September 11, 2014

Local News

WDDE
Gov. Markell named to Nat’l Gov. Association Committee
The National Governors Association named Governor Jack Markell to its Education and Workforce Committee Wednesday.

Delaware NAACP president willing to go to court to keep Moyer Academy open
Supporters of Wilmington’s Moyer Academy made their case to keep the struggling charter school open at a public hearing Wednesday night in Wilmington. Nearly 30 people showed up as the state’s Department of Education sought input on the charter school’s future. During the hearing, Richard Smith, president of Delaware State Conference of the NAACP, said the organization’s executive board has voted to take the state of Delaware to court pending the Department of Education’s decision on Moyer’s charter.

The News Journal
West End marks 15 years helping foster kids who ‘age-out’
Fifteen years ago, services for foster children ended when they turned 18, but that was when West End Neighborhood House started to help. On Wednesday night, more than 60 people gathered to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the nonprofit’s Life Lines program, which provides transitional and permanent housing, independent living skills, educational support, job preparation and employment.

Bus issues plaguing NCCo schools
It’s three weeks into the school year, but plenty of New Castle County parents and school officials say buses are still showing up late as the companies that run them struggle with a shortage of drivers. The problems, which mostly center around the companies First Student and Advanced Student Transportation, are affecting both district and charter schools. The bulk of the complaints continue to come from charters, most of which rely solely on contractors for transportation.

Turning around Delaware’s education system
An op-ed by Ronald Russo, former President of the Charter School of Wilmington and former Principal of St. Mark’s High School
Kudos to state leaders for using systemic change to improve the performance of Delaware’s lowest-scoring schools. While these schools will be receiving additional financial resources, that pales in comparison to the significance of supporting the empowerment of local communities to try new, unique solutions to problems that are facing their own schools.

National News

Washington Post
The huge problem with professional development for teachers
Billions of dollars are spent each year on teachers’ professional development, but questions linger as to whether the money is helping teachers, schools and students.

Education Week
New reports grade schools on reading, writing, and recess
States and districts are integrating student-wellness data into the school-level reports they share with the public.

Strong parent-engagement plans will give states edge in newest pre-K competition
States applying for the newest federal early-learning grant competition will be more likely to clinch the federal funds if the proposals include a strong parent-engagement component, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said Tuesday.

Companies honing tools to survey students about teachers
Few measures of teachers’ classroom ability inspire as much optimism among researchers—and as much unease among educators—as surveys of students. Now, commercial providers, nonprofit organizations, and foundations are working to expand and refine the scope of such surveys in an effort to improve their usefulness to schools and teachers, and potentially lower their costs.

Wall Street Journal
German-style training for American factory workers
As robotics take an ever more prominent role on factory floors, training workers and keeping their skills up-to-date has grown in importance. The German company sees in the U.S. “a mismatch in the labor market between what businesses need and the kind of education young people are getting,” said Nader Imani, chief executive of Festo Didactic, the company’s stand-alone education division.

New York Times
It takes a mentor
An op-ed by Thomas L. Friedman, Columnist
With millions of students returning to school — both K-12 and college — this is a good time to review the intriguing results of some research that Gallup did over the past year, exploring the linkages between education and long-term success in the workplace. That is: What are the things that happen at a college or technical school that, more than anything else, produce “engaged” employees on a fulfilling career track? According to Brandon Busteed, the executive director of Gallup’s education division, two things stand out. Successful students had one or more teachers who were mentors and took a real interest in their aspirations, and they had an internship related to what they were learning in school.