New Media Project Gives Cliff Notes on Education Reform

In Delaware, no one walks into their local coffee shop or grocery store and overhears conversational banter about LEA Race to the Top implementation, funding flexibility or “data governance.” Yet these are the things of education reform—the catchall phrase that for a surprising amount of people remains vaguely defined. 

How do we fix that? The new nonprofit site Content Delaware is a strong start in the right direction. Content Delaware offers simple digital videos featuring the faces and voices of individuals, institutions, and organizations throughout the state, in the areas of education, business, arts, health, and more. It is not a news outlet, but rather a portal of informative commentary. It boils everything down to a level that people can digest and respond to.

Rodel sponsored the education channel and worked with filmmakers at Serviam Media (who created the series in conjunction with WDEL and Delmarva Broadcasting) on identifying key topics and who to talk to, resulting in a series of vignettes and public affairs shorts. The first two on Race to the Top and Vision Network schools are currently posted. Other vignettes to follow in coming months cover the issues of school funding flexibility, college and career readiness, DCAS, and how some of Delaware’s lowest performing schools are turning into high achievers.

We saw this project as a creative way to tackle one of the main challenges that all of us in the greater education community face—how to explain the what, where, when, and why of education reform in Delaware. Perhaps through initiatives like this, we can better engage our parents, educators, and citizens in the fight to improve our public schools in a way that makes them feel informed, involved, and energized.

At the micro level, as a philanthropic organization dedicated to making our state’s schools world-class, Rodel is always seeking opportunities to support positive community initiatives in a way that benefits students. Content Delaware represented the perfect chance to do exactly that, and we are glad to be part of it.

“What is Race to the Top?” explains how grant funds are being put to work in our schools and how it is helping our students.

“What Does a Vision Network School Look Like?” gives a clear explanation of what the Vision Network actually is and what these schools are doing differently to increase student performance.