September 23, 2015

Delaware News

The Hechinger Report
Should computer-assisted teaching expand its reach to more states?
The nation’s second-smallest state joins the growing list of those who expect technology to play a starring role in efforts to improve schools for students. Last week, leaders from Delaware’s education, nonprofit and business communities released a new statewide plan for its public school system. The blueprint, called Student Success 2025, included personalized learning as one of the key strategies. Here are excerpts from my conversation with Superintendent Susan Bunting.

Delaware Business Times
Vision Coalition rolls out Student Success 2025
The Vision Coalition of Delaware released Student Success 2025 at a special event in Dover last week that showcased the broad-based nature of the initiative. Student Success 2025 is a 10-year vision for public education in Delaware, focused on the core academic knowledge, skills, and attributes every educated Delawarean needs have by 2025 — and the strategies to achieve that vision, a release stated.

UDaily
University’s education programs embrace coteaching
Last year, the University of Delaware expanded its use of the coteaching model across its early childhood education (ECE) and elementary teacher education (ETE) programs, pairing students with 224 clinical educators from 42 pre-K-8 programs across five districts, five charter schools and three early childhood programs.

The News Journal
New Delaware school safety plans in place
Every school in Delaware now has a comprehensive safety plan that covers everything from an armed intruder or a fire to a medical emergency or a plane crash.

Newsworks
Delaware reaches school safety milestone
For the first time this fall, every public school in Delaware has a comprehensive safety plan that aligns with state standards and is shared with local authorities. Officials announced the milestone Tuesday during a press conference at Richey Elementary School in Newport, Delaware.

WDEL
School safety plans officially in effect in all Delaware schools
Delaware schools are starting the year with comprehensive school safety plans in place. The state Department of Homeland Security and officers with the state and capitol police forces spent time training teachers and principals in ways to keep themselves and their students safe, since they’re often “true” first responders in school incidences.

Hockessin Community News
Smarter Balanced opponents, supporters respond to achievement gap shown in final scores
“We said every single student was going to be college and career ready,” said Department of Education Chief Academic Officer Michael Watson. “I think that what this data suggests is that we have a lot of work to do but there are some bright spots we can really turn to and look at.” But opponents of the test say they the test is an unnecessary burden on Delaware students and their families.

National News

New York Times
Education gap between rich and poor is growing wider
The wounds of segregation were still raw in the 1970s. With only rare exceptions, African-American children had nowhere near the same educational opportunities as whites.

Education Week
Probing the impact of parent-teacher digital communication
Technology is not only changing the way students learn—it is reshaping the way parents and teachers interact. Academic researchers have taken notice, and are beginning to probe what kinds of tech-based communication between educators and families bring the biggest academic payoff for students.

Associated Press
Mississippi education survey positive on Common Core-linked standards
The Mississippi Department of Education says public comments on the state’s Common Core-derived academic standards were overwhelmingly positive.

Los Angeles Times
Backers want half of LAUSD students in charter schools in eight years, report says
Backers outlined an ambitious strategy to place half of the students in the Los Angeles Unified School District into charter schools over the next eight years, a move they said would serve as a model for the rest of the nation, according to documents obtained by The Times.

NBC
Partnership brings quality early-childhood education to Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood
A new early-childhood education center born out of a nonprofit partnership opened its doors in Northeast Philadelphia for this school year, bringing quality early-childhood education to an area that didn’t have many options before. Before the Kinder Academy opened on Elgin Avenue just off the intersection of Cottman and Castor avenues, in Rhawnhurst, the building where it’s located sat vacant. But now, leaders and organizers who helped to open the early-childhood education center say it will help the neighborhood.