Posts Tagged ‘Funding Flexibility’

Daily Education News- 10/16/12

Posted by rodel

Here are several stories in today’s news about Delaware education and from across the nation:

Local News

The News Journal
Initiatives put state on right education track
An op-ed by State Sen. Liane Sorenson and State Rep. Melanie George Smith
Great outcomes start with a strong foundation in the form of robust early learning programs. With Election Day quickly approaching, we encourage voters to learn where candidates stand on the issues, how they have supported early childhood education so far and what their plans are for the future. Elections are less than a month away, and we urge community members to learn about each candidate’s commitment to early childhood education.

Red Clay wins national ‘champions’ award
The Red Clay Consolidated School District was one of 31 schools nationwide to earn a Together for Tomorrow Champions award for the 2012-13 school year, the U.S. Department of Education announced Monday. The district won the award based on its work with its Partnership Zone schools, a state effort to help turn around low-performing schools being paid for with part of the state’s $119 million Race to the Top grant.

National News

Lawrence Journal World
Classroom spending hard to define  
A task force appointed by Kansas Governor Sam Brownback is studying ways to make schools more efficient so more of the state’s education budget will be spent in the classroom. The panel will need to determine what exactly qualifies as “classroom” spending. Districts are struggling to meet a state goal of spending at least 65% of their state funds in the classroom or for instruction due to the lack of a standard definition.

Education Week
States punch reset button with NCLB waivers  
Given the flexibility to revise their academic goals under No Child Left Behind, a vast majority of the states that received waivers are setting different expectations for different subgroups of students, an Education Week analysis shows. The leeway to set the new academic goals means, however, that many students in the subgroups will fail to master college- and career-readiness standards at greater rates.

New York Times
Seeking aid, school districts change teacher evaluations
Fueled in part by efforts to qualify for the Obama administration’s Race to the Top federal grant program or waivers from the toughest conditions of No Child Left Behind, the Bush-era education law, 36 states and the District of Columbia have introduced new teacher evaluation policies in the past three years, according to the National Center on Teacher Quality, a nonprofit research and advocacy group. An increasing number of states are directing districts to use these evaluations in decisions about how teachers are granted tenure, promoted or fired.

El Paso schools confront scandal of students who ‘disappeared’ at test time
A former schools superintendent, Lorenzo Garcia, was sentenced to prison for his role in orchestrating the testing scandal. But for students and parents, the case did not end there. A federal investigation continues, with the likelihood of more arrests of administrators who helped Mr. Garcia. Federal prosecutors charged Mr. Garcia, 57, with devising an elaborate program to inflate test scores to improve the performance of struggling schools under the federal No Child Left Behind Act and to allow him to collect annual bonuses for meeting district goals.

Daily Education News- 10/15/12

Posted by rodel

Here are several stories in today’s news about Delaware education and from across the nation:

Local News

The News Journal
World-class schools are here – in Delaware
An op-ed by Paul Herdman
The day-to-day classroom teaching we saw from Helsinki to Singapore didn’t look a lot different from what I’ve seen in strong schools from Indian River to Red Clay. The difference is that they systematically took what worked and then made it the norm. I am convinced that if we continue to bring to light what is working, and doing more of it, we can bring these good ideas to scale.

Ideas welcome at overcrowded school
An editorial
Come Sept. 30 of every year, public school districts spend time prepping for a possible deluge of new students. That’s the date when Delaware schools need to confirm enrollment numbers to align the related costs with their state and local income. There is adequate research to support the case for reducing class size to improve student outcomes. But to do this kind of large-scale reshuffling without input from parents and guardians would incite unnecessary rancor that could be as disruptive to these students as leaving them in overcrowded schools. 

National News

Education Week
On education, U.S. doesn’t match rhetoric with action, report says  
The United States seriously lags in keeping our youngest citizens healthy and ensuring they are ready to learn, according to a new report. The nation earned an average C- overall with lackluster grades in five separate categories: Economic security, early childhood, K-12 education, permanence and stability, and health and safety. Those factors all play heavily into outcomes in student learning, dropout prevention, and discipline.

More student data would inform teaching, report says  
Digital Learning Now! released its second report in a series that aims to provide guidance for states on implementing Common Core standards as well as transitioning to a digital learning environment. This report focuses on the sharing of student information and data, something the report contends is not being done well in today’s education system.

Orlando Sentinel
State seeks to double enrollment in charter schools  
The Florida state board adopted a new strategic plan that envisions about 17% of one-time public school students attending either charter or using taxpayer-funded vouchers to attend private schools by the 2017-18 school year. This year, about 9% of students are in charter schools or using Tax Credit or McKay scholarships.

The New York Times
Want to ruin teaching? Give ratings
An op-ed by Deborah Kenny, chief executive and founding principal of Harlem Village Academies and author of “Born to Rise: A Story of Children and Teachers Reaching Their Highest Potential”
For more than a decade I’ve been a strong proponent of teacher accountability. But the solution being considered by many states — having the government evaluate individual teachers — is a terrible idea that undermines principals and is demeaning to teachers. Principals need to create a culture of trust, teamwork and candid feedback that is essential to running an excellent school.

Daily Education News-9/27/12

Posted by rodel

Here are several stories in today’s news about Delaware education and from across the nation:

National News

Oregonian
Oregon piloting a system to screen every pupil’s readiness  
Students who start kindergarten equipped with certain skills and knowledge are far more likely to be strong readers in 3rd grade and beyond. In response, Oregon is developing readiness assessments to gain a more reliable picture of how many 5-year-olds arrive primed to learn and how far behind the others are. The assessments will be piloted in 16 districts.

Huffington Post
State and local school finance systems perpetuate per-student spending disparities  
Inequitable per-pupil spending perpetuated by regressive state and local school-finance systems remains cause for concern, despite state aid formulas designed to work to the contrary, according to a new report. The study identified six states where combined state and local revenues and school resources are considerably lower in higher-poverty districts than they are in lower-poverty districts.

Education Week
Chess: The best move for students
An op-ed by Salome Thomas-EL is the principal of the Thomas Edison Charter School in Wilmington, Delaware
Unfortunately, most of our nation’s urban and rural students won’t have the same opportunities as my chess players because, as a general rule, we don’t teach our children to think critically or to think ahead. We don’t teach them to use logic and reason or to consider rewards and consequences before they make decisions. Students must learn that they are not born smart, but become smart through hard work and the process of growth. Chess can help establish that foundation for students as young as 5 and 6 years old, and it is simple enough to learn quickly.

Slate
Why New Haven’s ambitious new education strategy might actually succeed
As the recent Chicago teacher strike demonstrated, public school systems are phenomenally difficult institutions to change. The array of competing forces—unions, politicians, parents, principals, charter schools, state and national bureaucrats—gums up many reform efforts and frustrates all but the most persistent reformers. But what’s happening in the historically troubled New Haven, Conn., public school system suggests there may be ways around this, ways that all sides can support.

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