January 27, 2016
Delaware
Delmarva Now
Cape considers dual language immersion
Spanish or Chinese could be the prominent language in a Cape Henlopen elementary school classroom in the near future, as the school district contemplates adding a dual language immersion program. It could happen as soon as 2017, according to district assistant superintendent Kathy Petitgout. It’s part of Gov. Jack Markell’s 10-year world language expansion initiative, which started in 2011. The goal is to have 20 immersion programs in the state and 10,000 students be part of them. Cape is one of four school districts designated by the state as a potential addition for the language immersion program.
NewsWorks
New assignment for acting University of Delaware president
Nancy Targett has accepted the job of provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of New Hampshire. “Nancy brings an enormous breadth of experience to this role,” UNH President Mark Huddleston said. “She recognizes the many challenges facing higher education across the country. I am confident she is the person to strengthen the quality of our academic and research programs as we enhance UNH’s profile as a top-tier research university.” As UNH’s senior academic administrator Targett will work closely with deans, department heads, faculty and staff.
The Milford Beacon
High schoolers pass along torch of learning
Ritchy Corvil and Warens Hyppolite, Milford High School freshmen, admit that speaking in front of an audience can be a little bit frightening. However, the nerve-rattling task has gotten a lot easier since both were among the dozens of Response to Intervention students who have gone to Banneker Elementary to read books aloud to first and third graders. Teacher Ed Evans calls it a win-win scenario, since his students gain confidence by reading in front of a class while the elementary students learn all about books.
The News Journal
Another view on opting out
Opinion by Nicholas A. Fischer, education management coach and consultant
There was great irony in the Washington Post’s praise of Gov. Jack Markell’s standing up for accountability in the editorial, “Delaware should not make it okay for parents to opt their kids out of testing.” In my view, Gov. Markell and Delaware federal and state legislators have opted out of their accountability and responsibilities by supporting and enforcing the Neighborhood Schools Act (2000) in Delaware. The Neighborhood Schools Act has helped to sustain and enhance huge disparities in access to educational opportunities and student achievement in Delaware.
National
Education Week
Education department’s acting chief turns up volume
The newly minted Every Student Succeeds Act aims to clip the wings of future education secretaries when it comes to accountability, testing, and more—but it doesn’t say anything about use of the bully pulpit. And acting U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. has made it clear over the first few weeks of his tenure that he will keep up the rhetorical drumbeat on the importance of educational equity for all students, no matter how the complicated process of regulating ESSA turns out. And he urged states to rethink educator-evaluation systems if they’re not actually helping teachers improve their practice.
NPR
Growing numbers of Chinese teens are coming to America for high school
In a high school theater in Arcadia, Calif., Amber Zhang and the rest of the teenage cast of a production of Molière’s comedic play The Miser gather in a tight circle Zhang, cast as a spunky ingénue, throws her body — and pipes — into the exercise. “In China, if we have class, for sure we sit down on a chair,” says Zhang, 17, who grew up in Guangzhou. She’s an only child whose parents, both doctors, sent her to the U.S. for high school. Back home, there was “not a lot of time to have fun like this.” Zhang belongs to a growing population of Chinese teens leaving the test-driven, high-pressure world of schools back home for the U.S. — more than 23,000 at last count, according to the Institute of International Education.
The Boston Globe
Denver’s unified school enrollments may offer Boston a lesson
A few years ago, parents here faced a bewildering array of options when selecting their children’s schools. There were more than 60 enrollment systems within Denver Public Schools alone, and another set for the city’s charter schools, each with distinct timelines and applications. The confusion discouraged many low-income families from choosing at all, while parents with greater resources took advantage of the complexity to “game the system” in their favor, residents said. “It did not promote equity with families,” said Karen Mortimer, a Denver public education advocate.
The Hechinger Report
English one day, Español the next: Dual – language learning expands with a South Bronx school as a model
At Public School 73 in the South Bronx, 8-year-old Arlette Espallat is reading aloud in Spanish about animals found in “el bosque” or, the forest. Her voice rises as she brings the faraway images to the noisy classroom. Later in the week, Arlette and her classmates will read in English about the life of Olympic medalist Wilma Rudolph. But, ask the chatty third-grader which language she likes best and she gives a thoughtful answer. “I like Spanish better. That’s because I know if I learn my own language, then I will be better in reading and writing English,” she said.
The Washington Post
For hungry D.C. kids stuck in snow, schools open their doors for meals
The Jordan family — two parents and five children ages 3,6,8,9 and 10 — streamed into the cafeteria at the Columbia Heights Education Campus and made a beeline for the chicken nuggets sitting under heat lamps. “This is good,” said Gonnie Jordan, 6, who gave two thumbs up between bites of nuggets, a biscuit, corn and broccoli. His wide grin revealed a missing lower tooth. District of Columbia Public Schools were officially closed on Monday in the wake of the weekend’s blizzard, but the cafeterias in 10 schools around the city were open for business, ready to feed breakfast and lunch to any hungry child.