May 4, 2015

Delaware News

The News Journal
Milford hoping voters change their minds on referendum
The Milford School District goes to voters Tuesday seeking approval for $20 million in borrowing to pay its share of a proposed $69 million new high school, as well as a property tax increase for operating costs.

Community college can solve the student debt crisis
Opinion by Mark T. Brainard, president of Delaware Technical Community College
Approximately 70 percent of Delaware Tech graduates walk across the stage at commencement free of student loans, but low tuition is not the only factor. Since 2000, financial aid awards have increased fivefold from $7.5 million to over $37 million.

Charter schools’ five-mile enrollment under scrutiny
Charter schools shouldn’t be able to give enrollment preference to students who live within five miles of their campus because doing so is leading to re-segregation, some lawmakers and advocates argue.

Should top school leader have more class experience?
If the secretary of education is going to tell Delaware educators how to do their jobs, he or she should be required to have at least six years of experience in the classroom, a group of lawmakers said.

DSU campaign honors students, seeks scholarships
The event is designed to show off the achievements of students who pick DSU with top-flight GPAs, lengthy volunteer resumes, foreign travels and participation in research projects as the school pushes toward a $20 million fundraising goal in its “Greater than One” campaign.

Newsworks
Delaware introduces student data privacy bill
Senator Dave Sokola, D-Newark, authored a bill introduced Friday that would limit what private companies and contractors can do with student data and set up a governance structure for the state’s management of student information.

Cape Gazette
Milton schools dominate school board forums
Cape Henlopen school board candidates are split on how to handle racial and economic disparities between Milton’s elementary schools.

Coastal Point
Indian River School District makes first step toward solar power
The Indian River School District’s school board is looking on the sunny side, having voted April 28 to take the first step toward solar power. Sussex Central High School was one of five Delaware locations chosen for a Solar Resiliency Pilot Program. Not only would the school “go green,” but the solar array saves money and is installed at no cost to the school district.

National News

Education Week
Amid Baltimore turmoil, students and educators seek understanding
After tensions here boiled over into rioting this week, Baltimore educators sought to turn the events into a chance to engage students in reflection and learning about some of the issues that touch their lives most deeply.

How should we gauge student success? The accountability dilemma
Blog post by Marc Tucker
By using high stakes accountability systems to put great pressure on teachers to improve student scores on tests of reading, mathematics and science, we communicate that we do not care about any of the other goals we have in mind. That is a very foolish policy. On the other hand, if we forego high stakes testing, or make it optional for schools and districts, as many would now have us do, we communicate that we are quite comfortable with the outcome if school districts and states choose to do nothing if students do not achieve very much in any arena. That, too, is unacceptable.

The Columbus Dispatch
State panel recommends fewer tests, wants them at school year’s end
Ohio students would take fewer tests, and the tests would be administered closer to the end of the school year under a legislative panel’s recommendations.

Chalkbeat Colorado
DPS shifting more special education duties to charter schools
Denver Public Schools is intensifying efforts to ensure that charter schools are serving their fair share of special education students by transferring some centers for students with severe needs from district to charter schools.

Wired.com
Inside the school Silicon Valley thinks will save education
AltSchool is at the intersection of two rapidly growing movements in education. Along one axis are the dozens of edtech startups building apps for schools; along the other are the dozens of progressive schools rallying around the increasingly popular concept of personalized education.

The New York Times
Is testing students the answer to America’s education woes?
But in all the talk about testing students, holding teachers and principals accountable for performance and the growing opt-out movement, one question remains: Is the testing regime, which has essentially been in effect for over a decade, working?