June 12, 2015

Delaware News

Newsworks
Delaware opt-out bill clears Senate committee
A Delaware bill codifying parents’ ability to opt their children out of a new standardized test has cleared the State Senate’s education committee.

WDEL
Two schools in Christina School District going green
Glasgow High School and Gauger-Cobbs Middle School are going green. The district is participating in a performance contracting program with the Delaware Sustainable Energy Utility (DSEU) that’s working with the state to achieve the governor’s energy efficiency goals.

National News

Inside Higher Ed
A Path to Debt-Free
Seeking to put some policy heft behind the progressive vision of debt-free college that is gaining steam on the campaign trail, Senator Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday outlined a sweeping college affordability agenda to “dramatically reform” higher education.

Remediation for job seekers
A growing number of two-year colleges are partnering directly with employers to create course content aimed at the skills those companies say they need. For example, a new consortium of four community colleges will work on course content with big companies in advanced manufacturing and financial services.

Delaware Public Media
The story behind the record-high graduation rate
Many individuals worked hard, and worked together, to make the nation do a better job counting high school graduates. The effort had complex — sometimes contradictory — results.

Education Week
Ed. Dept. announces new grant for social and emotional learning
Blog post by Alyson Klein
The Obama administration has created a new competitive grant program called “Skills for Success” aimed at helping middle school kids to develop strengths like grit and resilience and to adopt “growth mindsets” (the new buzzword for believing that you can make progress in a tough subject, instead of just throwing up your hands and saying “I’m bad at math.” Or writing. Or whatever.)

EdSource
Student teaching key to teacher retention, report says
Aspire Public Schools and the San Francisco Unified School District both use a new teachers preparation program that has earned high marks for teacher retention, according to a new report by the American Institute for Research.