September 14, 2015

Delaware News

The News Journal
What do we need to help our students succeed?
Opinion by Ernie Dianastasis, chairman of the Vision Coalition Leadership Team and the Delaware Business Roundtable Education Committee, and managing director of CAI (Computer Aid, Inc.)
A new school year brings with it a new opportunity. A chance to reinvent. A blank sheet of composition paper on which to write. On Sept. 16, a group called the Vision Coalition of Delaware will put its best ideas forward. As chairman of the coalition’s Leadership Team, I’m proud to present Student Success 2025 to my fellow Delawareans.

Reading mentors aim to get kids on track
Colonial School District elementary school teachers are about to get some reinforcements. Some students are coming to them way behind the curve on their reading skills. It can be difficult, however, for teachers to give students who are struggling with reading skills the intensive, one-on-one attention they need to get back on track because they are also managing a full class of students. The Reading Assist Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to early literacy, hopes to change that.

Don’t shoot the test-score messenger, Delaware
Opinion by Michael J. Petrilli and Robert Pondiscio, president and vice president, respectively, of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and fathers of school-aged children
Parents and taxpayers should resist the siren song of those who want to use this moment of truth to attack the Common Core or the associated tests. They may not be perfect, but they are finally giving parents, educators, and taxpayers a much more honest assessment of how our children are doing. Virtually all kids aspire to go to college and prepare for a satisfying career. Now, at last, we know if they’re on track to do so.

Don’t make Red Clay a super district
Letter to the editor by A. Williams, Wilmington
Why should Red Clay landowners pay for an even larger district, when Red Clay actually needs to be split up? Wilmington needs its own district to develop community education again, paid for with state and federal money. There is no sense, just busing students around.

Democrat David Bentz wins Delaware’s 18th district special election
Leading up to the election Bentz ran his campaign on his platform to serve the middle class, and to improve the education systems, and create working class job opportunities.

Cape Gazette
Raise your hand for Cape teachers
As the new school year is now in full swing, it is time to recognize the educators and staff who go well beyond standing at the front of a classroom of children each day relaying an ordinary lesson.

Sussex County Post
Delaware Tech to honor distinguished alumni
Denise Showell of Millsboro and April Cleveland of Georgetown have been selected as recipients of the 2015 Distinguished Alumni Award for Delaware Technical Community College’s Owens Campus on Wednesday, Sept. 23. The award is presented each year to alumni in recognition of excellence and outstanding achievements in their professional careers.

WDEL
Wilmington residents concerned about poverty during education town hall
The Wilmington Education Improvement Commission (WEIC) fielded a new set of questions and concerns from parents and educators in the Christina School District Thursday night. One of the biggest concerns of the night was how the commission will address poverty in education.

Evan G. Shortlidge Academy celebrates new renovations
Parents, students, and faculty gathered at Evan G. Shortlidge Academy in Wilmington on Thursday night for a ribbon cutting ceremony commemorating the newly renovated elementary school. The school is a campus of Warner Elementary School, serving students from kindergarten to second grade.

Delaware State News
Educators, Delaware at odds over Smarter Balanced test scores
In the wake of the Smarter Balanced test score release, opponents have seized on them as a further point of criticism. They see the low scores — proficiency rates of about 50 percent in English and 40 percent in math — as evidence of a flawed test design and state efforts. But others claim the scores were to be expected and do not show errors in the state’s education plan.

National News

The News York Times
Laurene Powell Jobs commits $50 Million to create new high schools
Ms. Powell Jobs has ventured more into the public sphere since her husband, Apple’s Steve Jobs, died in 2011, and now she plans to finance an experiment in overhauling education.

Los Angeles Times
A charter school expansion could be great for L.A.
Editorial
Not all charter schools are great schools, and if there is to be a massive expansion, it will be important to make sure that those that do not do a good job are fixed or closed. Another issue is whether the charter operators — even the very good ones — can attract and retain enough high-quality teachers and administrators.

The Hechinger Report
How an unconventional principal used blended learning to help turn around a struggling urban school
Pleasant View Elementary is one of just four struggling schools in Rhode Island (out of 33) that are on track to emerge from intervention status. “Just like with students, every teacher is different. We never said ‘you have to do blended learning like this or like that.’ What you have to do is support teachers to find their way of doing what’s best for kids.”

Trib Live
Western Pa. schools adopting suicide prevention policies
Educators across Pennsylvania will be trained to recognize signs of depression, self-injury, low self-esteem and other risk factors of teen suicide

Deseret News
State auditors call for more collaboration between high schools, tech college
State leaders are hoping to see better collaboration between public high schools and the Utah College of Applied Technology’s eight campuses throughout the state.