test at the Diamond State FIRST Tech Challenge Championship Saturday. The competition, which took place at Delaware State University, had students from New York, Maryland and Delaware pitting their robots against other students in the day-long event. Teams were supported by schools or community organizations like the Boy and Girls Club. Four teams competed in the battle ring at a time.
The News Journal
Fundraiser duct tapes vice-principal to wall
Students at the Jennie E. Smith Elementary School in Ogletown duct taped their vice-principal to the wall to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Delaware.
National
Education Week
Jeb Bush and Education: Five facts to know before the New Hampshire primary
Blog post by Alyson Klein, reporter for Education Week
A year ago, many folks were betting former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush would be the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination at this point in the race. That probably would have put education front-and-center as a campaign issue—Bush has one of the longest records on K-12 of any politician in the country, never mind the GOP field. He’s helped set the national K-12 agenda—and generated plenty of controversy in the process. But the race hasn’t turned out the way many expected.
The Arizona Republic
Arizona’s public students could get state money for private schools
Every Arizona public-school student could get state money to attend private schools by 2020 under a vast expansion of a school-voucher program lawmakers are attempting to fast-track. The legislation would phase in expansion of the Empowerment Scholarship Account program, which currently serves about 2,200 schoolchildren, to allow within a few years all of the state’s 1.1 million public schoolchildren to qualify. House Appropriations Chairman Justin Olson, R-Mesa, and other supporters say the expansion would allow more parents to tailor school choices to their children’s needs.
The Hechinger Report
Volunteer ‘Pushy Moms’ help community college students transfer to four-year schools
On a rainy December afternoon, Eren Ozsar sat hunched over his laptop in a crowded Starbucks on the Upper East Side. He peered intently at the screen as he clicked through the admissions office site for Columbia University’s School of General Studies. “Is there any way to determine what your odds are of getting in?” the woman across the table from him asked. “Not that I know of,” he replied. The woman, Melanie Rose, delivered some tough news. Rose, a 61-year-old former magazine publisher and chocolatier, is one of the “Pushy Moms,” a group of about a half-dozen women helping LaGuardia Community College students like Ozsar, 22, make the leap to four-year schools and bachelors’ degrees.
New York Magazine
Education reform is not that popular but it’s still working
Education-policy analysts have known for a long time that the traditional system for hiring teachers — giving them tenure after a few years, and tying their salary to years on the job — does not exactly optimize the quality of the teaching workforce. In 2009, Washington, D.C., launched IMPACT, a new system for evaluating teachers that combined in-class evaluations with testing that compared student improvement against expected levels. Critics of the education-reform movement attacked it bitterly. “The overall impact of IMPACT is not only unfair but not likely to do the job it is supposed to do: Root out bad teachers,” complained Washington Post blogger Valerie Strauss.
NPR
Nearing 25 years old, Teach for America reflects on its work
An important milestone in American education has been reached this year. Teach for America turns 25. And even people who don’t follow education issues probably know that what started as the Princeton undergraduate thesis of founder Wendy Kopp has turned into a multimillion dollar organization in 36 states. It’s involved in the education of millions of children nationwide. Last fall alone, some 4,100 new teachers signed up. But along the way, the organization has also become a lightning rod for criticism about how issues like race and class factor into educational opportunity. Elisa Villanueva Beard is Teach for America’s CEO.