March 1, 2016

Delaware

Cape Gazette
District presents referendum plan at Rehoboth Elementary
Wearing a Rehoboth High School letterman jacket that still fits him perfectly, Chuck Mowll took a walk down memory lane as he listened to Cape Henlopen School District’s plan for his former high school. “You hate to lose memories, but I like the idea of preserving history,” the 1967 graduate said. As it prepares for a Wednesday, March 23, referendum, the school district held the first of five community meetings Feb. 24 in the auditorium of Rehoboth Elementary – a building that held Rehoboth High School students until 1969.

Conlon files for at-large school board seat
A three-year break from Cape Henlopen school board has been long enough for Camilla Conlon. On Feb. 24, she filed for the 5-year at-large seat vacated by board member Spencer Brittingham, who is not running for re-election. “It’s been a nice hiatus for me. But I have time now,” she said Feb. 29. “Now I’m ready to get back in the saddle again.” Conlon had served on the board for 17 years, holding the area D seat now held by board member Jen Burton.

Rodel Blog
Cheryl Clendaniel on supporting tiered reimbursement
Guest blog by Cheryl Clendaniel, an early childhood administrator
Earlier this month, Gov. Jack Markell proposed his annual fiscal state budget–and of the $4.1 billion in total, about $11.3 million was requested to further early childhood education in Delaware. Those funds would go to support, among other things, tiered reimbursement, which provides ongoing technical assistance and grants to early learning programs and professionals to help them increase their qualifications and quality standards. Here are Cheryl’s comments on the importance of tiered reimbursement.

National

Chicago Sun-Times
Teachers could strike April 1 if pension pickup taken away
The Chicago Teachers Union will gear up to strike as soon as April 1, if Chicago Public Schools follows through on its threat to unilaterally cancel the 7 percent pension pickup it has made for decades, a top union official said Monday. CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey made the comment just hours after 62 members of his union were laid off, a fraction of the number the union had feared.

The Atlantic
The consequences of poor science education in kindergarten
When children start kindergarten, sizable gaps in science knowledge already exist between whites and minorities—as well as between youngsters from upper-income and low-income families. And those disparities often deepen into significant achievement gaps by the end of eighth grade if they aren’t addressed during elementary school. These are some of the findings in a new report by researchers from Pennsylvania State University and the University of California, Irvine.

The Hechinger Report
What the country can learn from Boston about bringing the arts back to public schools
Opinion by Marinell Rousmaniere, senior vice president for strategic initiatives at EdVestors
After years of slicing and dicing arts budgets, some school districts across the country are introducing arts education back into the school day with broad-ranging, successful results. Cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and Boston have long recognized the intrinsic value of arts education for children to learn artistic skills and techniques while having the opportunity to express themselves.

The New York Times
Testing for Joy and Grit? Schools nationwide push to measure students’ emotional skills
The fifth graders in Jade Cooney’s classroom compete against a kitchen timer during lessons to see how long they can sustain good behavior — raising hands, disagreeing respectfully and looking one another in the eye — without losing time to insults or side conversations. As reward for minutes without misconduct, they win prizes like 20 seconds to kick their feet up on their desks or to play rock-paper-scissors. And starting this year, their school and schools in eight other California districts will test students on how well they have learned the kind of skills like self-control and conscientiousness that the games aim to cultivate.

The Philadelphia Inquirer
As protests rise over high-stakes tests, more students likely to opt out
Last year, a small, angry band of parents and teachers in the Lower Merion School District took on a big challenge: convincing their neighbors that the intensifying emphasis on high-stakes standardized tests was harming their children’s education. This year’s challenge: coming up with enough yard signs so converts to the cause can broadcast their displeasure with the coming Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, or PSSA, tests given in grades three through eight.