May 13, 2014
Local News
The News Journal
Black, white, brown: Delaware’s role in desegregation
An op-ed by Collins Seitz, Jr., an attorney at Seitz Ross Aronstam & Moritz LLP in Wilmington
As we celebrate the 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, this special occasion causes us to reflect on the historic role Delaware judges, lawyers and litigants played in reforming race relations in the United States. One of those judges was my father, Collins J. Seitz, who had the courage to do what in Delaware no other judge in any of the separate appeals in Brown would do – order the immediate admission of black students to white schools.
Delaware State News
Work of art! Principal’s recognition symbolizes school’s success, diversity
Neil Beahan, Southern Delaware School of the Arts principal, would prefer not be in the spotlight. But the Delaware Association of School Administrators has stated its case and 54-year-old Philadelphia-area native and 33-year Indian River School District employee is DASA’s 2014 Middle Level Principal of the Year.
WDDE
School board elections slated for Tuesday in districts across Delaware
Voters head to the polls across the state Tuesday to cast ballots in school board elections.Each district in Delaware has at least one seat open, but seven of the 21 seats available overall have a only one candidate running, leaving only 14 contested races in 12 districts.
Lake Forest makes case for capital referendum
Lake Forest School District holds an informational public meeting Monday night ahead of a capital referendum later this month. Voters will decide the fate of $7.7 million dollars in state-approved capital projects across the district. Those projects include security upgrades to Lake Forest schools, improvements to the Lake Forest High School football field, and replacing aging equipment at a community pool.
Delaware Museum of Natural history helps blaze trail for pre-K science educators
A group of preschoolers and their teachers joined Governor Jack Markell (D-Delaware) at the Delaware Museum of Natural history Monday to celebrate the 5th anniversary of Seeing Science Everywhere, the museum’s pre-kindergarten education resource. Museum executive director Halsey Spruance says the program essentially teaches the students by teaching the teachers; offering a combination of lesson plans and outdoor learning environments to help teachers incorporate science to their daily curriculum.
National News
Christian Science Monitor
Teaching that’s tailored to learners
More teachers nationwide have adopted blended learning — an instructional method that, in some cases, allows them to flip their classrooms, tailoring lessons to students’ individual needs.
The New York Times
Chasm between charters, public schools
Two decades since charter schools began to appear, educators from both systems concede that very little of what has worked for charter schools has found its way into regular classrooms.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Senate confirms Ted Mitchell as top U.S. higher-education official
The U.S. Senate confirmed Ted Mitchell, the chief executive of a nonprofit educational-venture fund and a former president of Occidental College, as the Education Department’s top higher-education official. President Obama nominated Mr. Mitchell for the job in October 2013. As under secretary of education, Mr. Mitchell will replace Martha J. Kanter, a former community-college chancellor who was named to the post five years ago and who announced in August 2013 that she would step down to return to academe.
Chicago Tribune
Different standards for different students in Illinois
Illinois students of different backgrounds no longer will be held to the same standards — with Latinos and blacks, low-income children and other groups having lower targets than whites for passing state exams.
Times-Picayune
Louisiana Senate Education Committee votes down Common Core repeal
The Louisiana Senate Education Committee voted 6-1 Thursday (May 8) to kill a bill that would have repealed the Common Core academic standards, the latest in a string of failed attempts at rolling back the nationally recognized education benchmarks in Louisiana.
The Associated Press
Common Application makes changes
Creators of the Common Application for college admissions said they have made changes that should prevent snags that had the high school class of 2014 tweeting horror stories.