March 23, 2016

Delaware

Delaware State News
A look at education, through the eyes of a horse
Opinion by Jowana Lamb Viola
It is one of the laws of nature that, in an organized society, there shall be leaders and there shall be followers. It becomes confusing when a leader pretends to be a leader when he truly is a follower on the inside. Many of our leaders are now bought by big corporations, and the people whom they represent are no longer important. I applaud the students, teachers and parents who spoke up concerning the abuse of the current use of standard testing in our public schools.

Sussex County Post
Indian River to honor teachers, announce overall district winner April 15
Indian River School District will announce its 2016-17 Teacher of the Year Friday, April 15 at The Clubhouse at Baywood Greens. Melissa Grise (John M. Clayton Elementary), Emily Pettyjohn (North Georgetown Elementary) and Angela Wilson (Georgetown Middle School) are finalists for the district’s overall honor. This special ceremony will honor Teacher of the Year winners from each of the district’s 16 schools. It will conclude with the announcement of the district’s overall Teacher of the Year for 2016-2017. Awards presentation should begin at approximately 7 p.m.

The Milford Beacon
Middle schoolers show their science stuff
Tiffany King spent her weekend solving a fictional crime: the University of Delaware’s mascots had been stolen. The 13-year-old Postlethwait Middle School student uses methods of detection like chemical and fingerprint analysis to find a suspect. But the science behind the project wasn’t the tough part. “Getting everything done in the 45-minute time period was pretty hard because you have a lot to do,” she said. King’s partner, Sydne Jenkins, dreams of someday becoming a biomedical engineer. She said she was looking forward to the challenge.

The News Journal
Three school referendums Wednesday – here’s where to vote
Three school districts across the state are putting up referendums Wednesday and polls in Brandywine, Christina and Cape Henlopen will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Brandywine is asking voters for a 28-cent increase to school tax bills in order to finance the general operational needs of the district. Along with that, in a single vote, it is asking voters to fund a capital project and a special project that would resurface several school athletic fields with synthetic turf.

National

Chalkbeat
Six months after sobering study, bill to up pre-K quality heads to governor’s desk
When Tennessee’s public pre-kindergarten program was found lacking last year in a nationally scrutinized study, advocates of early childhood education braced for a legislative agenda this year that might scrap the initiative. Instead, lawmakers passed a bill Monday evening designed to make Tennessee’s pre-K classrooms stronger, albeit without additional money to help achieve the goals. The measure also would put the onus on local districts to address some of the findings of the Vanderbilt University study.

Regents approve new path to graduation using a skills certificate
Students will now be able to substitute a skills certificate for a fifth Regents exam in the latest shift meant to ease the path to high school graduation in New York. State policymakers approved the new way for students to earn a high school degree on Monday. Starting this year, all students will be able to earn a Career Development and Occupational Studies credential, an alternative certificate created in 2013 for students with disabilities to demonstrate that they were ready for employment.

Education Week
Social-emotional learning would benefit from tech innovations, report says
Educational technology can help students develop important social and emotional skills and character traits, but the market for such tools is currently underdeveloped, concludes a new report from the World Economic Forum and the Boston Consulting Group. The report, titled “New Vision for Education: Fostering Social and Emotional Learning Through Technology,” identifies two main areas for growth: Products that target core academic subjects, which the groups contend can do a better job of incorporating features that support development and newer technologies, such as wearable devices and virtual reality systems.

Newsone
California law proposes paid time off for parents to attend school activities
Many parents who are struggling to make ends meet know the dilemma of choosing between work and attending a school activity for their child. A proposed California law would make that decision a lot easier. State Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) sponsored legislation that would allow employees to receive three paid days off each year to attend school activities for their children, KTLA.com reports.

The Hechinger Report
Technology in the classroom: Ohio shows one way school leaders and teachers can develop a game plan
A warehouse in the Rust Belt might not seem like a setting fit for designing the future of education.
But this isn’t just any old space. A foundation in Columbus, Ohio, renovated the empty industrial building last year and named it the PAST Innovation Lab. And last week dozens of educators from around the state gathered there to hatch their plans for schools that harness the power of technology and tried-and-true teaching methods.