Demand Excellence
Delaware students rank 27th among the 50 states in academic performance. Being in the middle of the pack in the U.S. isn’t nearly good enough, especially considering that the U.S. itself is in the middle of the pack in many international rankings of academic performance. Clearly Delaware’s students should be making better progress toward world-class performance in math, reading and science. Their future depends on this, as do the health of our communities and the competitiveness of Delaware’s workforce.
Take Action Now
Give our teachers a tool to help improve our kids’ performance against higher standards. Ask your elected officials to replace the Delaware State Testing Program (DSTP) with a system will cost less while providing teachers with more timely and insightful information that will enable them to tailor instruction to a child’s needs during the school year.
Facts
- Only 31% of Delaware 8th grade students meet national standards in reading and mathematics. NCES online NAEP Data Explorer
- Almost no gains in have been made in average Delaware test scores for math and reading in the past three years. Delaware Department of Education, 2008.
- 26 Delaware schools require immediate intervention according to school and No Child Left Behind ratings; 77% of these schools are middle or high schools. Delaware Department of Education , 2008.
- Delaware high school graduation rates and SAT scores rank below average in the U.S. College Board, 2008.
- Only 69% of Delaware students who enter college actually graduate. This is below the U.S. average and behind 16 of the world’s most developed countries. National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. “Measuring Up 2006: The National Report Card on Higher Education: Delaware”
- 82% of US college students say they would have worked harder if they had been challenged more in high school. Achieve, Inc.
- Only 23.9% of Delaware’s early education teachers have a college degree, which is lower than the national average. University of Delaware Education Research & Development Center, “Transforming Early Childhood Education in Delaware: Building Foundations of Change, 2008.”
Solutions:
- Set higher standards for Delaware’s kids, benchmarking Delaware’s standards for math, reading and science against the world’s best. Delaware’s graduates are already competing with better prepared students from other countries that have higher standards, and this trend will only accelerate in future years. Our students will be left even farther behind if we don’t provide what they need to be the very best.
- Use a better method to test Delaware students’ progress. Replace the current Delaware Student Testing Program with one that measures student progress throughout the year and provides results more frequently to teachers so they can tailor instruction. An Assessment Task Force will soon release a “request for proposals” for a new state assessment system, which, if fully implemented, could provide teachers with this much-needed information. Funding should be reallocated from the LEAD Committee’s proposed savings to launch this new system.
- Expand the Vision 2015 network of schools, which is implementing best practices and paving the way for changes in all of Delaware schools. Twenty-one schools across Delaware are participating in the Vision Network and many more schools and districts have asked to be considered. They should have the chance to strengthen their own programs, too. Learn more.
- Turn around underperforming schools. Encourage the Department of Education to work with struggling schools earlier and more effectively so kids don’t waste years of their lives in schools that can’t offer an excellent education.
- Improve the quality of early childhood programs. Expand Delaware Stars for Early Success to help more early care and education providers improve the quality of their services.
- Expand access to high quality early childhood programs. Offer high quality early childhood education to more low-income 3 and 4-year-olds.
- Help to public better understand how education dollars are spent. Increase the public’s understanding of how dollars are used and how our schools and districts are performing. School profiles on the Department of Education website were updated in 2008 to better reflect some of this information, although detailed financial information on each school still is not easily available.
