May 4, 2017

Delaware News

WDEL
Wilmington mayor marks Charter Schools Week with school visit
Several nutritionists from school districts in New Castle County said they’re not too worried–and in some cases are relieved–by a federal rollback of Michelle Obama’s healthy school lunch rules. The former First Lady’s healthy lunch initiative, launched in 2012, improved the quality and nutrition in the country’s school cafeterias dramatically, and many nutritionists, see the Trump administration move as a loosening of those rules–not a move towards unhealthiness.

Newsworks
Christina cost-cutting plan targets award-winning Sarah Pyle alternative school, other programs
A contingency plan by Christina School District to shutter an award-winning alternative high school for students who have failed in traditional ones is facing fierce opposition. Kristina Macbury, principal of the targeted Sarah Pyle Academy on Wilmington’s East Side, said the plan to transfer the program she has overseen for four years to Glasgow, Newark and Christiana high schools is ill-fated because that’s where students now at Pyle couldn’t succeed.

Newark Post
Tree planting at West Park Place Elementary celebrates Arbor Day
The playground at West Park Place Elementary School got a splash of color Wednesday as city of Newark workers planted a purpleleaf plum tree there as part of an Arbor Day celebration. The tree gets pink and white blossoms early in the spring and has deep purple leaves throughout the summer, Ron Martin, a horticulturist for the Newark Parks and Recreation Department, explained to first-graders who gathered around to watch..

Rodel Blog
Digging deeper: Why graduation rates don’t tell the whole story
Blog post by Jenna Bucsak, senior program officer at the Rodel Foundation of Delaware
It may be stating the obvious, but a high school diploma is not the sole determinant of student success. Instead, we usually need to examine a student’s entire academic career—from kindergarten through 12th grade—to get a picture of how well prepared they are to pursue their interests after high school. Likewise, disparities in academic achievement can offer insight into why low-income and minority students fall often behind their peers—and expose areas for intervention so all students have the best chance to pursue whichever options they choose after high school.

National News

The Indy Channel
Gov. Holcomb signs bill to expand pre-K program to 20 Indiana counties
Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a bill Wednesday that will expand Indiana’s pre-K pilot program. The state’s On My Way pre-K program will expand from five to 20 counties across the state. The new legislation will also increase funding for early education programs by $10 million per year. The 15 additional counties offering the program have not been selected, but the state will give preference to primarily rural counties.

The Post and Courier
South Carolina education superintendent looks to replicate STEM success at Laing Middle School
Students at Laing Middle School wowed S.C. Education Superintendent Molly Spearman when she visited their school Tuesday in search of ideas to expand high-tech education across the state. Out in the halls, they showed off science fair projects like a tiny submarine that dives and submerges on its own. Seventh-graders Natalia Abeles, Sydney Heller and Emma Ridenhour worked on it for six months, hand-fitting a watertight flange and using the Python coding language to program an Arduino controller that pumps syringes full of air to change the buoyancy.

Teach the Vote
Public Education Committee winds down House bills
The House Public Education Committee met Tuesday morning for another long day of testimony. Monday, May 8, is the last day House committees are allowed to report House bills, which makes this the last week in which House committees may take testimony on House bills.

EdSurge
When It Comes to School-Wide Changes, Teachers Need Scaffolds Too
Opinion by Jin-Soo Huh, EdSurge columnist and currently the executive director of Personalized Learning at Distinctive Schools
The times they are a’changing—and the folks at  Alpha Public Schools refuse to be left behind. That’s why last year, in an attempt to accelerate personalized learning, we mandated every middle school teacher implement a station rotation model for the first time. In the stations, students work on adaptive online programs, collaborate in small groups, and receive differentiated instruction from the teacher. The goal is to better serve all learners.