Memphis Local, Sports, Business & Food News | Daily Memphian | Kathryn Palmer

Summer reading camps are popular, getting results – and in peril

kpalmer@chalkbeat.org (Kathryn Palmer) — Mon, 26 Aug 2019 11:44:32 -0500

Read to be Ready camps first opened in 2016, and Tennessee has expanded the program annually with funding from the U.S. Department of Human Services. But state officials learned in January that the federal grant now has to be used for child care programs.

600 new Memphis teachers ready for first day of school

kpalmer@chalkbeat.org (Kathryn Palmer) — Fri, 9 Aug 2019 16:03:54 -0500

During a recent orientation, newly hired teachers learned more about the Shelby County Schools focus on social and emotional learning.

U of M program trains teachers to get comfortable with robotics

kpalmer@chalkbeat.org (Kathryn Palmer) — Sun, 4 Aug 2019 17:53:25 -0500

A two-day robotics training program at the University of Memphis is trying to show teachers that leading students in robotics and technology isn’t so difficult.

Busing for integration was maligned by some, 'opened a whole new world' for others

kpalmer@chalkbeat.org (Kathryn Palmer) — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 14:05:00 -0500

By 1978, 40,000 white students had left Memphis City Schools, a move that contributed to Memphis’ distinction of having one of the largest private school systems in the country. Memphis schools remain starkly segregated, with 90 percent of students enrolled in 2018 identifying as black.

10 new schools will open in Memphis this academic year

kpalmer@chalkbeat.org (Kathryn Palmer) — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 14:39:23 -0500

The openings and closings will bring the total number of Memphis charter schools to 82 — with Shelby County Schools overseeing 57 and the state-run Achievement School District overseeing 25 more.

New social studies standards address fear of religious indoctrination in schools

kpalmer@chalkbeat.org (Kathryn Palmer) — Tue, 9 Jul 2019 11:02:40 -0500

The old middle-school standards had varying guidelines on addressing the six world religions taught in world history courses — Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and Shintoism. Now, teaching of the six creeds follows the exact same formula: origins, key people, sacred texts and basic beliefs.

11 Memphis charter school applications rejected

kpalmer@chalkbeat.org (Kathryn Palmer) — Thu, 27 Jun 2019 12:16:12 -0500

“The state has pretty clear criteria for what an academic plan should look like, what an operational plan should look like and what a financial plan should look like. None of those schools really met that criteria,” said Bradley Leon, Shelby County Schools chief of strategy and performance management.

Hands-on learning drives teachers and students at Libertas

kpalmer@chalkbeat.org (Kathryn Palmer) — Mon, 24 Jun 2019 16:53:05 -0500

Inside the homey classrooms at Libertas, there are no desks lined up in neat rows. Instead, students and teachers sit at scattered chairs and tables — or on the floor if they prefer.