Delaware
Education News
May 2009
Copyright
© 2009 Queue, Inc.
Education Watch Highlights Delaware
Delaware
Education Report Back Issues (http://www.queuenews.com/DEnews.html)
Education Research Report Back
Issues (http://queueeducation.blogspot.com)
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House
Bill 102 is now law. It makes important changes to the stateÕs education system
that will enable Delaware to qualify for the prestigious Teach for American
program.
A
former elementary school teacher and former school board member, Rep. Teresa L.
Schooley said that the Teach for America program will help place dedicated
teachers in the classrooms throughout Delaware that need help the most.
ÒThousands of teachers Ð including several who were educated here in Delaware Ð have been placed in schools throughout the country in low-income areas and have produced some really positive results,Ó said Rep. Schooley, D-Newark, the chair of the House Education Committee and the sponsor of HB 102. ÒWe feel that bringing this program to Delaware and bringing those dedicated teachers to Delaware classrooms will only help with improving the quality of our education and will help bring about positive change in schools that need it most.Ó
Sen.
David Sokola, D-Newark, the chair of the Senate Education Committee, added:
ÒTeach for America gives us an opportunity to expand the pool of our best and
brightest young leaders where they're needed most -- guiding our children on a
path to success in life. And, the structure of this legislation includes sufficient
monitoring to ensure confidence in this program prior to expanding it
statewide. I do believe this program will provide quality teachers for our
kids.Ó
Last
month, Congress made an unprecedented commitment to AmericaÕs public schools,
passing the single biggest increase in federal education funding in our
nationÕs history. As the U.S. Department of Education begins to distribute the one-time
funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the
onus is on states to live up to that challenge and ensure that this investment
boosts overall achievement and closes gaps.
To
measure how effectively states are using the infusion of federal support, the
public will need accurate, reliable data. The Education TrustÕs Education
Watch series assembles some of the most critical indicators of
student achievement, attainment, and opportunity, providing a state-by-state
snapshot of public education in America.
The
data in these reports and the accompanying Òquick lookÓ chart
mark the starting line in AmericaÕs ÒRace to the TopÓ Ð the federal effort to
provoke bold, enduring progress in education. Education Watch reveals which states are
farthest along the course, which are gaining on those leaders, and which are
barely out of the starting blocks. Throughout the duration of ARRA spending,
The Education Trust will provide updates on state progress as new data become
available.
These
reports reflect the most up-to-date information available across states. While some states
may have more recent data on their own schools and reform efforts, Education
Watch
uses only data that are consistent across states. This allows for accurate
comparisons and the ability to identify and learn from the leaders on each
indicator. While no state is yet where it needs to be, especially in terms of
educating lower income students and students of color, some are doing a much
better job than others.
For
example, on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP):
á
In
eighth-grade math, Massachusetts leads the nation in gains overall since 2000, and
was among the top gainers for Latinos and lower income students. However, state
improvement among African-American students (6 points) lagged significantly
behind the national average (16 points), resulting in a widening of the
performance gap between African-American and white students. Massachusetts was
one of just two states in which an achievement gap between student subgroups
grew larger.
Though
each state is different, common patterns emerge from these NAEP data,
indicating just how far we have to go to ensure that all young Americans have
equal access to a high-quality education Ð especially lower income students and
students of color, who now comprise almost half of all students in our
nationÕs public schools. Student performance is too low overall, varying
dramatically between student groups, and the pace of improvement is far too
slow.
ÒThese
reports provide a sobering look at the challenging work that lies ahead,Ó said
Kati Haycock, president of The Education Trust. ÒOne thing is clear: To secure
our economic future, we must confront educational inequities head-on and ensure
that every school in America is ready to help every student advance farther,
faster. The federal dollars are not a license to do business as usual; they
come with a demand for change. We will never have this opportunity again, so
the pressure is on for states to invest big in what works for kids and stop
supporting the policies and programs that simply arenÕt getting the job done.Ó
When
evaluating student achievement data, many people are quick to attribute
performance to the home lives of students. But the variation of results among
states for the same groups of students proves that what happens in school matters immensely.
ThatÕs
why the Education Watch data on opportunity in education offer a valuable way to
compare student achievement, taking into account the level of resources
available to each student group. A look at these data show that lower income
students and students of color Ð the ones who most often come to school with
less Ð are consistently and systematically provided with less of everything
that research and experience tell us matters most in school: less access to
well-prepared, effective teachers; less access to challenging curriculum; and
less funding.
For
example:
Delaware
report:
http://www2.edtrust.org/edtrust/summaries2009/Delaware.pdf
State
reports:
http://www2.edtrust.org/edtrust/summaries2009/states.html
The annual survey of state-funded preschool
programs shows impressive expansion in enrollment and spending. However, the
recession may reverse the trend, curtailing early education opportunities for
children in lower and middle-income families.
The National Institute for Early Education
Research (NIEER) has released The State of Preschool 2008. Key findings included:
¥ Enrollment increased by more than 108,000
children. More than 1.1 million children attended state-funded preschool
education, 973,178 at age 4 alone.
¥ Thirty-three of the 38 states with
state-funded programs increased enrollment.
¥ Based on NIEER's Quality Standards
Checklist, 11 states improved the quality of their preschool programs. Only one
fell back.
¥ State funding for pre-K rose to almost
$4.6 billion. Funding for state pre-K from all reported sources exceeded $5.2
billion, an increase of nearly $1 billion (23 percent) over the previous year.
On a less positive note, whether or not a
child receives high-quality preschool education depends on where his or her
family lives. Twelve states provided no state-funded preschool in 2008.
Of the 38 states with state-funded
preschool, cuts are likely in at least nine including some of the biggest
states Ð California, Florida, New York, and North Carolina.
Currently, Oklahoma remains the only state
where virtually every child can start school at age 4. In at least eight other
states, more than half of 4-year-olds attend a public preschool program of some
kind.
At the other end of the spectrum, are the
12 states that have no regular state preschool education program: Alaska,
Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota,
Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. In eight states, less than 20
percent of children are enrolled in a public preschool program at age 4 even
taking into account preschool special education and Head Start.
Most states meet a majority of the NIEER's
10 benchmarks for program quality standards, but five states meet fewer than
half. These states include three of the four states with the largest populations
and numbers of children in pre-K-- California, Texas and Florida.
Texas is the only state that fails to limit
both maximum class size and staff-child ratio. California and Maine have limits
on staff-child ratio but no class size limit. Most other states limit classes
to 20 or fewer children with a teacher and an assistant.
In 2008, enrollment of 3-year-olds
continued to rise, though less rapidly than at age 4. The leader in serving
3-year-olds in state pre-K is Illinois, which is the only state committed to
serving all 3-year-olds, but it is closely followed by Arkansas. Four states,
Illinois, Arkansas, Vermont and New Jersey serve at least 20 percent of
children at age 3 in general and special education programs.
Research
shows that high-quality pre-K can help improve the educational success of all
children and by doing so, decrease school failure and dropout rates, and crime
and delinquency. In addition, high-quality preschool education has been found
to improve economic productivity and health.
Delaware
report:
http://nieer.org/yearbook/pdf/DE.pdf