March 27, 2017

Delaware News

The News Journal
New data: Delaware dropout, graduation rates improve
More students than ever are not only staying in school but graduating, the state Education Department announced Thursday. Both graduation and dropout rates at Delaware public schools continue to improve, though of course, Secretary of Education Susan Bunting said, they can always stand to be better.

Bolster battle against child abuse
Editorial
Autumn Milligan and Aaman Perez, A’Niah Davila-Torres – three young lives ended by neglect and abuse. Tragically, their deaths are only the tip of a mammoth iceberg, the majority of which remains hidden to most of us. As Adam Duvernay and Brittany Horn detail in a News Journal special report, child neglect and abuse is a scourge in Delaware. Public school teachers and administrators see neglect every day. Kids come to school dressed inappropriately for the weather. They come to school hungry. They come to school sleep deprived. And they come to school with bruises.

Newsworks
Delaware students band together to play Carnegie Hall
In the beginning, nearly a decade ago, Brandywine School District orchestra director Anita Pisano migrated from building to building, helping at most a handful of students in each school practice the violin, viola, cello and upright bass. She would pull her pupils out of core classes such as math, English and science to help them with their string instruments. Some days she’d be in nearly all of the northern Delaware district’s six middle and high schools.

WDEL
It’s a homecoming for Christina’s new Superintendent
Richard Gregg’s contract as Superintendent was approved by the school board and signed last week, and he’ll take over on April 18. Gregg grew up in Newark–going to district schools McVey Elementary, Gauger Middle School and Glasgow High School. “It’s interesting now–I’ve been in Pennsylvania for several years. So, coming back to the Delaware schools I’m going to have to re-acclimate myself to the school systems and get the lay of the land again,” said Gregg.

The Milford Beacon
Educators ‘surprised’ by budget cuts
School districts across the state aren’t too pleased with Gov. John Carney’s proposed budget. Milford School District Chief Financial Officer Sara Croce was stunned by Carney’s proposal. “While we have been bracing for a loss of state funds, we are surprised by the extent of the cuts in the governor’s budget proposal with regards to education,” Croce said. In releasing his budget proposal Thursday, Carney said nothing is written in stone.

Smyrna-Clayton Sun-Times
Smyrna High business students qualify for national conference
Smyrna High School students in the Business Professionals of America organization were tested and recognized for their leadership skills, technical expertise and business knowledge at the Delaware BPA State Leadership Conference held at Dover Downs Hotel Feb. 21. They learned the skills in the School of Business, Finance and Marketing at Smyrna High School.

National News

NPR
Kids who suffer hunger in first years lag behind their peers in school
Growing up in a hungry household in the first couple of years of life can hurt how well a child performs in school years later, according to a new study. An estimated 13.1 million children live in homes with insufficient food, according to the most recent figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Many of those children experience hunger during their first few years of life, or their parents are hungry and stressed out about food during those years – the most crucial time for a child’s development.

WSLS 10
$600,000 in grants will upgrade career and technical education program equipment across Virginia
On Thursday, Governor Terry McAuliffe announced $600,000 in competitive grants to 16 high schools and technical centers to upgrade equipment for their career and technical education (CTE) programs. Each school or center will receive $37,500 to purchase new equipment and make other necessary improvements. Multiple schools in Southwest Virginia will receive money.

Education Week
Betsy DeVos: States should decide how much testing is “actually necessary”
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said in a video interview that it should be up to states and districts to decide how frequently to test their students.  “It’s really a matter for states and locales to determine how much testing is actually necessary for measuring what students are learning,” DeVos said Friday.

The Hechinger Report
Schools collect reams of data, inspiring a move to make sense of it all
Almost every school collects and stores information on how students perform. Test scores. Attendance. Demographics. And on and on. Now, more than ever, digital programs make it easy to gather, slice and dice these numbers. This can be difficult to do by hand, but computers make the task of collecting the data easier and faster. The next task is considerably harder, but it is vital to efforts to use technology in tandem with in-person instruction.