May 27, 2014

Local News

The News Journal
Still fighting for educational excellence and equity
An op-ed by Raye Jones Avery, Executive Director of the Christina Cultural Arts Center, and Paul Herdman, President and CEO of the Rodel Foundation of Delaware
We believe that the twin goals of “excellence” and “equity” are the more important drivers of success and may in fact lead to greater diversity in our schools. When it comes to educational “excellence”, we aren’t there yet. The performance of low-income children and children of color is improving, but significant achievement gaps remain.

Essay on Delaware: Wilmington’s poverty, crime
An opinion by John Taylor, Executive Director of the Delaware Public Policy Institute and Senior Vice President of the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce
What I discovered in that spring of 1967 would change my life, and the events I would soon be deeply engaged in reporting would change Wilmington and Delaware, forever. Similar events were happening elsewhere in the country. I wrote about all this and it shocked the readers of the Evening Journal and The Morning News – the whites who made up most of the city’s and the state’s population. How could all this be going on and nobody knew about it? They didn’t know because they didn’t want to know.

Delaware students celebrate college acceptance
Over the past few weeks, schools across Delaware have been hosting “Celebration Day” events to honor students who have been accepted to college. “Our districts and our schools and our students have been working very hard this year,” said Shana Payne, director of the Department of Education’s higher education office. “This was our opportunity to step back and say, ‘congratulations,’ you worked hard and you did it.”

Education Week
States forge ahead on principal evaluation
The number of states that mandate principal evaluations has jumped in recent years, driven by rules tying federal education aid to such policies. But many are still grappling with the best ways to measure principal effectiveness and the extent to which student performance should be included in evaluating principals. Delaware, which has a long history of evaluating educators, including principals, added the student-performance portion to evaluations as part of its successful application for $119 million in federal Race to the Top money.

Cape Gazette
Computer science education critical to Delaware businesses
A Computer Science Roundtable was held at the New York Academy of Sciences in New York City May 16. This event brought together businesses and state representatives from around the country to discuss best practices for improving education in computer science and in making businesses part of that education to advance the fulfillment of jobs in computer science. As a member of the Governor’s Delaware STEM Council and chair of the Delaware STEM Business Network, Cape Region Pixstar Inc. CEO George Reissig was chosen as a roundtable participant for two topics: Industry Engagement and Solutions for Success.

Coastal Point
IR board OKs Ennis improvements, tables new middle school
The Indian River School District Board of Education this week dusted off a conversation it began two years ago: considering a new middle school. Overcrowding in schools is a trend the district has watched warily for several years. When considering how to implement full-day kindergarten in 2012, the board suggested a new school, but the State of Delaware instead approved 38 new classrooms at existing schools.

Dover Post
McIlvaine’s principal named Del. Elementary National Distinguished Principal of the Year
Sherry Kijowski recently was named Delaware’s Elementary National Distinguished Principal of the Year. The honor was awarded by the National Association of Elementary School Principals. Kijowski has been principal at McIlvaine Early Childhood Center in Magnolia for five years. Prior to that, she served as supervisor of instruction for the Caesar Rodney School District.

Caesar Rodney school board votes to request certificate of necessity
The Caesar Rodney school board voted unanimously Tuesday to request a certificate of necessity from the state for potential renovation or expansion projects at district schools. The Caeser Rodney school board also heard a presentation Tuesday about how funds received from a one-year extension of Race to the Top could be used.

National News

Education Week
Transforming teacher preparation
An opinion by Elizabeth Hinde, Director of Teacher Preparation at Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University
Even though I currently direct one of the largest teacher preparation programs in the country, I am grounded in those 20 years of teaching and still recognize the challenges that face teachers. Some of the challenges they face are different than when I started teaching, although they are not insurmountable. Teacher preparation programs are as needed now as they ever were.

Public schools outperform private schools, book says
The recent publication of a scholarly book has reopened the debate surrounding the academic achievement of public vs. private schools. Public schools achieve the same or better mathematics results as private schools with demographically similar students, concludes The Public School Advantage: Why Public Schools Outperform Private Schools, published in November by the University of Chicago Press. The authors are Christopher and Sarah Lubienski, a husband-and-wife team of education professors at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The Tennessean
Tennessee to let schools out of TCAP requirement
A move by the state Department of Education to make exams better aligned to Common Core standards has delayed the release of end-of-year test scores, leaving school systems scrambling for answers.

Stateline
Oklahoma House overrides reading bill veto
Thousands of 3rd graders will get a new chance to advance to the 4th grade even though they failed a basic reading test after the Oklahoma Legislature voted to overturn a veto by Gov. Mary Fallin.

The Associated Press
Ohio governor proposes added $17M in grant money
Ohio schools would see additional grant money made available for security upgrades and face penalties for failing to submit safety plans under a package of school safety initiatives proposed by Gov. John Kasich.

The Chronicle of Higher Education
Key federal legislation heads toward passage
After many false starts, members of Congress have reached agreement on a bill to reauthorize federal job-training programs.