This story was originally published in July 2022. Rodel, a local nonprofit espousing better education in Delaware, calls the 151st General Assembly, which just ended, the “Education General Assembly,” in regard to the number of education bills that passed. “There’s more than 50 education bills this session and a 7% increase in the budget,” said Madeleine Bayard, senior vice president of Rodel. “They got …
This story was originally published in November 2022. Colonial School District Superintendent Jeffrey D. Menzer unearthed a surprising fact while he was devising a method to track the effectiveness of a new focus on student reading skills and scores. The 2022 eighth graders who had been at Colonial schools since second grade scored higher on reading proficiency tests than those in eighth …
This story was originally published in August 2022. Delaware’s 2022 test scores were released this August, and they aren’t pretty. Just 30% of Delaware students in grades three to eight met grade-level math requirements, while 42% earned a proficient score in English language arts. These scores come from the state-administered Smarter Balanced Assessment, an end-of-the-year summative test that measures the …
Even though the job of superintendent of education is one of the most powerful in a school district, many Delaware districts don’t perform annual reviews of theirs. “Some boards have a formal review, and some don’t,” said Donald Patton, board member of Christina School District. He was a teacher and principal for decades before being elected in May. “How do …
Red Clay Consolidated School District voted unanimously Wednesday night to create and join the Wilmington Learning Collaborative. That makes them the third and final district to commit. Christina and Brandywine school boards already had agreed to sign the memorandum of understanding to create the agency. Red Clay Board Member Adriana Bohm for weeks has called for the version of the …
A new digital and uniform process to register children for kindergarten in the First State was unveiled to an audience of 25 Tuesday at the Wilmington Public Library. “Having a consistent process throughout Delaware allows libraries and other agencies to provide quick support and assistance to parents who are registering their children for school for the very first time,” said …
Delaware is spending more of its education COVID relief funds on postsecondary and career readiness than other states. “Overall, Delaware’s state spending aligns with national trends, but we are seeing more of a priority in those areas in Delaware than in other states, so that’s one thing that really stands out,” said Austin Estes, project director for the COVID Relief …
A look at the test scores of Brandywine School District’s elementary schools shows why the state is focusing only on Wilmington children in its proposal for a program to raise student achievement in the city. Brandywine school board member Kristin Pidgeon this week questioned why Brandywine’s other eight elementaries – all in suburban schools – are not included in the …
The Delaware Department of Education announced last week it has hired a Virginia consultant to study the state’s public education funding system. As today’s wisecracker would say: Good luck with that. How the money trickles down to the classroom is complex, and it follows a funding system established in the 1940s. The state’s population then was 286,000, compared to today’s …
Delaware’s 2022 test scores were released Tuesday, and they aren’t pretty. Just 30% of Delaware students in grades three to eight met grade level math requirements, while 42% earned a proficient score in English language arts. These scores come from the state-administered Smarter Balanced Assessment, an end-of-the-year summative test that measures the abilities of students in grades three through eight …
