January 26, 2015

Delaware News

The News Journal
Teach for America instructors rate well
Though they are few in number, teachers who come from Delaware’s alternative training programs like Teach for America are disproportionately working in high-poverty schools, serving at-risk kids and teaching the most-needed subject areas, according to a report released this week by the Department of Education.

Committee: Take Christina, Colonial out of Wilmington
Wilmington’s school system needs sweeping changes if its children are to escape the poverty and crime threatening their futures, a committee created by Gov. Jack Markell said Monday. The Wilmington Education Advisory Council’s recommendations would drastically rework how the city’s schools are managed, funded, and operated.

Solutions for Wilmington schools
How long does it take to get schooling right in America’s cities? Here is the history the Wilmington Education Advisory Committee is dealing with and a way for you to participate in the discussion.

Common Core criticized in forum
A forum about the Common Core State Standards on Saturday drew more about 75 people to hear a group of national panelists argue the standards amount to a federal takeover of schools, are spurring too much standardized testing and aren’t the right standards for kids.

Spending more on public education is well worth it
Op-ed by Noah Smith, assistant professor of finance at Stony Brook University
It’s become almost conventional wisdom that throwing more money at public education doesn’t produce results. But what if conventional wisdom is wrong?

Hockessin Community News
Early College Academy program to start at AI duPont High School next fall
Starting next school year, students at Alexis I duPont High School can earn college credits from Wilmington University through the school’s Early College Academy program.

Milford Beacon
Milford referendum likely to be pushed back
Phyllis Kohel, the superintendent of the Milford School District, said a $24 million referendum designed to finance a new Milford High School and to help alleviate operating costs will likely be pushed back a couple of months.

National News

Education Week
Ed. school deans join forces to bolster teacher preparation
More than a dozen education school deans are banding together to form Deans for Impact, aiming to design a coherent set of teacher-preparation experiences, validate them, and shore up support for them within their own colleges and the field at large.

Condoleezza Rice tapped to lead K-12 advocacy group founded by Jeb Bush
A blog post by Andrew Ujifusa
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been picked to be the next leader of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, the influential education advocacy organization founded by former Florida governor and potential presidential candidate Jeb Bush, the Associated Press reported Jan. 22.

The Tennessean
Tennessee Promise aims to change face of state colleges
Since Gov. Bill Haslam signed Tennessee Promise into law eight months ago, it has attracted a chorus of praise from other states, education experts and the White House, but leaders here can’t afford to rest on their laurels.

Salt Lake Tribune
State budget exercise hints at charter-school funding reform
As part of a budgeting exercise, the Utah school board’s three-member leadership team recommended shifting funding from public schools to charter schools. The proposal is largely theoretical, but some worry it shows the changing philosophical makeup of the public school oversight committee.

The New York Times
Helping the Poor in Higher Education: The Power of a Simple Nudge
Researchers have been quietly finding small, effective ways to improve education. They have identified behavioral “nudges” that prod students and their families to take small steps that can make big differences in learning. These measures are cheap, so schools or nonprofits could use them immediately.

Chalkbeat New York
Cuomo will push to raise charter cap, slow tenure, revamp evals in sweeping overhaul tied to new funding
Gov. Cuomo promised an aggressive education agenda this year, and he delivered. Cuomo announced plans to push for a broad overhaul of state education policy on Wednesday, which will include raising the state’s cap on charter schools, increasing the state’s role in teacher evaluations, and lengthening the time it takes for teachers to earn tenure.