January 11, 2017
Delaware News
Cape Gazette
Beacon Middle student surpasses goal
A year ago, 11-year-old Daeveon Deshields decided to do something for the area’s homeless. “I didn’t like seeing people holding signs that said, ‘I will work for food,’” he said. He didn’t like knowing that some people don’t have warm clothes or basic toiletries that most people take for granted, either.
Delaware 105.9
Gov. Markell to make announcement regarding Delaware’s Pathways to Prosperity Initiative
Governor Markell will this (Wednesday) morning, make an announcement regarding Delaware’s Pathways to Prosperity Initiative. Joined by Governor-elect John Carney, Delaware Department of Education Secretary Stephen Godowsky, Polytech School District Superintendent Deborah Zych, and others, the Governor will make his announcement in the Adult Education Conference Center at Polytech High School in Woodside at 9:30 a.m.
New bill would require all DE high schools offer computer science course
One new bill, if passed, would mandate all Delaware high schools offer at least one computer science course by 2020. House Bill 15, sponsored by State Representative Debra Heffernan, would make it where the course satisfies one year of the total credit requirement in mathematics.
Department of Education
State releases updated ESSA plan draft
The Delaware Department of Education is sharing its next draft of the state’s Every Student Succeeds Act plan for public feedback. The updated document reflects the input the department received from community members and other education stakeholders at a series of community conversations and through discussion groups, the Governor’s ESSA Advisory Committee, online surveys and submitted written comments.
Sussex County Post
Selbyville Middle School keyboarding teacher lands national award
Christmas came early for Matt Schifano. It arrived via email, a congratulatory correspondence informing Selbyville Middle School’s sixth-grade keyboarding teacher that he was among three national recipients of the National Association for Alternative Certification (NAAC) Conference Award for Outstanding New Educators.
Town Square Delaware
Winners chosen in 4th Grade “Delaware Day” competition
Wilmington Friends School, North Star Elementary in Hockessin and Gallaher Elementary School in Newark were three schools that received awards for excellence at the 15th annual Delaware Day Fourth Grade Competition. The purpose of the Delaware Day competition is to encourage students to study the U.S. Constitution and to discover Delaware’s role in its writing and ratification.
WDEL
As enrollment declines, the Christina School Board wants to take a look at building usage
School Board didn’t pass an analysis last night, but most agree one should eventually be done. Fred Polaski believes a study should wait until a new superintendent is hired. “We’ve advertised new Christina–but we haven’t defined it–so we need to do that, and I think part of that process is analyzing capacity for our buildings,” said Polaski.
National News
Education Next
Education innovation in 2017: Four personalized-learning trends to watch
At the Clayton Christensen Institute, we track disruptive innovations in K–12 schools that upend the traditional factory-based model of school in favor of instructional approaches that better center on each individual student. Here are four trends in personalized learning we’ll be watching unfold in the coming year.
Governing
How schools can have the great principals they need
School principals matter. Any parent who has sat in on a PTA meeting will tell you that. So will researchers. The authors of the Wallace Foundation’s landmark 2004 report, “How Leadership Influences Student Learning,” found that leadership is second only to teaching among school-based influences on student learning, What makes principals so important? Start with their ripple effects.
The Bismarck Tribune
More English learners move into rural schools
The population of English learners has been increasing in North Dakota schools — most recently in rural districts. “It’s growing. The need there is growing,” said Lyle Krueger, executive director of the Missouri River Educational Cooperative, one of eight regional education associations in the state.
The Boston Globe
After the charter defeat, what’s next for urban education?
It’s a question that hangs in the air following the defeat of the charter-school ballot initiative: Can Massachusetts find a politically plausible way to foster faster improvement in urban education? We’re a state that leads the nation in educational results, but which still has too many city kids stuck in mediocre schools. Yet with the defeat of Question 2, any such solution obviously must come from within the confines of the traditional district system.
U.S. News & World Report
Personalized learning and Common Core: Mortal enemies?
Can students learn about what they like, at their own pace, and still pass standardized tests at the end of each year? It’s a dilemma facing a growing number of schools and districts that have jumped onto a new tech-fueled trend in education known as “personalized learning.” The goal of personalized learning is to tailor lessons for individual students to help them master content on their own schedule, whether it’s faster or slower than their same-age peers.