June 28, 2016

Delaware

Delaware Public Media
Dozens of Delaware schools qualify for fresh fruit and vegetable grant
The Delaware Department of Education announced over 70 First State elementary schools are participating in a fresh fruit and vegetable program this coming school year. The program is funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Enlighten me: Generation Voice students examine rising cost of college
College tuition costs have been on the rise for decades, and have reached new heights in recent years. According to the Institute for College Access and Success, graduates from Delaware higher education institutes Delaware State and the University of Delaware had the highest average debt in the nation in 2014 at $33,808.

The News Journal
Executive function skills are vital for children
Opinion by Cara Cuccuini-Harmon, Ph.D. student at the University of Delaware
Schools today have placed great importance on literacy and math skills to increase children’s achievement levels. However, these are not the only skills children need to meet the Common Core standards and achieve academic success. By not focusing on skills that support learning, such as paying attention to relevant information, we are not addressing the process of learning.

The Rodel Foundation
Upgrading our education technology
Blog post by Alyssa McGraw, communications fellow at the Rodel Foundation
One click can unlock a world of knowledge. In a time of rapidly changing technology and a rising tide of digital and personalized learning, Delaware schools are reaching for opportunities to stay connected. But, when asked about their current thinking, more than 69 percent of Delaware teachers said, “I wish we had more technology in our classrooms.”

WDEL
Bank of America donates $65,000 to Wilmington summer youth employment program
Wilmington officials on Monday accepted a $65,000 contribution from Bank of America that will allow 50 additional teenagers to participate in the city’s summer youth employment program. As a result of the donation, 548 teenagers and young adults will earn wages through the program during two six-week sessions this summer.

National

Associated Press
Michelle Obama, daughters in Africa to push girls’ education
First lady Michelle Obama visited a leadership camp for girls in Liberia to launch her latest Africa visit Monday, urging the teens in one of the world’s poorest countries to keep fighting to stay in school. With her own teenage daughters joining her, Obama told the girls she was “just so thrilled to be here with you.”

Governor signs bill aimed at keeping Kansas schools open
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback signed legislation Monday to increase aid to poor school districts, an action that meets a court mandate and ends a threat that the state’s public schools might shut down. The bill, which takes effect Friday, increases poor districts’ state funding $38 million for 2016-17 by diverting funds from other parts of the state budget.

Chalkbeat
From Legos to underwater robotics: how Coney Island teachers are creating a marine science “pipeline” for students
When people think of Coney Island, they often picture a beachline with brightly colored roller coasters and hot dog stands, but high school teacher Lane Rosen sees it a laboratory for the next generation of marine scientists.

Education Week
Arkansas’ school-coding initiation centers on teacher PD
While politicians and education policymakers across the country have talked a good game about creating broader access to high-quality computer science classes in public schools, one state appears to be far ahead of the pack. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson campaigned on bringing computer-programming classes to every high school in the state, and early last year, just weeks after taking office, the Republican signed a bill establishing an aggressive timeline for making that goal a reality.

English teacher’s hip-hop curriculum gets students writing
With new academic standards ratcheting up literacy expectations, many teachers are looking for ways to engage students more deeply in writing and reading assignments. Lauren Leigh Kelly, an English teacher at Half Hollow Hills High School West in Dix Hills, N.Y., and an adjunct English instructor at Teachers College, Columbia University, has found that incorporating rap and hip-hop culture into the literacy curriculum can help connect instruction to students’ individual backgrounds and foster their interest in writing.

The New York Times
For Detroit’s children, more school choice but not better schools
Detroit schools have long been in decline academically and financially. But over the past five years, divisive politics and educational ideology and a scramble for money have combined to produce a public education fiasco that is perhaps unparalleled in the United States.