May 15, 2014
Local News
Middletown Transcript
Report: Delaware’s ‘opportunity gap’ for children is widening
Delaware’s population of teens and children is more ethnically and racially diverse today than any time in the state’s history. Yet the gulf in opportunities available to predominately white children born to affluent families and children of color born into poverty is only continuing to widen, according to the latest report from Kids Count in Delaware.
Clayton Sun Times
Ryan Buchanan selected Smyrna School District Teacher of the Year
Ryan Buchanan of Smryna High School was announced as the winner of the Smyrna School District Teacher of the Year.
Gov. Markell, state officials get sneak peek at new Dover High School
Capitol School District officials held a special tour of the nearly-completed Dover High School on Wednesday morning for Governor Jack Markell and other state officials. The nearly $114 million, 300,000 square foot facility is divided into two main sections – a 3 story academic wing and a one story wing featuring athletic, arts, and career training facilities – all designed to be environmentally friendly through geothermal heating and cooling, energy efficient lighting and specially insulated windows.
UD Review
With emergence of charter schools, data points out resegregation in state schools
Sixty years after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, demographic data comparing charter schools to traditional public schools in Newark highlights the fact that state schools are segregated by race and income, and there are some indications that income and race-based educational inequalities are increasing.
National News
The Associated Press
Oregon moves forward with new, tougher tests
The teachers union in Oregon wants the state to put off tough new statewide tests scheduled for next year because a majority of students are expected to fail. But state schools chief Rob Saxton has refused.
Minnesota to abandon 4-day school week experiment
A money-saving experiment by a handful of Minnesota school districts that switched to four-day school weeks is winding down because of academic performance concerns.
Education Week
High stakes for states on NCLB waiver compliance
No Child Left Behind Act waivers—initially billed by the Obama administration as a collaborative effort to help states get beyond the outdated NCLB law—have moved deep into the compliance phase, leaving states and the U.S. Department of Education to negotiate over the finer points of plans, rather than discussing big-picture policy ideas.
Research detects bias in classroom observations
As the rubber hits the road in the implementation of states’ revamped teacher-evaluation systems, new research illuminates a troubling source of bias. School principals—when conducting classroom observations—appear to give some teachers an unfair boost based on the students they’re assigned to teach, rather than based on their own instructional savvy.
CBS News
Tennessee signs promise for free community college
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam signed a law promising free community college tuition to every high school graduate in the state. Lottery funds would be ued to cover the cost.
National Journal
S.C. program engages students, career goals at early age
South Carolina is nearly nine years into an experiment to bring career counseling into its public school classrooms as a way to better connect graduating students to the ever-changing demands of the labor market.