March 28, 2017
Delaware News
The News Journal
Preparing our youth for the future
Opinion by Susan Bunting, Delaware Secretary of Education
How can we help prepare young people for their future? Without a crystal ball, it’s hard to say exactly, but we can make a few educated guesses. One fact experts share is that more and more jobs will require either a college degree or professional certification. The rapid advancement of technology dictates that career-focused education is more critical now than ever before. That’s why so many leaders in Delaware, from the K-12 education world, business, nonprofit, government, and higher education, are focusing on what steps we can take today to help prepare our youth, our employers, our schools, and our workplaces for a rapidly changing world.
Gov. Carney’s administration should stay the course on transparent school report cards
Opinion by Atnre Alleyne, founder and executive director of DelawareCAN: The Delaware Campaign for Achievement Now
When my daughter was born, my wife and I somehow missed the memo that many early childhood centers have a year-long waiting list. Even as people working in the education sector, we were behind and needed to get up to speed quickly about which center to choose. During our search, the 5-star rating system Delaware uses for early learning programs provided an easy way to get a snapshot on school quality. This is one of the reasons why, as the founder and executive director of DelawareCAN: The Delaware Campaign for Achievement Now, I was glad to see Gov. Carney and the Delaware Department of Education plan to create a transparent 5-star rating system for K-12 public schools.
Sussex Academy receives Delaware bio grant
Sussex Academy biology teacher Jennifer Couch was recently awarded a grant from the Delaware BioScience Association. The grant, in the amount of $847, will fund the purchase of materials needed for a microbial fuel cell project for her 10th-grade biology class. The project is a six-step process that includes summer field work, a research paper, lab work, data analysis and a final notebook and presentation.
The convenient pattern of Education Secretary DeVos’ school visits
Opinion by Valerie Strauss. She covers education and runs The Answer Sheet blog.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has toured four schools since she joined President Donald Trump’s Cabinet in early February, and there’s a curious pattern to the visits. Two visits in the D.C. area – where she was met with protests – and two in Florida. Is that random? The Education Department did not respond to a query about why these schools were selected. But consider this: Her office at the Education Department is in Washington.
Delaware Public Media
State ESSA plan nears completion, concerns about 5-star rating system linger
Concerns remain as Delaware’s Department of Education works to finalize its Every Student Succeeds Act plan for the federal government. Those concerns center on the proposed use of a 5-star system to rate schools. Advocates for the five-star system include DelawareCAN’s Atnre Alleyne who says it would make school data and performance measures more transparent for families.
Newark Post
‘Dinner with a Scientist’ event provides hands-on learning at Newark Charter
Over a causal dinner of salad and pizza, fifth-grader Aniketh Hanumapur and his friends got a science lesson that was, well, out of this world. Michael Shay, a physics and astronomy professor at the University of Delaware taught the Newark Charter School students about solar flares and other outer space phenomena, complete with a virtual reality headset depicting a space ship.
Sussex County Post
Triple Play! Three IRSD teams qualify for Odyssey of the Mind World Finals
Three teams of Indian River School District students qualified for the Odyssey of the Mind Word Finals in Michigan in May via second-place finishes at state competition held March 25 at Alfred G. Waters Middle School in Middletown. A team coached by Mary Bixler and Laura Miller took second place in the “Catch Us If You Can” category for Division II (middle school).
Cape Gazette
Brian Donahue: No-nonsense principal steps down
Steely-eyed with a stocky build, Brian Donahue has held Cape High’s top spot for seven years. The former college athlete has run Cape High with precision during his tenure, placing high expectations on every student who walks through its vaulted entrance. “Bringing a vision to the school and watching the achievement improve, when you see that, you see the school climate change,” he said.
Beacon and Mariner Middle School murals revealed
Students at Beacon and Mariner Middle Schools spent weeks collaborating on mural projects, overseen by local artist John Donato and funded by the Joshua M. Freeman Foundation. Both schools held special events to reveal the murals to student families and friends. The murals created by students, community members and staff provide daily positive message to the students.
Delaware 105.9
Mark Steele voted unanimously as IRSD’s next superintendent
A unanimous vote from the Indian River Board of Education as members agree at the regularly scheduled meeting Monday night to hire Mark Steele for a two-year contract, effective immediately, to become the District’s next Superintendent. Steele has been acting superintendent since Dr. Susan Bunting left to become Delaware newest Secretary of Education in January.
National News
Chalkbeat
New York City’s English learners often struggle to graduate, but here’s how some schools buck that trend
As students settle into their AP chemistry class, the teacher gets through some housekeeping announcements in English and then switches to Mandarin to begin the day’s lesson. The class is taught in both languages, to a group of students made up mostly of current or former English Language Learners — as is their school, High School for Dual Language and Asian Studies on the Lower East Side.
Education Week
The challenge of creating schools that ‘work for everybody’
When the bell rings at Wheaton North High School, a river of white students flows into Advanced Placement classrooms. A trickle of brown and black students joins them. But mostly, the Latino, African-American, and Asian teenagers file into lower-rung classes. In this way, Wheaton North is like thousands of other high schools across the country, replicating along its polished hallways the inequities that mark the daily lives of minority and low-income students beyond the school’s big glass doors.
The New York Times
Why kids shouldn’t sit still in class
Sit still. It’s the mantra of every classroom. But that is changing as evidence builds that taking brief activity breaks during the day helps children learn and be more attentive in class, and a growing number of programs designed to promote movement are being adopted in schools. “We need to recognize that children are movement-based,” said Brian Gatens, the superintendent of schools in Emerson, N.J.
The Washington Post
Trump signs bills overturning Obama-era education regulations
President Trump signed bills Monday overturning two Obama-era education regulations, continuing the Republican majority’s effort to undo key pieces of the previous administration’s legacy. Trump’s move scraps new requirements for programs that train new K-12 teachers and rolls back a set of rules outlining how states must carry out the Every Student Succeeds Act, a bipartisan federal law meant to hold schools accountable for student performance.