June 9, 2017

Delaware News

Newark Post
UD to offer dual-credit classes at Newark High
The University of Delaware’s College of Health Sciences will offer two college-level courses at Newark High School next school year, giving students a glimpse of what it’s like to be in college. In the fall, qualifying students can take “Introduction to Health Sciences” with Kathleen Matt, dean of the College of Health Sciences.

Department of Education
State provides online resources, partners with schools and libraries to combat summer learning loss
As Delaware students embark on their summer break, educators hope reading and math practice will be part of their vacation plans. Research from the National Summer Learning Association shows that most students who do not consistently read over the summer can lose momentum in maintaining the progress they make during the school year.

Rodel Blog
When kids fall through the cracks, it costs taxpayers double
Blog post by Shyanne Miller, policy associate at the Rodel Foundation of Delaware
With a budget deficit nearing half a billion dollars, Delaware needs to invest where it counts. The school-to-prison pipeline—which gets its name from the research-supported pattern that the more times a student faces in-school and out-of-school suspensions, the more likely they are to drop out of school and become incarcerated—is harmful for students and costly for the state.

The News Journal
When plants scream, charter school student listens
You know the smell of freshly mown grass? The way it tickles your nose and makes you want to sneeze? That may actually be the “sound” of a thousand tiny blades of grass screaming out in agony, a Charter School of Wilmington student says. Enrolled in MIT for the upcoming fall, Connor Sweeney is 18 years old, a competitive swimmer and, as of April, a published scientist in the leading scientific journal, Frontiers in Plant Science.

Delaware 105.9
Audit into Sussex Tech found scandalous practices with local construction company
An inspection into the Sussex Technical School District has revealed unusual practices with a local construction company. The State Auditor’s Office received an anonymous complaint that Michael Horsey, owner of Common Sense Solutions LLC in Laurel, purchased a piece of land and then sold it for a high price to Sussex Tech.

Coastal Point
A real mother of a teacher
What are two top traits in a teacher? “A caring personality and rock-solid knowledge of science.” That’s how science teacher Alison Walt was described in her Teacher of the Year nomination at Indian River High School. “Mrs. Walt has the ability to build relationships with all students, but especially those struggling to find their place in the world,” according to one colleague.

Hats off to the Class of 2017
This year, about 84 percent of the graduates will enter post-secondary school, including 122 students planning to attend Delaware or Delmarva schools. “What a group of young adults! And we are proud of you,” said Principal E. Bennett Murray IV as the sun set over his final graduation ceremony as principal.

National News

The Brookings Institution
3 observations on Trump’s education budget
President Donald Trump’s proposed education budget is an agglomeration of bold and at times contradictory policy positions, some of which have would-be Republican allies shaking their heads. Here, I highlight three salient features of this budget and discuss responses from the left and the right. As many have noted, several of the proposed cuts are unpopular on both sides of the aisle, suggesting that the final budget may deviate substantially from this proposal.

Governing
Why kids should be part of adult education
The District of Columbia has experienced an economic and population boom over the last decade, but not all of its residents have benefited. Its poorest neighborhoods, Wards 7 and 8, have suffered sharp declines in median income and spikes in unemployment while the city overall has enjoyed a more than 20 percent increase in its median income between 2000 and 2012.

EdSource
Students perform better at schools offering extra services on campus, study finds
Schools that offer dental care, mental health counseling, food assistance and other services have a significant and measurable positive impact on student achievement, according to research released this week by the Learning Policy Institute and the National Education Policy Center. The 26-page brief, “Community Schools: An Evidence-based Strategy for Equitable School Improvement,” found that schools that collaborate with nonprofits and government agencies to provide extra on-campus services in many cases showed increases in attendance, graduation rates and academic achievement, especially in math and reading.

NPR
Education aid eludes countries that need it most
In the West African country of Burkina Faso, nearly 50 percent of children do not attend school. The reported cost of getting them there would be close to $182 million, and yet the small, francophone country received only $17 million in education aid in 2012. This comes from a new policy paper released this week by UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report, which found that the countries most in need of education funds aren’t getting them.

The 74 Million
How safe is my child at school? New interactive maps allow NYC & LA parents to compare classrooms
What do parents actually know about what happens at their children’s school? As states rethink school accountability under the Every Student Succeeds Act, most of the policy discussion revolves around how bureaucrats should calculate ratings that parents rarely see, based on standardized test scores that parents barely credit. The real inner workings of schools, from teacher morale to academic culture to student safety, remain largely a black box for parents.