January 12, 2017
Delaware News
The News Journal
Colonial School District to seek property tax hike
The Colonial School District will ask residents to approve a tax increase to improve school security, expand preschool, upgrade technology and redesign the district’s middle schools.
Christina superintendent finalists make their cases to parents, teachers
In three hour-long episodes Wednesday night, the finalists for the Christina School District superintendent position gave presentations outlining their visions and answered questions from an audience of stakeholders in the district’s future.
Delaware’s career pathways program lands $2M grant
JPMorgan Chase & Co. awarded a $2 million grant to Delaware’s Pathways to Prosperity program, one of 10 states to receive a monetary award from the bank’s New Skills for Youth initiative. The five-year, $75 million program, developed in collaboration with the Council of Chief of State School Officers, is aimed at strengthening career-focused education.
Rodel Blog
Ten ways coaching helps in the classroom
Blog post by Jared Lelito, middle school math/special education teacher at Fred Fifer III Middle School
Rodel Teacher Council member Jared Lelito teaches math in an inclusion classroom at Fred Fifer III Middle School in the Caesar Rodney School District. In addition to teaching, Jared coaches football, basketball, and baseball for the Caesar Rodney High School Riders. During his time in the Caesar Rodney School District, Lelito discovered a few ways coaching has helped improve his teaching in the classroom. Here are just a few.
Delaware, The U.S., and the global report card: What it means
Blog post by Liz Hoyt, research associate at the Rodel Foundation of Delaware
An often-unpredictable 2016 came to a close with some status-quo scores and glimmers of promise in science for U.S. students on the Program for International Assessment (PISA), a “global report card” of student achievement. The PISA is administered every three years to 15-year-old students around the world, assessing their knowledge and ability to think critically in math, reading and science.
New State ESSA Draft; Rodel’s Role
Blog post by Matt Amis, Senior Communications officer at Rodel Foundation of Delaware
News broke this week that the Delaware Department of Education is sharing its next draft of the state’s Every Student Succeeds Act plan for public feedback.
National News
Education Drive
Personalized learning trend supports students as individuals
Teachers have long differentiated instruction in their classrooms, recognizing the varying levels of ability among a group of students who are all the same age. New ed tech tools have given the concept new life in recent years as schools find this old process can be made much easier and more powerful.
The New York Times
Justice Face ‘Blizzard of Words’ in special education case
In a case that could affect the education of 6.7 million children with disabilities, the Supreme Court on Wednesday struggled to decide whether it should require public schools to do more under a federal law that calls for them to provide a free education that addresses the children’s needs.
Newsworks
Opioid education for kindergartners? Yep, that’s a thing
In his Tuesday State of the State address, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie proposed creating a “new, specific curriculum in every school on opioids.” Christie said this new curriculum should cover all grades, even kindergarten.
The Washington Post
Supreme Court wrestles with defining rights for students with disabilities, including autism
The Supreme Court Wednesday seemed ready to increase the educational benefits the country’s public schools owe to millions of children with disabilities, as the justices considered one of the most significant special-education cases to reach the high court in decades.
New York Daily News
City seeks 14,000 volunteers for mentoring initiative that aims to reach 40,000 high school students
The city is looking for few good men and women — 14,000 to be exact — to mentor high school kids. Mayor de Blasio on Thursday will launch the NYC Youth Mentoring initiative, which aims to establish enough mentoring programs for 40,000 kids by 2022. That’s double the current number of students who are being mentored, and requires 14,000 people to agree to volunteer their time and wisdom to steer kids on the right path.