• Alignment: Empower states to identify and concentrate on locally in-demand industries and encourage CTE programs to launch programs in these fields.
• Collaboration: Foster private-public collaboration between schools, universities, and employers through matching grant programs and consortia funding.
• Accountability: Increase states’ autonomy to recognize, fund, and accelerate high-performing CTE programs.
• Innovation: Create a competitive CTE innovation fund.

According to the Association for Career and Technical Education, Delaware currently offers public CTE instruction at both the secondary and post-secondary levels, serving approximately 26,000 and 11,000 students, respectively.  In FY 2011, the state received $4.7 M from the Perkins CTE grant.  Of the disbursed funds, 87% goes to secondary schools, slightly higher than the national average of 70%.

These key reforms echo the conversation that has been occurring locally and nationally around 21^st century CTE.  Already, several schools, both vocational and traditional, have begun aligning curricula and programming to the demands of the 21^st century economy and seeking programmatic and financial support from local employers.   A few years ago, for example, Conrad Middle School was re-launched as Conrad Schools of Science, a 6^th-12^th magnet school designed to meet the growing regional demand for biotech and allied health professionals.  The school was able to rely on major employers in the Wilmington healthcare industry for support in funding the program, acquiring needed technology, and building the necessary capacity for implementation.  The state’s three votechnical school districts, meanwhile, have fostered relationships with local industries to offer students hands-on experience and career mentoring within the school day.

At the curricular level, DDOE has developed crosswalks and integrated curricula for agriscience; family and consumer science; business, finance, and marketing; and technology education.  Individual districts and schools have also piloted programs in a broad range of career paths, from culinary arts and cosmetology to sports medicine and digital media.  Moving forward, the new Perkins blueprint will incentivize the state and districts to consult the BLS and other industry-projection models to best prepare students for the changing workforce.   

According to Moody Analytics, Delaware is projected to see the largest growth over the next five years in education, health services, hospitality, financial services, and natural resources management.  Likewise, a recent report by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce predicts clear demographic and industry trends in Delaware.  By 2018, the Georgetown report estimates, the state will experience significant growth in health sciences (20%), information technology (18%), and education (15%). 

The changing economy has placed a greater responsibility on our career-education programs, particularly post-secondary retraining programs for those beginning a second career.  Hopefully, changes to the Perkins CTE programs will focus, centralize, and accelerate much of the forward-thinking work already going on at the state, district, and school level.

Schools and districts now have another opportunity to share what they are doing related to family and community engagement, and can apply for additional resources from the state to build upon promising programs that will positively impact student performance. The Delaware Department of Education recently released a Request For Applications (RFA) for family and community engagement projects that accelerate a charter school or district’s engagement plans, as outlined in their Race to the Top plans.

Each district or charter school’s application can request up to $50,000, and submissions are due June 1, 2012. We are looking forward to learning about more great family engagement programs – like Indian River’s “Student Success STEMs from Parental Support” educational series and Seaford School District’s Homework Center and Family Resource Center (both funded in a previous round of family and community engagement projects).

The RFA, which is funded through the federal  College Access Challenge Grant, is due June 1^st and will provide one-year awards to chosen districts or charter schools to implement their innovative ideas – all with particular focus on underrepresented kids, including minorities and first-generation college-goers. In addition to developing their own programs, districts and charters have the opportunity to partner with other districts or outside non-profit organizations to expand the impact of this work.

Districts are already doing work on this front–much of which is funded by Race to the Top-such as Equal Opportunity Schools’ work with Colonial to increase rigorous coursework participation, AVID’s efforts with various districts to increase readiness in middle school, or Smyrna’s work with Kaplan to prepare students for the SAT.

We look forward to learning more about areas of interest and how to expand this work so that more Delawareans graduate high school ready to go to and succeed in college.

Ms. Bolden (Representative Bolden), like many other Delaware teachers represented the highest ideals of teaching. Teachers richly deserve recognition and accolades for their excellence, enthusiasm, and concern.  They consistently demonstrate that high expectations bring high performance.  As teachers we don’t strive for good…we strive for excellence.

The Rodel Foundation‘s iEducate Delaware initiative recognizes individuals like Ms. Bolden (Representative Bolden), who are influencing the lives of our children.  This initiative recognizes educators, community leaders, and legislators who demonstrate leadership in creating world-class schools in Delaware. Honorees will have their stories published and receive $2,000 toward the education-related cause of their choice.  If you know someone who has made a great contribution to our schools and has not been recognized broadly for his/her efforts, please nominate them by clicking here.

Delaware is working together to create College and Career Ready students!

The state Kindergarten entry assessment is part of Delaware’s Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge plan, onto which the Kids’ Caucus (as well as many others) signed. Once approved by the legislature, it will be launched fall 2012 with 100 teachers and phased in statewide by 2015, with the purpose of informing teachers’ instruction and providing data for research and policymaking. It will cover five domains: language and literacy development; cognition and general knowledge; approaches toward learning; physical well-being and motor development; and social and emotional development. Legislators’ discussion and questions addressed issues including:

• how can the data appropriately be used to inform providers of child care that cared for children before Kindergarten, which is under development and will be supported by Kindergarten Readiness Teams of elementary school and child care personnel, as well as parents and community members;
• if there is any cost to the state, not until 2017, when the state’s bill will be about $87,000 per year, because the the Early Learning Challenge funds will cover the assessment and support needed;
• how we ensure the assessment doesn’t infringe on valuable instructional time that teachers have with students, which is being addressed by districts and teachers who will submit plans for implementation that will be supported by ELC funds.

The districts, DSEA, Vision 2015, and many other community partners are supportive of this initiative. Lake Forest Kindergarten Team Leader Chris Barrett said “Kindergarten teachers across the state are really excited about this. This will give us what we need to understand what to do for each child, and we appreciate the support being given to teachers.”

In early childhood news, HB 266 was released by the Sunset committee, which would remove exemptions from child care licensing for public and private programs, including programs operated by school districts and private schools, which have long been exempted. While public school programs operate under Delaware Department of Education regulations, their facilities are not always up to the standards for child care licensing because they weren’t built to serve children under the age of 5. And private schools have been able to skirt regulations as long as they serve students in 6^th grade or higher along with young children. While most believe that licensing are minimum standards that all child care providers should meet, there could be a large price tag for schools to bring their facilities up to code (think lower sinks, smaller toilets, fenced in playgrounds). The fiscal note has not been calculated but could be cause for reconsideration.

HB 273 (financial literacy requirement) joins several other bills that address the purview of the State Board of Education in terms of the standards schools are required to teach: HB 299, requiring CPR; SB 214 requiring 150 minutes of physical activity in elementary schools; and SB 191, requiring instruction in public schools on the history of organized labor in America and the collective bargaining process.

Our foundation’s mission is to help Delaware create world-class schools.  To that end, we worked with hundreds of parents, teachers, and community leaders to create the Vision 2015 plan that promotes higher standards, stronger early childhood education, increased innovation, high quality teachers and school leaders, and fair funding (see http://www.vision2015delaware.org/).  As important, we deeply support the academic goals that all of the state’s key stakeholders signed off on in Delaware’s Race to the Top plan, for example to dramatically increase our college going rates from 70% to 90%. 

To reach these goals will be a stretch; we aren’t going to get there by continuing to do what we have always done.  Part of this new work will require more people stepping up and getting involved in our school board races.  These boards manage upwards of a quarter of a billion dollars in our larger districts, they hire the superintendent, approve all major contracts, and are ultimately responsible for the academic gains of the students in their care.  We can all agree that our children are our greatest resource, but, unfortunately, often less than 5% of eligible voters make it to the polls for school board races.  

In addition to investing about $2-3M per year in high-impact training for teachers, principals and parents, Rodel invests in building public will to encourage the community to vote in school board elections.  We have invested in online content on our website, full-page ads in print media, an informational video on Content Delaware, and the educational efforts of Voices 4 Delaware Education, all geared to getting out the vote.  Like hundreds of other cause-related nonprofits, Voices has two arms: an education arm and an advocacy arm.  Our support goes solely to the 501(c)(3) education arm.  We have not, and will not, invest in targeted advocacy efforts on behalf of political candidates in any election, including local school board races. 

Change is uncomfortable.  Public engagement and debate is a foundation of our democracy.  I realize that there is serious and thoughtful debate going on in this state, and this nation, about how best to educate our children, but for our part once the dust settles on Wednesday morning, my team and I will do our best to support whoever wins and continue to keep our eye on the student results we all promised.  My hope is that as voters go to the polls on Tuesday they understand the issues and will pull the lever for the person they believe can produce the best educational experience for our children.

The effort, spearheaded by Harvard and MIT, is an attempt to provide students worldwide access to a high quality virtual higher education. This latest initiative is just one of a few that includes Udacity (led by Stanford professors) and Coursera (collaboration between professors from Stanford, Penn, Michigan, and Princeton). Students that complete these courses will receive a certificate of completion (ex: over 100,000 students took courses as part of an initiative among various Stanford professors this past fall).

While we normally don’t cover higher education, I think it’s extremely important to take a step back, highlight why these universities are stepping in to this space, and discuss one (of many) implications for k-12 education.

For starters, not one person would argue that receiving a certificate is the same as attending one of these schools. As a recent New Yorker article highlights, the benefits of going to Stanford extend well beyond the classroom, as university students are given unprecedented access to leading entrepreneurs on a daily basis, creating a murky relationship between the ideals of higher education and the drive for innovation. Second, the prestige of a Stanford degree will undoubtedly outweigh a certificate earned through an online course. Therefore, that begs the question – why do this?

Putting aside the obvious benefits on the supply side that awaits (profit, prestige, etc.), these universities are simply stepping into a market where there is clear demand for something better – students seeking access to the best and brightest in their field. Think about it, if you’re a high school senior and were given the choice of enrolling at a local second tier university or receiving credit for the same class from Stanford, which would you choose? What if you’re a community college student trying to beef up your resume in order to transfer to the state university, do you take that math course at your community college or from Stanford? Put more simply, these schools are extending the benefits of a top notch education beyond those traditionally admitted to their schools – which will have implications that ripple throughout both higher education and our public schools.

So what does this mean for us in k-12? I’ll use my high school calculus class as an example. My senior year (if my memory serves me correctly), we had two calculus teachers that had a total of four classes, each with approximately 20 students. Without today’s technology in 2000, it’s easy to see how this came to be – walking students through the content takes time and expertise. Fast forward to today, and it’s pretty clear that this structure no longer makes sense since one key factor, the valuable classroom time it takes to deliver content, can be eliminated from the equation. Instead, these same teachers would be able to work closer with students, focusing on managing students’ progress through small group instruction – enabling these teachers to form better relationships with students and better understand their mastery of the material.

As we have seen in other industries, technology has revolutionized the way they do business, with the overall benefits to our society outweighing the inherent costs and difficulty associated with this transition. I think it’s only a matter of time before this comes to a classroom near you – no matter what state you live in. I hope educators throughout Delaware and the country step up to the plate and help drive this initiative to the benefit of our students – similar to their higher education peers.

It caught my eye for a few reasons.  One, Rodel is a supporter of TFA and it was nice to see one of these young teachers be acknowledged.  Laura is a fellow University of Delaware alum so it was especially nice to see that she chose to make a difference here in Delaware.  Two, Moyer has had some well-publicized challenges over the last couple of years, so it was nice to see them get some positive press.  And finally, I appreciated the fact that the DSEA acknowledged Laura even though she works in a charter school and is likely not a formal member of the union.  This was a classy move.

And as for WJBR, I might have to switch off my Sirius radio on my drives to work and give 99.5 a listen.  The broader acknowledgement program is a nice idea.

As a teacher, I worked to directly educate the students in my classroom, challenging them to be thinkers and problem solvers. At Rodel, I work to indirectly educate all of the students in Delaware, helping inform state and local policy with research and analysis. And as an individual, I support the students in my community by everything from voting in school board elections to mentoring to attending student performances.

That’s one of the things I love about the newly launched iEducate Delaware project. It reminds us of the fact that we all have a role to play—indeed, a responsibility—in educating our youth.

If we look across the globe, we see this happening in every way imaginable. In Africa, more than 20 universities in 12 countries are working together to help train teachers across the continent by providing development materials online. Donors Choose, started by a high school teacher in the Bronx, pools individual donations to help fund classroom projects large and small all across the United States. And in New York, to address the gap in background knowledge her students face due to living in poverty, one educator works with teachers to plan “sidewalk trips” to places like the subway, or a parking garage.  

Whether large-scale or small, there is incredible innovation in education happening around the globe, and I’m willing to bet it’s happening in Delaware, too—in fact, I know it is. I’ve seen it. I’ve taught next to it. I’ve experienced it. And you probably have, too.

In the three short years I’ve been in the state, I’ve met countless individuals who have improved education in Delaware, each in their own way and all inspirational in their own right. Inside the classroom and out, our state is full of incredible leaders who all share the same goal—educating our students and ensuring a successful future for our state. 

These stories need to be told so we can inspire one another and honor each other’s success.

And that’s why the iEducate Delaware project is special. It’s not just another award—it’s about sharing people’s stories. It’s about inspiring us to never stop innovating. And it’s about igniting action so more will join this important work.

I educate Delaware. We all do.

It’s time to tell our stories.

On May 8, Delaware voters will decide the winners of 12 board races statewide.  As I reflect on the workshop conversation last fall, what still resonates is the discussion among panelists and participants about school board accountability.   Questions dealt with how board members measure their contributions to district leadership and to student achievement.  

Many points were clear: board members are financial stewards, ultimately responsible for the health of their district.  Boards also hire, or replace, the superintendent, the most important personnel decision they will make.  Boards develop and adopt the policies that shape the lives of students, educators, and school staff every day—from curriculum to seat time to dress codes to collective bargaining agreements.  At their best, boards create a vision for their district, and work to implement it.  Finally, board members are responsible for putting student achievement first.  That expectation is clearly spelled out in the information about board service issued by the Delaware School Boards Association. 

Yet, it wasn’t clear from the session just how boards hold themselves accountable for student achievement.  Is it by the additional number of students who will be “proficient” (or higher) in math or reading at year’s end?  By how many more students will graduate each year?  By how many more graduates will be college- or career-ready?  Just what are the measures of improvement that boards use, and what are the consequences if nothing changes? 

When asked about accountability, several board members in the audience shared broad statements: “I’m always accountable—people talk to me in the grocery store about schools,” and “I meet the public every month at board meetings” and “I get calls at home…I’m very accountable.”

Customer relations is wonderful, but it’s not accountability.  I had hoped to hear how board members hold themselves accountable for student performance.  And how they support academic growth among all student groups enrolled in their district.  Absolute performance—long a fair criticism of NCLB—isn’t the issue, but measurable improvement among all students is.

To my knowledge—and until Race to the Top (RTTT)—the only way board members have been evaluated has been through local elections each spring, in which successful board candidates and reelected incumbents earn a three- or five-year term.  Soon, however, there will be public, easily understandable “dashboards” that illustrate clearly how well the state as a whole and individual school districts are performing against the targets they set under RTTT.  These dashboards should be released this summer.

The dashboards won’t be available in time to inform candidates’ debates this spring.  So, what can voters do between now and May 8^th?  What if every board candidate, and every incumbent seeking reelection, had to publicly state how his or her board service would accelerate student achievement?  Would we see a difference in how much, and how quickly, our students are learning?  Would we see graduation and college enrollment rates dramatically improve over the next few years?  Would we see even greater alignment among boards, district and school leaders, educators, and community partners focused on student performance? 

As we approach the May 8^th election, let us ask our candidates, “Will you pledge to do whatever it takes to accelerate achievement, and to put the interests of your students before all else?  If so, please tell me how.” 

To learn more about the board races in your county, click for New Castle, Kent, and Sussex.

This is the third in a series of posts about local school boards.  The prior posts can be found here and here. The last in this series will run in May.