Vision 2015 First-Year Progress Report Published

It's been almost one year since we released the Vision 2015 plan. For an overview of what we've accomplished and what still lies ahead, click here for your copy of the Vision 2015 Anniversary Report. The report was distributed as an insert through The News Journal on Tuesday, October 9, and will also be in the Cape Gazette on Friday, October 12 and in the Delaware State News on Sunday, October 21.

Read about it in The News Journal.

Vision Network school and district leaders will participate in the first Executive Leadership Academy training on October 11-13 in Newark, Delaware. During of the Academy, leadership teams--including superintendents, principals, teachers, and other district office staff from Vision Network districts and charter schools--will learn about leadership models and will study best practices for improving student achievement. Training will be provided by the Delaware Academy for School Leadership at the University of Delaware and the consulting firm Focus on Results.

Vision 2015 congratulates Etta J. Wilson and Joseph M. McVey elementary schools in the Christina School District and Lancashire Elementary School in the Brandywine School District for being recognized as national Blue Ribbon Schools under the No Child Left Behind Act. These three Delaware schools are among 287 public and private K-12 schools that received the award this year for helping close the achievement gap and helping their students achieve at a high level academically.

We also applaud Caridad "Charity" Alonso, 2007 Delaware Teacher of the Year and Kimberly Oliver, 2006 Delaware Teacher of the Year, who each recently received the 2007 Wilmington Award for civic accomplishment. The annual awards recognize achievements in many fields, including education. For more winners, click here.

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.

On Friday, November 9 and Saturday, November 10, the Delaware Public Policy Institute, the Delaware State Education Association, and Vision 2015 will host "Teachers: Career Paths, Compensation and Collective Bargaining in the 21st Century." This free conference, held in Dover, will bring together many of the nation’s leading educators, policy experts and union representatives from around the country to discuss new approaches to teacher compensation, career paths and collective bargaining.

New York City Department of Education Deputy Chancellor Christopher D. Cerf will kick off the forum on Friday evening, speaking on New York City's pioneering work in public education transformation. Pre-registration is required. For more information and to register, click here.

The National Center on Time & Learning was launched on October 2 in Washington, D.C. The goal of the Center is to promote expanded learning time to improve student outcomes and ensure an enriched education for all students. Extended school time is a recommendation within Vision 2015; the plan proposes an additional 140 academic hours for Delaware students as a step toward improving achievement. To read about a successful effort to expand learning time in Delaware, click here.

A study by Massachusetts2020 revealed five ways that additional academic time can promote student learning and achievement: 1) increased "time on task" for students; 2) broader and deeper coverage of curriculum; 3) more opportunities for experiential learning; 4) greater ability for teachers to work with diverse ability levels simultaneously; and 5) deepened adult-child relationships. For example, the daily expansion of math instruction to two periods at Roxbury Prep in Boston, Mass., has produced promising results. About 50 percent more students scored at the proficient level on the state test when they participated in double math periods than students who participated in single math periods.

Source: Time for a Change: The Promise of Extended-Time Schools for Promoting Student Achievement, Massachusetts2020, Fall 2005.

"Just as Vision 2015 holds everyone--administrators, teachers, parents, and students--accountable for results, we feel it is essential to keep the public informed of our progress and our plans. We hope everyone will follow and support our progress. This is too important for the students of Delaware for us not to work together as hard as we can."

--Marvin N. Schoenhals, Chair of Vision 2015, Chairman, WSFS Bank, The News Journal, October 9, 2007