Effectiveness over Urgency is Key to Improving Student Performance in Wilmington Legislatively creating a new experimental school entity with more autonomy is a better solution than creating a "collaborative" where no one knows who is liable for what.   By  Dr. Tanya Hettler , Ph.D., Director  Center for Educational Excellence October 14, 2022  Wilmington's Poor Test Scores (before & after COVID-19)   The 2022 statewide K-12 test scores on the Smarter Balanced Assessment give

The Reason Foundation , a public policy think tank in California, compiled data from the U.S. Census from 2002 to 2020. They have kindly shared their data with the Caesar Rodney Institute and given us access to their interactive map of the country and their various graphs depicting education spending data specific to Delaware.     Their summary statement about the national census data concludes: "Nationwide, inflation-adjusted per-pupil K-12 revenues grew by 25%—or by $3,211

Wilmington Learning Collaborative:  Sounds like a New Charter School By  Dr. Tanya Hettler , Ph.D., Director  Center for Educational Excellence August 19, 2022      The Wilmington Learning Collaborative (WLC) is Delaware's latest solution to the problem of poor education and test scores in the city of Wilmington. In reading the WLC's most recent Draft Agreement , it becomes apparent that the goals and methods of the WLC are remarkably similar to those that were initially esp

So Much for Transparency By  Dr. Tanya Hettler , Ph.D., Director  Center for Educational Excellence June 30, 2022      Transparency has recently become a hot topic nationally and in Delaware. Concerns about transparency in education have focused on K-12 curriculum, teacher training, and parental rights. Transparency in government, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) policies, and what aspects of government operations should be made available to the public have also been debated

Why both 'Choice' and Charter Schools Really Matter in Delaware By  Dr. Tanya Hettler , Ph.D., Director  Center for Educational Excellence May 27, 2022      Delaware is known throughout the country for its particular brand of school choice.  In Delaware, " choice "  means that even if a particular public school is your "feeder" school (that is, the one that your child is assigned to go to based on where you live), you can "choice" them into another public school, charter scho

DE Schools Look Bad vs. Other States:  SAT testing needs to be optional By Dr. Tanya Hettler , Ph.D., Director  Center for Educational Excellence March 31, 2022      Since it became a requirement in 2016 that all high school juniors in the state take the SAT, Delaware students have placed last or nearly last in the country on the SAT test every year. Governor Carney and Delaware legislators, please change the law to have participation in the SAT test be optional. By doing t

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 1, 2022  (Article published on 3/8/2022 by Delaware State News " Delaware's Center for Education Excellence hires new leader ."   CRI welcomes new Education Director     NEWARK, DE - The Caesar Rodney Institute (CRI) is pleased to announce Dr. Tanya Hettler, Ph.D., to serve as the director of the Center for Education Excellence. As director, Dr. Hettler will lead policy research efforts for an important and much-needed overhaul of Delaware's K-12 p