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The Vision Coalition of Delaware released Student Success 2025 at a special event in Dover last week that showcased the broad-based nature of the initiative.
Student Success 2025 is a 10-year vision for public education in Delaware, focused on the core academic knowledge, skills, and attributes every educated Delawarean needs have by 2025 — and the strategies to achieve that vision, a release stated.
Members of the 13-member Vision Coalition Leadership Team – as well students Halim Hamroun of Newark High School, and Genesis Lyons of Kuumba Academy – presented the report to more than 300 in attendance.
The plan centers around six core areas: quality early learning; personalized learning; postsecondary and career success; educator support and development; school funding; and system governance, alignment, and performance.
With a focus on those six core areas, Delaware can build a more modern and seamless system that empowers students to better work with teachers, and families to own their educational path, a release from the coalition stated.
“The goal is to prepare every child in Delaware—no matter their background, zip code, or income level—for a lifetime of success,” said Susan Bunting, a member of the leadership team and superintendent of the Indian River School District. “We think that by moving toward a system that follows students from preschool all the way through high school and beyond in a coherent, comprehensive way, we can reach that goal.”
Last year, 4,000 Delawareans—including more than 1,300 students and recent graduates—contributed to the development of the plan by attending community conversations and meetings, completing surveys, and discussing issues online.
That effort led to what is known the “North Star”—the centerpiece of the Student Success 2025 plan and a term popular in corporate circles. The North Star aims to symbolize “skills and attributes that an educated Delawarean will need to have by the year 2025,” the release stated.
“Beyond academics, there are a wide range of skills and attributes that students will need before entering the real world,” said Hamroun, who served as an emcee for the launch event. “Things like communication, creativity, and critical thinking—are crucial for the students of today and tomorrow.”
Earlier in the day, around 60 students representing Mount Pleasant High School (Brandywine School District), POLYTECH High School (Polytech School District), and Sussex Central High School (Indian River School District) participated in a group discussion with members of the Vision Coalition Leadership Team—centering on the student experience of today, and how it might change over the next 10 years.
Local students were also featured in a series of video interviews, which were conducted throughout 2014-2015.
More than 75 percent of Student Success 2025’s predecessor Vision 2015’s recommendations have been acted on by the state, including higher academic standards, greater investments in teacher and principal preparation and support investments in quality improvements in early childhood education.
The coalition will follow up on the new plan by hosting its Eighth Annual Conference on Education on October 28 at Clayton Hall at the University of Delaware.
Its introduction comes after the release of a Business Roundtable report suggesting that education expenditures cannot be exempt from a discussion of ways to deal with a looming budget crisis caused by a sluggish revenue stream and rising state spending.
The education landscape has also changed since the 2015 report, with charter schools now accounting for a larger percentage of the student population. There has also been push back from parents and teachers on testing and other performance measurements.
The Vision Coalition Leadership Team members are:
- Ernest J. Dianastasis, managing director, CAI (Computer Aid, Inc.), chair
- H. Raye Jones Avery, executive director, Christina Cultural Arts Center
- Lamont Brown, executive director, EastSide Charter School, Family Foundations Academy
- Susan Bunting, superintendent, Indian River School District
- Paul A. Herdman, CEO, Rodel Foundation of Delaware
- Mark Holodick, superintendent, Brandywine School District
- Frederika Jenner, president, Delaware State Education Association
- Kurt Landgraf, former CEO, ETS
- Jorge Melendez, Vice President, Delaware State Board of Education
- Mark Murphy, Secretary, Delaware Department of Education
- Susan Perry-Manning, executive director, Delaware Office of Early Learning
- Daniel Rich, professor of Public Policy, University of Delaware
- Gary Stockbridge, president, Delmarva Power
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