Delaware LIVE+ Weekly Review – March 23, 2025

Sonja FreyDelaware Live, Weekly Review

Click the image below to read your Weekly Review! Sonja Frey

The donation to UD - the largest ever - will be used to improve the business school, pictured above.

UD gets largest gift in history, $71.5M to transform business school

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

The University of Delaware has secured its largest individual philanthropic contribution in history—a generous $71.5 million gift from alumni Robert L. Siegfried, Jr. and Kathleen Marie Siegfried, along with The Siegfried Group, LLP. This transformative donation will support the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics and positions the college among the nation’s elite business schools. The gift, which is …

2024 NAEP results were released to the public Wednesday, and show little progress in on subject for Delawareans. (Photo by gece33/iStock Getty Images)

NAEP scores show increase in math scores, little change elsewhere

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

2024 data from what’s referred to as the “Nation’s Report Card” was released Wednesday, and while there’s still critical underperformance, Delaware’s making slight improvement in test scores and proficiency rates. Delaware is nine points below the national average for scores in eighth-grade math and seven points below in eighth-grade reading. Fourth-grade math scores were four points less than the national …

A Look Ahead

Leaders look ahead at the challenges facing Delaware in 2025

Peter OsborneEducation, Government, Headlines

Delaware Live asked 40 Delaware community leaders across political and business spectrums to look ahead at 2025. We got some great answers but were frankly disappointed by the number of responses. Perhaps next year. In the meantime, please feel free to post your thoughts in the Comments. You can also see what Milford’s Jo Schmeiser and Mark Whitfield had to …

Looking back

Area leaders look back on the challenges and successes of 2024

Peter OsborneHeadlines, Education

Delaware Live asked 40 Delaware community leaders across political and business spectrums to look back 2024 (they’ll look ahead at 2025 in a separate post). We got some great answers, but we were frankly disappointed by the number of responses. Perhaps next year. In the meantime, please feel free to post your thoughts in the Comments. You can also see …

Fixing the state's underperforming school districts is not unlike pushing a boulder up a hill.

Educators agree high absenteeism drives poor performance in 4 northern NCCo districts 

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

Delaware’s four most northern schools  – which make up four of the six largest districts in the state – have data metrics that can tell a number of stories, all of which keep parents, teachers, administrators, and even students awake at night. One story is about absenteeism. Another is about resources, another about the challenges of special student populations, and …

Improvement plans

50 Delaware schools on improvement plans to reverse poor performance

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

In Delaware, 50 of the First State’s 200+ schools are on state-monitored improvement plans due to consistent underachievement. There are four categories of improvement plans depending on the number of years of poor performance, student demographics, and more. “I appreciate the intent of the report, but many of the struggles in our schools come from misguided policy at the legislative …