July 24, 2015

Delaware News

Huffington Post
Some places are already providing free community college. you just haven’t heard about it.
President Barack Obama’s push for free community college has captured national attention, but some U.S. states and cities have been offering it for a long time before the idea gained popularity. Delaware’s Student Excellence Equals Degree scholarship program provides free community college in that state. However, because the SEED program is referred to as a scholarship rather than an entitlement, it’s received less attention than Tennessee and Oregon’s free community college programs, Delaware officials say. In fact, the SEED scholarship is both — it’s guaranteed to any student who meets the requirements.

The News Journal
Two solutions for community issues in Wilmington
Editorial by Jonathan Wilson, a Doctoral Student at Wilmington University and the Executive Director of the Fathership Foundation, a workforce development agency
First, we need an all-out community focus on formally educating the workforce at all developmental levels. We need to be pushing for the “Ages and Stages” questionnaire for pre-K children in all day cares to stem the tide of black and brown children who are showing up to kindergarten light years behind.

Delaware Department of Education
A press release
Migrant summer education program prepares students for fall enrollment
“Migrant children suffer from interrupted education. Delaware Migrant Education Program helps offset that,” Program Director Terry Richard said. “The constant mobility makes it hard for them to ever get their feet on the ground academically. Migrant students check out of school early in the spring and register late in the fall to follow crop production cycles with their parents. Migrant summer school helps them to get on track again.”

National News

Christian Science Monitor
Kids Count: How does your state rank in child well-being?
That’s according to the latest Kids Count Data Book released Tuesday by child advocacy group the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The study found that 22 percent of American children were living in poverty in 2013 compared with 18 percent in 2008. Furthermore, poverty rates are nearly double among African-Americans and American Indians.

The Washington Post
As states drop out of PARCC’s Common Core test, faithful carry on
Hundreds of teachers and administrators from across the country have gathered this week inside the windowless ballrooms of a Marriott in Arlington, Va., to reflect on how the first year of PARCC testing went in 2015 and to plan for how to help it go more smoothly in 2016.

The Oregonian
Racial achievement gap costs Oregon $2 billion a year, study says
If Oregon’s public schools managed to elevate Latino, African American and Native American students to the same level of academic achievement as white students, Oregonians of all backgrounds would be more prosperous, a new study says. Economists at consulting firm ECONorthwest estimate that Oregon’s economy would be nearly $2 billion bigger if all working-age Oregonians who came through the state’s public schools had been educated to the same level that white students are.

Roll Call
Quality preschool is a win for everyone
Commentary by Mike Kryzewski, the head men’s basketball coach at Duke University
Access to high-quality early education is essential to preparing kids to be as competitive as possible in their academic careers and beyond. Success in the modern workplace is based largely on abilities that begin to develop in the preschool years, such as collaboration, creativity and critical thinking. We want children to have those skills.

Education Writers Association
What grit and perseverance could look like in the classroom
Nestled within the new-agey sounding concept of “noncognitive factors” are fairly concrete examples of what parents and educators should and shouldn’t do to prepare students for the rigors of college and careers. Gleaned from research into brain development and human behavior, a toolkit is emerging on how to make the best of the scholarship focused on qualities like grit, persistence and learning from mistakes.