October 21, 2015

Delaware News

The News Journal
Sandra Hall: Delaware’s teacher of the year
When Sandra Hall was selected as Delaware’s newest teacher of the year she was ready, she had something to say: Behind the data in modern day education are students. And those students, they have stories. “While we understand that we must be held accountable for our data, we must take the time to know the children behind that data,” she said. “They are alive. They breathe. They feel, and they have a heartbeat. They come with a story. A good teacher knows their stories and uses it not just to make their data better, but their stories better.”

Markell signs bill to help special ed students drive
Gov. Jack Markell signed a bill into law Tuesday that will allow special education students between 18 and 21-years-old take a driving exam at their school to obtain a driver’s license. Previously, over-18 special-education students had to go to a DMV office to have their driving abilities tested, like other individuals over 18 years-old. In contrast, all students under 18-years-old are allowed to take the exam at their high school after completing a driver’s education program.

Smyrna-Clayton Sun-Times
North Smyrna Elementary’s Sandra Hall selected Delaware Teacher of the Year
Sandra Hall, a fourth grade teacher at North Smyrna Elementary School in the Smyrna School District, has been selected as Delaware’s Teacher of the Year. Education was a second career for Hall, who was 44 when she became a full-time teacher. Several factors during her adult life influenced her to pursue education as a profession.

Delaware Public Media
Smyrna School District’s Hall earns state Teacher of the Year
As state “Teacher of the Year” – she will spend the next 12 months representing First State teachers in conversations about Delaware schools and education. Hall also becomes the First State’s entrant in the National Teacher of the Year contest by winning the statewide award for the year.

Delaware State News
Smyrna’s Hall named Delaware Teacher of the Year
After eight years of teaching — seven as a fourth-grade teacher at North Smyrna Elementary School — Sandra Hall was crowned Delaware’s 2016 Teacher of the Year on Tuesday night. “I will do my very best to serve and represent Delaware. We all come from different backgrounds, we work in different districts, we teach different content and we all have different stories but what we do share is the compassion we give everyday to our students,” Ms. Hall said at a banquet at Dover Downs Hotel & Casino during her acceptance speech before teachers of the year from each of the state’s 19 districts.

WDEL
Smyrna teacher chosen as 2016 Teacher of the Year
“The Teacher of the Year program affords the education community and our public, a wonderful opportunity to applaud the exemplary professional practice of our teachers who inspire students with the love of learning,” said Dr. Steve Godowsky, acting Delaware education secretary. “Tonight we recognize their life changing contribution to Delaware’s young people.”

First State Montessori students in Wilmington talk a strong word game
Students at First State Montessori Academy in Wilmington dressed up as words for Halloween and proudly paraded their newfound knowledge down a shuttered block of French Street. It was all part of the charter school’s second annual vocabulary parade used to build students’ knowledge of words while having fun.

Cape Gazette
Sussex Academy receives Excellence in Academics Award
Sussex Academy was presented the Excellence in Academics Award at the Delaware Charter Network Schools IDEA Awards banquet Oct. 9. The Excellence in Academics Award is given to charter schools that provide exemplary education to the students they serve.

Department of Education playing a shell game
Commentary by Senator Dave Lawson, 15th District
In total, education in Delaware costs the taxpayer more than $4 billion. Do you think you are getting your money’s worth? The Department of Education is over-funded and under-performing. It’s something I plan to address in the coming session.

WBOC
Del. graduation rate jumps the most of any state
The First State is first in the nation on improving graduation rates for high school students. Delaware’s graduation rate was 87 percent last year. That’s up from 80 percent in 2013. Education leaders are pointing to things like credit recovery programs, ninth grade academies and targeted interventions as the reason.

National News

New Hampshire Public Radio
Some charter schools, districts still wrangle over special education delivery
As charter schools continue to expand in New Hampshire, one thing is clear – how to deal with special education is a big sticking point.

NPR Ed
The evidence that white children benefit from integrated schools
It has long been established that poor and minority children do better in integrated classrooms. But there’s more and more to suggest that the benefits spread to all students.

A year later: The school system that welcomed unaccompanied minors
It’s been a year since thousands of unaccompanied minors surged into the U.S., overwhelming some school districts. These children, many of whom don’t speak English and have lived through violence, trauma and abuse, pose a serious challenge to schools. Some districts weren’t ready. Oakland, Calif., was.

The Hechinger Report
Survey says: Ohio teachers are eager to innovate, but need more professional development to make the most of education technology
“Leaders should focus on supporting innovations that move the state toward increasing student achievement, improving the metrics used to evaluate blended learning, improving the quality of the current blended-learning programs, and expanding collaboration among innovators,” Lisa Duty, a partner at The Learning Accelerator who focuses on Ohio, said in a statement. And, in the case of Ohio, the coalition of the willing seems to be the rank-and-file traditional public schools. Imagine that.

Education Week
Arizona grapples with how to boost spending on schools
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and legislative leaders are pushing competing plans focused on bolstering the state’s K-12 school budget. The three-way struggle between the Republican governor and Democratic lawmakers, as well as those from his own party, comes as the state grapples with the specter of budget cuts on top of those that have severely hamstrung funding in recent years, escalating the state’s teacher shortage and inflating class sizes, education advocates say.