Search Results for: SB 191

SB 191 Under Attack?

It ought to go without saying that an effective public education system should seek to identify classroom instructors who are successful and those who are not in order to reward and incentivize the former and to correct the latter. This was ostensibly the aim of the 2010 Senate Bill 191, the provisions of which continue to find themselves under near-constant attack nearly a decade after Gov. Ritter signed it into law.

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SB 191's Reforms Begin to Take Hold

Passed in 2010 with bipartisan support, Colorado’s Senate Bill 191 is a big law that includes a lot of different timelines. Frequent delays in the law’s implementation only add to the confusion. But despite all that messiness, the law is beginning to do its work. At its core, SB 191 is a tenure reform law. Okay, okay, legal nerds, a “non-probationary status” reform law. Previously, Colorado teachers earned non-probationary status after three years of teaching. That status provides near-absolute “due process” job protections that could force school district leaders to navigate legal requirements all the way to the steps of the Colorado Supreme Court should they decide to fire a non-probationary teacher. Under SB 191, teachers earn non-probationary status after three years of effective teaching. As an important corollary, those same teachers can lose that status after two years of ineffective teaching. We’ve discussed the ins and outs of these reforms at some length in the context of the union-led assault on legislative authority that is the Masters case, which deals with SB 191’s lesser-known mutual consent provision. We’ve also covered the Independence Institute’s arguments about why the union is way off base legally in that case. We won’t beat those […]

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What's Left Unsaid in CTQ Report on Implementing Colorado SB 191

A few weeks ago I posted some thoughts about Colorado’s implementation of the educator effectiveness law (SB 191) — including a video from Step Up Colorado — that prompted a lengthy and thoughtful comment from an area teacher who is part of the Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ)’s New Millennium Initiative (NMI). Then someone else from CTQ reached out to my Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow to notify him of a report, co-authored by Denver-area teachers, with thoughts on SB 191 implementation. I thought it fitting to dig in and follow up, seeing as how it was just last week Ben shared his thoughts before the State Board of Education on this very topic. Anyway, the CTQ report Making Teacher Evaluations Work for Students: Voices from the Classroom was released earlier this week. Some of the 21 teachers’ main points include:

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Cincinnati Study, Step Up for Colorado, Bolster SB 191 Implementation Success

There’s more to creating good policy than just passing a good law. This is especially true when it comes to big changes, like Colorado Senate Bill 191’s push to update how teachers are evaluated and retained. It wasn’t that long ago I expressed my concerns about the implementation. A couple weeks ago the co-chairs of the State Council on Educator Effectiveness presented their recommendations to the Colorado State Board of Education. One of the presenters expressed a hopeful confidence that the 50 percent of teacher and principal evaluations based on observed performance would match up with the 50 percent based on student growth. The good news, as reported by Education Next, is that new research by Thomas Kane and colleagues shows creating such an effective evaluation system can be done — because in a sense, the Cincinnati Public Schools’ Teacher Evaluation System (TES) already has done it:

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The Implementation of SB 191: A Reason for Little Me to Get Old and Skeptical?

When (or should I say if) I get older, maybe I’ll acquire a healthy dose of that battle-worn cynicism about highly-lauded education reform initiatives like Colorado’s Senate Bill 191 — also known as the “Great Teachers and Leaders” law. Sometimes I think I’m too young to adjust my expectations appropriately. But if someone as smart and experienced as Sandi Jacobs from the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) is upbeat but realistic about it, why shouldn’t little Eddie? Sandi Jacobs… You may be scratching your head, saying, “Where have I heard that name before?” My Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow has interviewed her for podcasts a few times before, most recently back in February for a discussion on “Upgrading Colorado Teacher Policies,” based on the latest edition of NCTQ’s State Teacher Policy Yearbook. Having spoken here in Denver Friday at a Donnell-Kay Foundation Hot Lunch event, Sandi also guest-blogged over at Education News Colorado:

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The New Teacher Project Highlights Key Evaluation Principles: Can SB 191 Deliver?

It’s a dreary day outside. Maybe fall has finally fallen. Rather than pontificate and show off my brilliant vocabulary, I decided today just to point your attention to a new report by The New Teacher Project (PDF) on six key design principles for teacher evaluations (H/T Eduwonk): Annual process Clear, rigorous expectations Multiple measures Multiple ratings Regular feedback Significance Some of these principles definitely have been advanced in Colorado by Senate Bill 191. We need to keep our eye on the Governor’s Council of Educator Effectiveness as they implement the legislation. Stay tuned.

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SB 191: Devil in the Council's Details While Harrison Moves Ahead on Evaluations

Yesterday Gov. Bill Ritter signed into law Senate Bill 191. Now all eyes are on the details that will be hashed out by the Governor’s Council on Educator Effectiveness. The state’s largest teachers union, the Colorado Education Association, carried all the weight of opposing SB 191 and pushed amendments that watered down some of the bill’s better features. And yesterday CEA officials turned down the chance to show up for the bill signing event:

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SB 191 Passes: "Landmark Day" Shifting Colorado's Education Reform Turf

Update: Another Independence Institute friend and legal guru Dave Kopel has put up a thoughtful post about SB 191 over at the Volokh Conspiracy. Check it out. Angel choirs are singing, Hallelujah! Colorado’s legislative session is O-V-E-R. Finished. Done. The hot-button education issue SB 191 passed on the last day of session. Though amended to water down some of its effects, the bill is a genuinely positive change in the right direction of tenure and evaluation reform. One senator speaking on the floor got it about right yesterday: Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, didn’t speak during previous debates, but he struck a nuanced note Wednesday. “The change in this bill is not as dramatic as it proponents hope nor as cataclysmic as its opponents fear. It is a moderate bill.” Still, given the intensity and stridency of opposition coming from the state’s most powerful lobbying force, passage of SB 191 represents a true achievement worth celebrating. National education expert Rick Hess shares that view about SB 191’s passage, giving props to my Education Policy Center friends along the way:

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Midnight Oil-Burning Reporters Tell Melodrama of SB 191 Committee Hearing

Last night’s House Education Committee hearing on Senate Bill 191 went really late. My mom made me go to bed, so I missed a lot of it. But my Education Policy Center friends tell me it was quite the show. And given the reports I’ve seen, I have to agree. Kudos goes to three reporters (along with legislative staff and others) who stayed late to burn the midnight oil until the hearing ended at 12:37 AM. They have a strong case for earning overtime — if not combat — pay. Oh, the melodrama their stories just begin to tell….

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SB 191 and Independent Teachers: Happy Teacher Appreciation Week in Colorado

I bet you didn’t know it’s Teacher Appreciation Week. As we near the end of the year for most Colorado schools, it’s a perfectly fitting time to show your appreciation to your teacher, your child’s teacher or some other important teacher in your life. Why else is it fitting? It’s also THE week in the Colorado House of Representatives for Senate Bill 191, the Great Teachers and Leaders bill. Important policy questions about teacher quality that will have profound impacts on Colorado schools and classrooms will be decided this week. Some teachers come down on one side of SB 191, and some on the other. But as I pointed out on Monday, only one side gets tax funding to argue its case. Another favor you can do to show appreciation to Colorado teachers at least is to point them to the information on the Independent Teachers website, so they can make the best informed decisions about their professional memberships and the uses of their funds for political purposes. Information teachers and other education employees in our state can use all year long. Whatever you do, I hope you don’t end up saying “Screw Teacher Appreciation Week.”

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