September 20, 2017
Delaware News
Cape Gazette
Bookmobile, Browseabout team up for young readers
The Cape Henlopen School District bookmobile made the rounds to area neighborhoods this summer with help from a local bookstore. Rehoboth Beach’s Browseabout Books gave hundreds of new books to Cape Henlopen School District for its summer bookmobile stops, said Donna Kolakowski, supervisor of elementary education for Cape Henlopen School District.
Newark Post
Newark Charter band to perform in London parade
The Newark Charter School marching band will travel to London to perform in the city’s 2019 New Year’s Day parade. The students received the exciting news earlier this year, but British officials visited the school Monday to officially invite the band. “We’re just over the moon with happiness,” said Gwen Ryan, an NCS junior and drum major in the band.
Newsworks
NASCAR star brings message of teamwork to vo-tech school
It’s routine for schools to bring in professionals of various fields to address students, especially on career days, when doctors, nurses, accountants, lawyers, social workers, engineers and members of other fields try to inspire children. St. Georges Technical School took that concept a lap or two further Tuesday when Kyle Larson, a rising star on NASCAR’s elite racing circuit, stopped in for a 90-minute pit stop.
Delaware reading program honors fallen state trooper
The wife of fallen Delaware State Police Trooper Corporal Stephen J. Ballard, is honoring the memory of her husband through a children’s reading program. It’s called Ballard’s Reading Buddies, which will pair adult volunteer readers with children. Louise Ballard whose husband died in the line of duty in April said reading was one of Stephen’s favorite things to do. “Stephen had a love for children and education that included helping young students be more academically prepared for their respective grade levels,” Ballard said.
Smyrna-Clayton Sun-Times
Smyrna School District goes gold to fight childhood cancer
This week, the staff and students of Smyrna School District will celebrate yellow and gold to help bring awareness to childhood cancer with two chances for the community to get involved at the high school volleyball match Sept. 21 and at the high school football game Sept. 22. Every day, 46 children are diagnosed with cancer, and childhood cancer has touched the lives of several families in the community. Unfortunately, every three minutes parents hear those four devastating words, “Your child has cancer.”
National News
Forbes
Possibly Elon Musk’s biggest idea yet – revolutionizing education
An estimated 250 million children around the world cannot read, write, or demonstrate basic arithmetic skills. UNESCO estimates that the world will need 1.6 million more teachers globally, a number set to double by 2030. Enter Elon Musk. Musk is famous for being the face of such organizations as Tesla and SpaceX. He is also the co-chairman of the AI research company OpenAI and the CEO of neurotechnology company Neuralink, among other companies that he is involved with.
Idaho Statesman
Common Core used widely, despite continuing debate
Most of the states that first endorsed the Common Core academic standards are still using them in some form, despite continued debate over whether they are improving student performance in reading and math. Of the states that opted in after the standards were introduced in 2010 — 45 plus the District of Columbia — only eight have moved to repeal the standards, largely due to political pressure from those who saw Common Core as infringing on local control, according to Abt Associates, a research and consulting firm.
NPR
How one group is working to build a more diverse teaching force
There are more nonwhite teachers than there used to be. But the nation’s teaching force still doesn’t look like America. One former education school dean is out to change that. New research shows that the number of K-12 teachers who belong to minority groups has doubled since the 1980s, growing at a faster rate than the profession as a whole. But big gaps persist, with around 80 percent of teachers identifying as white.
Post Bulletin
Minnesota submits plan to improve equity in schools
Minnesota submitted its plan to fall in compliance with the new federal education law on Monday. The Minnesota Department of Education submitted the plan, which was developed over the last two years, to the U.S. Department of Education with the hope that the changes will help to not only identify achievement disparities, but will require states to work with underperforming schools to address those disparate outcomes.
The Baltimore Sun
Maryland education department, Baltimore public schools sign agreement to improve failing schools
The Maryland State Department of Education will target principals in Baltimore for leadership training in a bid to turn around some of the city’s struggling schools, state and city officials said. A memorandum of understanding signed by city schools CEO Sonja Santelises this month outlines the state’s plan to help improve schools in the bottom 5 percent in the state. Of the 27 priority schools, 24 are in Baltimore.