September 23, 2016

Delaware News

Coastal Point
Audit nearly complete as IRSD plans Nov. 22 referendum
The Indian River School District’s budget is not keeping up with their students’ needs, so the local Board of Education has decided to host a current-expense referendum on Tuesday, Nov. 22. How much will they request? The board hasn’t decided.

Delmarva Now
Gov. Markell visits Indian River High School
Indian River High School seniors gathered in the auditorium for a pep rally. The topic: college preparedness. The main cheerleader: Gov. Jack Markell. Members of the Delaware Department of Education spoke to the crowd, followed by Indian River Superintendent Susan Bunting. “I am excited about this senior class,” Bunting said.

Middletown Transcript
Middletown High students receive instruction from university music professor
Because of a singing grandmother, Middletown High School choral students had the opportunity to learn from a university choral director earlier this month. Dr. Tony Thornton, director of choral studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, conducted a workshop for Middletown High School students in the advanced chorus and chamber choir.

Newark Post
High school ROTC student honored for academic excellence
Christiana High School senior Erika White was recently recognized as one of the top junior year cadets in the Navy Junior ROTC program with the Legion of Valor Bronze Cross for Achievement. She was presented the award at the Christina Board of Education meeting on Sept. 20.

Sussex County Post
Business education teacher’s motivation is par for the course!
Initially, education was not Matt Schifano’s business. Business was his business – with Morgan Stanley in the financial district of Manhattan. Now, he has the best of both worlds. Back home and branching out on his family’s education tree, Mr. Schifano is a second-year business education teacher at Selbyville Middle School. He “teaches” sixth graders.

UDaily
School policing: UD’s Kupchik says policing, punishment in nation’s schools a serious problem
Aaron Kupchik, professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware, has spent the past decade studying how children are policed and punished in schools. His verdict? There is a real school safety problem in this country. Schools, he says, are fundamentally undemocratic places where racial inequality is exacerbated and families suffer.

National News

Chalkbeat
Indiana might pay for teachers to go back to school to save dual credit program
A top Indiana lawmaker says the state is willing to spend thousands of dollars to help schools across the state continue to offer dual credit courses. The popular classes, which let high school students earn college credits, have been put in jeopardy by new rules that, by 2017, will require all teachers of dual credit classes to have a master’s degree or 18 graduate credits in their subject area.

The 74 Million
New Research: Chicago teacher eval pilot moved out struggling teachers, kept stronger ones
New research on a Chicago teacher evaluation pilot put in place when Arne Duncan was running the city’s schools shows it worked to move out struggling teachers while not sacrificing effective ones. “The overall quality of the teachers in treatment schools improved as a result of the … initiative,” the study finds.

The Hechinger Report
What if students could study what they love, at a pace that suits their needs?
All learning should be personal – we are teaching individual students, after all – but when advocates talk about “personalized learning” they are often describing programs and teaching methods that look unlike the typical school.

The Los Angeles Times
For the first time, California releases test scores for foster youth — and they’re not good
For the first time, California education officials have separated out the standardized test scores of the state’s foster youth — and advocates now have sobering proof of what they long suspected: These students are learning far less than their peers.

The Tennessean
AP test fees reduced for Tennessee low-income students
A federal grant will help cover Advanced Placement test fees for low-income students. Tennessee is one of 41 states to receive the U.S. Department of Education grant. The $362,985 grant will cover costs for approved Advanced Placement tests administered by the College Board, the International Baccalaureate Organization and Cambridge International Examinations.