September 22, 2017

September 22nd, 2017

Category: News

Delaware News

Cape Gazette
Cape adds teachers to reduce class sizes
Class sizes at Cape Henlopen School District’s newest elementary school are already bursting at the seams, prompting the hiring of more teachers. Parent Jennifer Silva said her son’s fifth-grade class at Love Creek Elementary has 32 students, and other fifth-grade classes are about the same size. “The school looks pretty, but they overcrowded it,” she said.

Delaware State News
Carney signs bills simplifying licensing for teachers
Gov. John Carney signed Thursday two bills that simplify the licensure requirements for educators, with the stated goal of allowing the state to attract and retain more teachers and other school personnel. House Substitute 1 for House Bill 143 eliminates the general knowledge exam for teachers, gives new educators coming from out of state an extra year to take the specialized assessment, and offers more administrative support for beginning teachers.

Delmarva Now
Millsboro one-room school’s restoration shows a different era in education
A relic of a time when boys and girls were not allowed to sit together in school will be open to the public later this month. Godwin’s School, a one-room schoolhouse closed in 1936, has been the focus of an extended restoration effort by the Millsboro Historical Society since 1988. The results of that labor will be on display Sept. 30. The society’s president, Margaret Mitchell, a semi-retired Indian River School District teacher, has a personal stake in the decades of restoration efforts — her mother was a student at Godwin’s from 1911 to 1920.

Real Clear Education
Americans Agree: High Standards, Skills Training Are Keys to Success
Commentary by Jack Markell, former governor of Delaware
The summer of 1977 was life-changing for me. I was 17 years old and traveled to India for the first time, where I was struck by the overwhelming poverty and lack of opportunity, particularly for young people. During those few weeks, I developed a deeper understanding of the historical barriers to equity in India and of the connection between strong communities, stable job opportunities and an educated, skilled workforce—lessons that have stayed with me throughout my career.

The News Journal
Gov. John Carney visits schools in Wilmington
Video
Carney said his office and the Department of Education will help support school districts like Christina as they work to increase student achievement.

National News

Education Week
Personalized learning a big challenge in high school redesign, RAND finds
Personalized learning is hard. For the ed-tech community, that, again, is the takeaway from new research by the RAND Corporation. This time, the findings come from an early-stage evaluation of “Opportunity By Design” high schools, which are funded and supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Governing
What America’s ‘baby bust’ means for public policy
When unemployment spikes during severe economic downturns, birth rates usually drop. That’s been true for the past decade, thanks to the Great Recession and its aftermath. But there’s a stark difference this time around: The economy is improving, but birth rates aren’t. Newly-released federal estimates find that the fertility rate fell further last year to 62.0 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44, a historic low.

NPR
Miami 4th-graders write about their experiences with hurricanes
When the fourth-graders in Mrs. Marlem Diaz-Brown’s class returned to school on Monday, they were tasked with writing their first essay of the year. The topic was familiar: Hurricane Irma. By Wednesday, they had worked out their introduction and evidence paragraphs and were brainstorming their personal experiences. To help them remember, Mrs. D-B had them draw out a timeline — starting Friday before the storm.

The Atlantic
The most polarizing education reformer in New York City
Back in 2004, The New York Times described Eva Moskowitz as having “sharp elbows.” At the time, Moskowitz represented Manhattan’s affluent Upper East Side on New York’s City Council and had, according to the Times profile, emerged as one of the council’s most influential members. Those sharp elbows helped her get things done, whether that meant replacing plastic newspaper racks with stylish fiberglass ones or taking on powerful teachers’ unions in the name of improving the city’s beleaguered public schools.

Trib Live
Pa. Department of Education submits federal education plan for review
If you’ve ever wondered what’s going on in the minds of state leaders when it comes to education, some experts say looking at Pennsylvania’s new education plan —, which the state Department of Education submitted Monday to the federal government — could give parents and the public a clue. “These plans are not the entire blueprint of the entire state education system,” said Julie Rowland Woods, a policy analyst with the nonprofit think tank Education Commission of the States.

USA Today
School choice is crucial for African-American students’ success
Commentary by T. Willard Fair, president of the Urban League of Greater Miami
Once upon a time, it may have been unheard of for the head of an urban league dedicated to the improvement of lives for African-American children to partner with a Republican to work on school reform. As part of one of his education reform efforts, Florida governor Jeb Bush convinced me to help him go around that state in an attempt to get school choice legislation passed.




Author:
Rodel Foundation of Delaware

info@rodelfoundationde.org

SIGN UP FOR THE RODEL NEWSLETTER

MOST READ

More from: News

Sparking Curiosity and a Love of Teaching: Q&A with Teacher of the Year Cory Hafer

February 6th, 2024

Author: Matt Amis

We’re Hiring: Associate Director of Development

January 9th, 2024

Author: Rodel

We’re Hiring: Research and Policy Fellow

October 30th, 2023

Author: Rodel