November 26, 2014
Delaware News
The News Journal
Wilmington sues to keep Moyer open
Wilmington officials are taking the rare step of suing the state Department of Education in an attempt to keep it from closing the Maurice J. Moyer Academic Institute charter school. “The economic viability of the city and the safety of its residents depends in large measure on the availability, within the city, of a high-quality public education,” Mayor Dennis P. Williams said in a statement. “We cannot idly sit by as another city high school is put on the chopping block to be closed.”
Kids in this class show an app-titude for learning
An op-ed by Catherine Rampbell, Washington Post
New computer science classes rolled out across Chicago’s K-12 system this fall, and within a few years, the city plans to make its school district the first major one in the country to designate computer science as a requirement for graduation. Other big districts are watching carefully to see whether the model can be replicated.
WDDE
City of Wilmington suing to keep Moyer Academic Institute open
Wilmington officials want Chancery Court to void DOE’s revocation of Moyer’s charter and reinstate it, giving it time to improve under new management reforms put in place this year. A DOE spokesperson says the department has no comment since it has yet to see the lawsuit.
University of Delaware students on track for manufacturing careers
The modern US manufacturing environment is said to be suffering in part due to a lack of workers entering the field with the skills and training needed, leaving a surplus of unfilled manufacturing jobs nationwide. Senator Chris Coons (D-Delaware) and other lawmakers are seeking to bridge that gap legislatively with the Manufacturing Skills Act – a bi-partisan bill promoting education and skills-training reforms.
Cape Gazette
After-school enrichment is Cape Carousel’s mission
For 17 years, students in grades 4-8 have taken classes as part of the Cape Carousel program. The after-school enrichment program offers sessions on two different nights in the fall, winter and spring. Cape Carousel is a free program, funded with local money provided by the Cape Henlopen School District.
Sussex Countian
McIlvaine librarian wins Delaware STEM Education award
With just 500 students, Sussex Academy may not be the largest school around. But with a nearly $10 million expansion on the horizon, school officials are hoping the Georgetown charter school has a big future. The Sussex Academy of Arts and Sciences launched as a middle school, but after deciding to expand into a high school, school officials realized their original 32,000-square-foot home on Sussex Pines Road lacked the needed space.
Dover Post
Sussex Academy begin $9.8 million expansion
The Delaware STEM Education Award was created in March to recognize one teacher at the elementary school level and others at the middle- and high-school level for their work in integrating science, technology engineering and math (STEM) into their lesson plans, as well as fostering creative, innovative, collaborative, and critical thinking skills. Fuchs was the first-ever recipient of the elementary school-level honor, while a team of three teachers from the Brandywine School District received the middle/high school award out of 21 educators who were nominated statewide.
National News
Education Week
U.S. rules aim to heighten tracking of ed. schools’ performance
Teacher colleges would need to provide proof of their graduates’ classroom skills in helping advance student learning, under proposed rules issued Nov. 25 by the U.S. Department of Education. Programs that failed to do so could eventually be blocked from offering financial aid to would-be K-12 teachers in the form of federal Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education, or TEACH, grants, according to the long-delayed proposal.
States get federal running room on teacher-equity plans
The teacher-equity guidance, released by the U.S. Department of Education Nov. 10, is aimed at ensuring that disadvantaged students have access to as many highly qualified teachers as other students. It directs states to focus their plans mainly on “inputs,” such as how many years of experience a teacher has, rather than “outputs,” or how effective teachers actually are at moving the needle on student achievement.
New York Times
U.S. wants teacher training programs to track how graduates’ students perform
The federal Department of Education announced preliminary rules on Tuesday requiring states to develop rating systems for teacher preparation programs that would track a range of measures, including the job placement and retention rates of graduates and the academic performance of their students. In a move that drew some criticism, the Education Department said the new rating systems could be used to determine eligibility for certain federal grants used by teacher candidates to help pay for their training.
New York Chancellor is criticized for remarks on charter schools
Charter school advocates on Friday demanded that the New York City schools chancellor, Carmen Fariña, release data to support her accusation that those schools push some students out before they take state tests and later replace them with high-scoring children.
Bismarck Tribune
Battle over Common Core heats up with proposal to dump standards
Groups representing North Dakota businesses and school administrators are speaking out against proposed legislation that would require the state to dump the Common Core education standards and craft its own standards for K-12 students. Rep. Jim Kasper, R-Fargo, said the bill drafted at his request is a response to the “uproar” among parents in North Dakota and nationwide over what he called the “detrimental effects” of Common Core.