July 31, 2017

Delaware News

The News Journal
Delaware student test results confirm plight of low-income students
Repetition may be a core element of education, but in the case of Wilmington, where state test scores are once again among some of the lowest in the state, the lesson is clear: Low-income students are still being left behind.

How well would you do on the SAT? Find out here.
Opinion by Victoria C. Gehrt, EdD, superintendent of the New Castle County Vocational-Technical School District
The assessment results for Delaware’s public school students who took the required Smarter Balanced and SAT are now available and are being shared with our communities. Each year, when these test results are published, I wonder how familiar community members are with the current assessments? The SAT, for example, is taken by all 11th grade students – not just those heading to a two-year or four-year college/university.

More proof that Wilmington schools need help
Editorial board
Take even a cursory look at the annual test score results released this week and the message that should scream at all Delawareans is this: Wilmington schools need help. The trend could not be clearer: In the math test for grades three through eight, the four districts with the smallest gains over the past two years were the ones that serve city kids — Brandywine, Christina, Colonial and Red Clay.

Delaware should give students what they need to succeed
Mike Matthews, president of the Delaware State Education Association
As students begin to think about the new school year, they may find themselves asking a host of questions: What should they wear the first day? What school supplies will they need? Will their best friend be in their homeroom? How much homework will the teacher assign this year? Will the cafeteria still serve pizza on Friday?

Newsworks
Immigrant student gets Wesleyan scholarship, thanks to TeenSHARP
As a 4.0 student starting her senior year at Howard High School of Technology this past September, Alejandra Villamares was accustomed to only praise from teachers and classmates. The child of unauthorized immigrants from Mexico, Villamares aspired to become an engineer. But TeenSHARP, an education advocacy program that helps high-achieving, low-income students of color prepare for and gain acceptance to elite colleges, told her the harsh truth.

Technical.ly Delaware
Need money for college? These workshops might help
Are you or someone in your family heading to college in the next few years? Think getting into the college you want on scholarships (and no long-term debt!) is impossible? You could use help from Pam Andrews, aka the Scholarship Shark. In 2016, Andrews’ son entered his first year of college after winning over $700,000 in college scholarships.

Delaware 105.9
Name change could be coming to H.O. Brittingham Elementary in Milton
A name change could be on the horizon for H.O. Brittingham Elementary School in Milton, and the possibility of this has outraged locals and a relative of the man who the school was named after. After a legal notice was published in the Cape Gazette with a headline that read “Help Name Our New Elementary School,” Sussex Countians took to social media to express opposition to the possibility of changing the name of the elementary school in the Cape Henlopen School District.

National News

Killeen Daily Herald
Three education bills still alive in special session
In the two weeks since the start of the state Legislature’s special session, none of the education bills prioritized by Gov. Greg Abbott has been killed during discussions in Austin. The three bills relate to property tax revenue for low-income school districts, improving teacher benefits and honoring school choice for special education students. Local school districts, however, have been hesitant to talk about the pending legislation, as district officials prefer to wait until a decision has been made before commenting.

Metro News
New accountability system, assessments key parts of West Virginia education proposal
A public comment period lasting 30 days begins Tuesday for West Virginia’s proposed state education plan under the Every Student Succeeds Act, a proposal that’s been the focus of a series of statewide meetings this summer. A public comment period lasting 30 days begins Tuesday for West Virginia’s proposed state education plan under the Every Student Succeeds Act, a proposal that’s been the focus of a series of statewide meetings this summer.

The Hill
How a Colorado school board race has national implications for education and religious liberty
A wise man once said that all politics is local. Nowhere is that aphorism better illustrated than Douglas County, Colorado, where education politics and an ongoing constitutional fight over educational choice have converged to create perhaps the most consequential school board election in modern American history. Here, in a largely suburban county thousands of miles removed from the national stage of Washington, D.C., the futures of tens of thousands of students across America may well be decided.

The Wall Street Journal
Urban colleges move into K-12 schools to help kids and themselves
Colleges have long encouraged students to tutor area children and funneled aspiring teachers into nearby classrooms for training. Some operate pricey private “lab” schools to test new pedagogy like play-based learning or bilingual instruction, or to attract faculty with families. Now they are taking over entire public schools. The University of California, Los Angeles, Johns Hopkins University, and others are lending their names to new charters or partnering with districts to overhaul troubled institutions, often investing millions or tens of millions of dollars in cash or faculty time.

Times Daily
Test change for ELL students raises funding, accountability concerns for systems
Russellville schools had more than 400 English Language Learners last school year — students who come to the district speaking little to no English and receive federally mandated services in order to become fluent. In recent years, about 100 students annually test out of those ELL services that are costly for the district, said Superintendent Heath Grimes.