January 19, 2016

Delaware

Cape Gazette
Cape region students win fire prevention awards
The Delaware Volunteer Firefighter’s Association held its Annual Poster and Essay Fire Prevention Awards Ceremony Jan. 10 at the Cheswold Fire Company in Cheswold. Four students from the Cape area were presented awards for the State of Delaware contest. The winners were Jayauna Dunning of Rehoboth Elementary School, second grade, third place; Chase Morris from Mariner Middle School, eighth grade, third place; Abigail Ford from Milton Elementary School, kindergarten, second place; and Daeshaun Lewis from Shields Elementary School, fifth grade, first place.

Milford Chronicle
Milford Boys and Girls Club accepts $20,000 donation
Representatives from Perdue Farms presented the Greater Milford Boys & Girls Club with a $20,000 donation from the Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation today in support of their Great Futures Capital Campaign. The award specifically supports improvements and expansion of the Club’s Education & Technology Center. The Foundation is the charitable giving arm of Perdue Farms. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware provides quality Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (S.T.E.M.) programming to its Club members.

NewsWorks
Kindergarten doesn’t have to be the new first grade
Editorial by Rob Tornoe, cartoonist and WHYY contributor
A couple years ago, my wife and I sat with a friend who complained that her kindergarten son had homework to do. I was immediately taken a back. The kindergarten I remember involved dinosaurs, finger painting and lots and lots of play time. The most structure I can recall was manning our class post office for the day, delivering drawings we made for fellow classmates. But today’s kindergarten is much different than the one my wife and I attended.

Office of the Governor
Governor’s Weekly Message: Investing in our students by building on dual enrollment progress
In his weekly message, Governor Markell highlights efforts to build on the progress made in dual enrollment for Delaware students. “We know that good-paying jobs increasingly require education or training beyond high school, and evidence shows that students who take a college course in high school are more likely to complete post-secondary education,” said Governor Markell. “By continuing to challenge our students in the classroom and remove obstacles to continuing their education and training beyond high school, we’ll ensure they are ready to thrive in today’s economy and pursue their dreams, and that will keep Delaware moving forward.”

The Washington Post
Lawmakers reject veto override vote on school test bill
An effort to override Gov. Jack Markell’s veto of a bill allowing Delaware school students to opt out of standardized tests fizzled Thursday when House members refused to suspend rules to consider the issue. The vote to suspend the rules failed by a 2-to-1 margin, with 13 lawmakers in favor and 26 against. Rep. John Kowalko, a Newark Democrat leading the override effort, expressed his frustration afterward. He said his colleagues abdicated their responsibility to discuss and vote on an important public policy matter.

Town Square Delaware
Film screening sparks debate on how kids learn
At a special screening of the award-winning documentary “Most Likely to Succeed,” Delaware educators, policy makers and parents shared their opinions about project-based learning and the future of education in the U.S. The free movie showing was offered by the Caesar Rodney Institute at the Delaware Museum of Natural History on January 12. The film highlights key shortcomings of the US education system while showcasing an innovative school in California that offers a new way of learning with no tests, no traditional curriculum, and students working collaboratively on projects.

WDEL
University of Delaware makes list of Top 25 Best Value Education Programs
According to a new list by an independent online guide listing colleges that provide the best bang for one’s tuition buck, the University of Delaware is among the top 25 schools in the nation. In Value College’s Top 50 Best Value Education Programs of 2016, the University of Delaware ranked 23rd. Coming in at #1 was Brigham Young University in Idaho, followed by the University of Florida and California State University – Long Beach at #2 and #3, respectively. South Dakota State University rounded out the Top 50.

National

Chalkbeat
Bill doesn’t shield all schools equally from A-F grade consequences
A bill speeding through the legislature that would give schools relief from last year’s drop in ISTEP scores won’t offer much protection for the state’s most struggling schools. As state education officials prepare to release A-F school letter grades for the 2014-15 school year, Senate Bill 200 would shield most schools from serious consequences by barring officials from assigning grades that are lower than the previous year. That means schools that received B’s in 2014 won’t get C’s or D’s or F’s in 2015 even if their ISTEP scores dropped dramatically.

Education Week
Public Engagement is essential to scholarship
Education policymaking must negotiate strongly held public perceptions and contested political terrain—factors usually far more influential than research findings. So even the most settled and trustworthy scholarly knowledge will not be persuasive unless due attention is also given to the beliefs and politics that shape and filter public discourse. That’s what effective public scholars do when they bring education research out of the weeds of scholarly journals and into the public sphere. How do they do this?

Los Angeles Times
A better charter-school initiative
Editorial by The Times Editorial Board
The controversial Eli Broad-backed initiative that was designed to double charter-school attendance in the Los Angeles Unified School District has been shape-shifting ever since an early draft was leaked months ago. The goal of enrolling half of the district’s students in charter schools within eight years has been dropped. Now, those involved in the planning say, no specific enrollment goal will be included in the eventual plan.

Politico
Cuomo, echoing de Blasio, bets on ‘community schools’
Gov. Andrew Cuomo seems to have reached a philosophical consensus with Mayor Bill de Blasio on how to improve struggling schools: turn them into “community schools,” with wraparound social services. Cuomo’s proposed $100 million investment to turn the state’s designated “failing” schools into community schools appears to be something like a statewide version of de Blasio’s Renewal Schools program, adding a layer of irony to the ongoing battle between the mayor and governor.

The New York Times
Education technology graduates from the classroom to the boardroom
Judging by the number of learning apps available to classrooms around the country, the education technology market aimed at elementary through high schools is booming. There are more than 3,900 math and reading apps, classroom management systems and other software services for schools in the United States, according to LearnTrials, a start-up that helps school districts assess and manage these tools. The money pouring into ed tech tells a different story, however.