July 24, 2014
Local News
UDaily
Developing citizens: teachers prepare to run entrepreneurial economics event in school next year
Elementary school educators from across the state were gathered over the last few days at Kathleen H. Wilbur Elementary School to participate in a workshop designed to teach them how to help reinforce and extend economic concepts and the Common Core standards.
Dover Post
Final DCAS scores released, districts looking to future of state testing
Students in the Caesar Rodney School District fared well on the DCAS this year, with 85.02 percent of students meeting state standards, a decrease of 1.06 percent over the 2012-2013 school year. In the Capital School District, 68.1 percent of students met standards, which is an increase of 0.25 percent over last year.
Middletown Transcript
District board members consider results of state test, surveys
At a special school board meeting held July 22 in Odessa, Appoquinimink School District Board members were briefed on overall gains in the Delaware Comprehensive Assessment System or DCAS. Board members also engaged in a lengthy discussion about renovations to school facilities, and discussed the results of a spring survey on staff morale.
Smyrna-Clayton Sun-Times
Smyrna School District approves bond anticipation note resolution for referendum funds
The Smyrna School Board approved a bond anticipation note resolution at the July 16 school board meeting. The district will have to do another resolution for the bond next year to get the remainder of the money for the projects. The local share the first year is $1.2 million while the state share the first year is $2.5 million.
National News
Education Week
Race to the Top at 5: states’ spending plans
Race to the Top—the Obama administration’s signature education-redesign initiative—officially turns 5 years old at the end of July. The anniversary marks the time period in which competition winners were supposed to finish spending their last competitive-grant dollars and implementing their proposed education policy changes. Most states, however, secured a one-year, no-cost extension from the U.S. Department of Education to continue spending their winnings through a fifth year in order to finalize specific policy overhauls.
A double dose of math has diminishing returns, study finds
Doubling up on math classes for a year may help middle school students in the short term, but the benefits of doing so depreciate over time—and are likely not worth the price of missing out on instruction in other subjects, according to a new study published by Stanford University’s Center for Education Policy Analysis.
Inside Higher Ed
Experimenting with aid
The U.S. Department of Education will give its blessing — and grant federal aid eligibility — to colleges’ experimentation with competency-based education and prior learning assessment. The department announced a new round of its “experimental sites” initiative, which waives certain rules for federal aid programs so institutions can test new approaches without losing their aid eligibility.
Forbes
A path forward for early ed reform
A new report charts a path forward for early learning in America with a series of essential improvements — and a few bold ideas that could fundamentally change the design of the birth-to-third-grade educational spectrum.
Vox
After 10 years at work, teachers in some states make less than $40,000
Relatively low salaries for experienced teachers with bachelor’s degrees are the norm, not the exception, in the U.S., according to a new report. For example, the average teacher in South Dakota with a bachelor’s degree and 10 years of experience earns $33,600 per year — less than the average South Dakotan auto-repair worker.
TechCrunch
The modernization of computer science education
Most people are aware that there aren’t enough engineers graduating from college today. By 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor projects that there will be 1.4 million computer science jobs available, but only enough graduates to fill 30 percent of these jobs. What can be done?