May 5, 2015

Delaware News

The News Journal
At “Superstars” banquet, innovative teachers honored
A high school program that sets kids up for a career in computer science, a method of helping parents who are learning English get more involved in their kids’ education, and a group of charter schools developing a new teacher-evaluation system are among the six programs that were honored Monday by the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce as “Superstars in Education.”

Don’t tie the next governor’s hands
Editorial
A General Assembly proposal to tie the hands of the next governor is a mistake. Several legislators have introduced a bill that would require the next Delaware secretary of education to have taught a specific number of years in a classroom. The legislation would interfere with the next governor’s ability to pick his or her own cabinet members.

WDEL
6 programs win Superstars in Education awards from the Delaware State Chamber
The most innovative education programs in Delaware are honored at the annual Delaware State Chamber of Commerce’s Superstars in Education Awards.

Sussex County Post
Indian River High School students can benefit from engineering program certification
Indian River High School announced Monday that it has received national certification for its Project Lead The Way pre-engineering pathway program that has been offered since 2012.

National News

The Washington Post
Delisle to leave Education Department
Deborah Delisle, a top-ranking official at the Education Department responsible for issuing waivers that have freed nearly every state and the District from the most onerous requirements of federal education law, is leaving her job as assistant secretary of education.

Houston Chronicle
Senate votes to peg tuition increases to performance, inflation
The state Senate voted to peg tuition increases to school performance as well as inflation, in an effort to combat the skyrocketing cost of higher education in Texas. Under the bill, only campuses that meet at least six of 11 performance measures would be able to increase their tuition rates.

Des Moines Register
Idaho seeks renewal of ‘No Child Left Behind’ waiver
The Des Moines school board could decide soon whether to outsource the district’s substitute teachers and teacher associates to a temp agency, a plan that some fear would deteriorate the quality of subs in schools.

Tribune Star
Indiana Legislature overhauls poverty determinant for school funding
Measures of poverty that trigger extra funds for low-income schools in Indiana are changing dramatically with the state’s new $31.5 billion budget. Lawmakers scurried to put final details on the state’s two-year budget.

Education Week
Many high school students rely on their own tech devices at school, survey says
Blog post by Sean Cavanagh
Many students, particularly older ones, are making extensive use of their own digital devices in schools, in some cases more so than learning technologies issued by their districts, a new nationwide survey suggests.

Ga. schools chief: Testing snafu with unknown impact is ‘unacceptable’
Blog post by Andrew Ujifusa
Georgia Superintendent Richard Woods says he will hold a testing company responsible for technical glitches on its state exam that have affected an unknown number of students and required several districts to switch to paper exams.