March 4, 2015

Delaware News

WHYY
Christina can keep Delaware priority schools for 2015-16
The Delaware Department of Education will allow the Christina School District to keep its three priority schools through the 2015-16 school year, ending, or at least stalling, a monthslong conflict between the two sides over how to turn around the trio of troubled schools.

WDDE
‘Opt-out’ efforts may come to a head in March
The movement to allow kids and families to opt-out of state standardized testing could spark a full review of how Delaware tests its students.

First State schools renew effort to stop use of the “R-word”
Nearly 80 Delaware schools will participate Wednesday in the nationwide awareness campaign to ask people to stop using the word retarded -or the “R-word.”

WDEL
CSD Board President: Agreement between Christina and DOE on Priority Schools is near
Christina School Board President Fred Polaski appears confident that the district will get to keep three Priority Schools for at least another school year.

Delaware Department of Education
Department of Education seeks public input on draft ESEA Flexibility Plan
A press release
The Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) invites the public to make comments on the latest draft of its request for a 3-year extension of its current Flexibility Waiver from certain provisions of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

National News

NPR
Where have all the teachers gone?
Several big states have seen alarming drops in enrollment at teacher training programs. The numbers are grim among some of the nation’s largest producers of new teachers: In California, enrollment is down 53 percent over the past five years. It’s down sharply in New York and Texas as well.

Shrink the FAFSA? Good luck with that
Lots of politicians are calling for a shorter FAFSA — the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. It now has more than 100 questions. But, it turns out, shortening the FAFSA is a tall order.

Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Community colleges’ role as minority-serving institutions is expanding
Although they often operate at the margins, nearly 22 percent of the nation’s community colleges are minority-serving institutions and are responsible for enrolling about 55 percent of college-going minorities, according to a new report released by the Center for Minority Servings Institutions at the University of Pennsylvania.

Education Week
In Calif. district, blended-learning approach turns teachers into facilitators
Some teachers say that blended-learning environments, designed to leverage technology and individualize student instruction, can create new roles for teachers as well.

Study: Teach For America’s scale-up didn’t harm quality
Using some $50 million in federal dollars, Teach For America embarked on a bold expansion effort beginning in 2010, betting that it could scale up while maintaining quality. Although the organization didn’t ultimately reach its recruitment targets, it seems to have passed the quality test, according to a study released March 4.

Buzzfeed
NYC charter school group will send 9,000 students to pro-charter rally
9,000 students at Success Academies will be bused to a rally in Albany calling for the limit on new charter schools to be lifted. It’s on the same day as the teachers’ union lobbying day.