Welcome Back to School!

Vision 2015 would like to wish all students, parents, administrators, and school personnel a happy, healthy, and successful year!

The U.S. Department of Education recently awarded a $2 million Parental Information and Resource Center (PIRC) project grant to a consortium of parent leadership groups in Delaware. The project is designed to advance academic outcomes for students most at risk of academic failure by empowering parents and caregivers to become knowledgeable and powerful advocates for school improvement and student success. It will be led by Parent Information Center of Delaware, Inc. (PIC) in partnership with the Delaware Department of Education’s Parents as Teachers Program and the Rodel Foundation’s Delaware Parent Leadership Institute (DPLI).

Drawing from the strengths of the three partner organizations, this coordinated approach will empower parents who are traditionally not involved in their children's education. The project will also support the family and community engagement objective of Vision 2015.

Read more about the Parental Information Resource Center project.

Vision 2015 extends an enthusiastic "Congratulations!" to Merrie Pritchett, a Delaware parent leader who has been acknowledged recently for her outstanding contributions.

Merrie was one of five parents nationwide to receive a GEAR UP Parent Leadership Award in July 2007, the inaugural year of the award. This award is designed to recognize parents who have emerged as true leaders in the GEAR UP community. Merrie is the family-school relations coordinator for the federally funded Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP). As coordinator, her role is to ensure parent and student engagement in a range of college preparatory academic and guidance activities.

"How we prepare our children for working to their greatest potential in the 21st century is of vital concern to us all. After all, they will be the ones running our world in just a few short years."

--Priscilla Young, resident of Dover and former teacher and elementary school counselor for 35 years, The News Journal, August 31, 2007

"The most effective means of changing the schools is through parent involvement."

--Verna Hensley, president, Parent Information Center of Delaware Board of Directors, The News Journal, September 2, 2007

On Friday, November 9 and Saturday, November 10, the Delaware Public Policy Institute and the Delaware State Education Association will host "Teachers: Career Paths, Compensation and Collective Bargaining in the 21st Century." Joel I. Klein, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, will deliver the keynote address on Friday, November 9.

This conference, held in Dover, will be open to educators, school board members, administrators, business leaders, legislators, and other interested citizens. The conference is free but pre-registration will be required. More information will be included in future newsletters.

The "Meet the Challenge" program at Stanton Middle School has realized incredible successes. Through an innovative partnership with Selbyville Middle School, Stanton Middle has replicated Selbyville's "Meet the Challenge" program and implemented data-driven instructional changes that have raised student achievement, begun closing the achievement gap, and elevated the school to a commendable school rating.

The collaboration between Selbyville Middle and Stanton Middle was made possible through Lt. Governor John Carney's "Models of Excellence in Education" project, an initiative started in 2002 to celebrate schools and programs that successfully raise student achievement and to aide sharing those models with other schools around the state.

To find out more information about Stanton Middle School's "Meet the Challenge program," click here.

Read The News Journal article on this partnership.

Virtual schools served 700,000 U.S. students in the 2005–06 school year, mostly at the high school level. Online learning is growing rapidly across the United States within all levels of education. Although K-12 education lags behind post-secondary education in using the Internet to teach, many states and school districts are realizing the potential of online education. By the end of 2006, 38 states had established state-led online learning programs, policies regulating online learning, or both.

The Delaware Virtual School, a state-led online learning program, will begin offering courses in January 2008 so that students, no matter where they live or go to school, will have access to challenging and remedial coursework.

Sources:

Tucker, Bill. "Laboratories of Reform: Virtual High Schools and Innovation in Public Education." Education Sector Reports, June 2007.

Watson, John F., "A National Primer on K-12 Online Learning." North American Council for Online Learning, April 2007.

Vision 2015 acknowledges the generous support of the Rodel Foundation, which on August 28 announced an additional $2 million commitment to support the plan in the coming 2007-08 fiscal year. This funding includes approximately $1 million for the Vision Network of districts and charter schools and another $1 million to support Vision 2015 more broadly, providing for leadership forums, research, community engagement, and operational support.

The Rodel Foundation joins the Delaware Business Roundtable, The Wallace Foundation, the Delaware Department of Education, and the University of Delaware in supporting Vision 2015 and the launch of the Vision Network.

To get the latest information on how to become involved with Vision 2015, please visit our web site: www.vision2015delaware.org or e-mail us at info@vision2015delaware.org.