Appoquinimink School District’s Aspiring Administrators program was spotlighted in a recent issue of Education Week, a national education policy newspaper. Part of a story on how innovative districts are working to train the next generation of educational leaders, the program, created four years ago under the leadership of Assistant Superintendent Dr. Marion E. Proffitt, is designed to develop instructional leaders who can improve student achievement by working collaboratively with school leadership teams.

Teachers with at least three years of teaching experience in the district are eligible to participate in the program, said Dr. Proffitt. “They’re able to be what I consider first-day productive. They already know the district; they’ve been a part of it.” Five of the district’s 10 principals – and six assistant principals – have come through the program.

About 68 percent of Delaware principals will be retiring in the next 10 years, according to the Delaware Department of Education. Jackie O. Wilson, associate director of Delaware's Academy for School Leadership is working with 12 districts and two charter schools that have official succession plans for how they are going to identify prospective administrators. The design of this program is based on the success of a similar initiative in New York City.

The Aspiring Administrators initiative and the Vision Network – of which Appoquinimink is also a part – are designed to develop instructional leaders that can improve student achievement by working collaboratively with school leadership teams. Read the Education Week story.

Delaware students gathered at Del Tech in Dover on Saturday, April 26, for the Your Vision Your Voice Youth Summit, organized by the Rodel Foundation of Delaware and sponsored by Rodel, Gear Up, JPMorgan Chase, United Way, and Verizon. The free day-long event allowed students to network with peers and openly discuss academic, health, and personal issues in a variety of "teens-only" workshops.

Winners of the Your Vision Your Voice essay/video contest were announced in the afternoon and awarded with cash prizes.

“Your Vision Your Voice was an excellent start to empower youth to use their voice to ensure their vision is heard within their schools,” said Taria Pritchett, a member of the event’s Youth Advisory Board. “The Summit empowered me to want to step up when I attend UD in the fall. It also allowed other youth to see that they can make positive changes in their schools.”

The following teens were selected as winners for creatively envisioning the future of Delaware’s public schools:

In the essay category: Samuel Bellingham, Cab Calloway School of the Arts (1st place); Peter Attia, Charter School of Wilmington (2nd place); Martha-Raye Adjei, A.I. duPont High School (3rd place); Marcus Love, Newark Charter School (honorable mention); and Lauren Saxton, Lake Forest High School (honorable mention).

In the video category: Brandon Fulton, David Luna, and Jeremie Wimbrow, Sussex Central High School (1st place); Monika Chawla, Garrett Fundakowski, and Dana Hufe, Newark Charter School (2nd place); and Brittany Miller, Glasgow High School (3rd place).

“I was very impressed with the students’ candor and maturity when discussing what Delaware Schools should look like. It was very encouraging to watch their energy and involvement at the Summit. My congratulations to all the supporters who were involved in making the Summit a success.”

--Margaret Verduchi, JP MorganChase, speaking about the Your Vision Your Voice Summit.

Two Schools Recognized for Efforts to Raise Student Achievement

Claymont Elementary School and Smyrna High School were the recipients of the 2008 Models of Excellence in Education award, which recognizes schools that have consistently raised student achievement.

The schools were chosen for their continuous school-wide improvement regarding their use of data and their focus on closing the achievement gap.

Smyrna and Claymont will receive $5,000 to further school programs that have raised student achievement. Both schools will present their successful strategies at the 2008 Models of Excellence Sharing Forum in the fall.

Betty Pinchin, principal at Claymont Elementary, and Tony Soligo, Smyrna High School principal, will be honored on May 5 at the Models of Excellence awards ceremony along with teachers and staff members from each school. The ceremony is held jointly with the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce's Superstars in Education dinner.

Read more about the Models of Excellence program.

Great Leadership is Key to Schools’ Academic Success, Research Finds

The recent McKinsey & Company report, "How the World’s Best-Performing Schools Come Out on Top," found that without an effective principal a school is unlikely to have a culture of high expectations or to strive for continuous improvement.

Other findings from the report include:

• School leadership is second only to classroom teaching in its impact on student learning.
• Ninety-seven percent of the schools in England that rated “good” or “excellent” overall are led by management teams that are also rated “good” or “excellent.” Only 8 percent of schools with leadership teams rated “satisfactory” or below are rated “good” or “excellent” overall.
• To develop effective school leaders, school systems must do the following: get the right teachers to become principals, develop instructional leadership skills, and focus each principal’s time on instructional leadership.

Vision 2015 is focused on instructional leadership at the school level and is working with a number of partners across the state to develop effective school leaders. The University of Delaware's Academy for School Leadership is working with the Vision Network districts and schools to increase leadership time spent on instruction and cultivate teacher leaders. Vision Network district Appoquinimink is implementing a nationally-recognized program to identify aspiring leaders among their teachers and develop their leadership skills.

Delaware’s Teacher of the Year Honored at the White House

Delaware’s Teacher of the Year, Courtney Farina Fox, met with President Bush in the Oval Office on April 30. Fox, who received the honor in October 2007, teaches first grade at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School in the Brandywine School District. View the photo.

Established in 1952, The National Teacher of the Year Program, the most prestigious national honors program, recognizes excellence in education and expresses appreciation for the nation’s many outstanding teachers.

Learn more about Delaware’s Teacher of the Year.

Charting Our Path to Prominence

Secretary of Education Valerie A. Woodruff and Dr. Lillian Lowery, Superintendent of Christina School District, will take part in a panel discussion on the future of public education at a forum at the University of Delaware on May 10, 2008. The full-day event also will include panel sessions focused on the economy, environment, healthcare, and other topics celebrating the great achievements of the University and its aspirations for the future. Learn more.

Multi-state Strategy for Global Competitiveness

Bill Budinger and Paul Herdman, Founder and President & CEO of the Rodel Foundation, respectively, co-authored a guest editorial for the Fordham Foundation’s “The Education Gadfly” that speaks to the role that states can play in transforming education to regain our nation’s edge internationally. “Such a coordinated multi-state strategy would be the fastest and most coherent way to redesign how America delivers public education,” they said. It builds on Delaware’s leadership among all 50 states in addressing education reform at the state level.
Read the article.

25th Anniversary of A Nation at Risk

This month marks 25 years since the National Commission on Excellence in Education released A Nation at Risk, which called for changes to our nation’s educational system. Today, statewide reform efforts like Vision 2015 are helping to equip all students with the skills, knowledge, and leadership abilities to meet the demands of the 21st century.

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.