At the other end of the poverty – and fund-raising – spectrum is Johnson Elementary in southwest Denver, which reported fewer than $3,000 in private gifts in 2010-11.

If a donation of five or six figures came through the door of the school, where 96 percent of students are low-income, said Principal Robert Beam, “You’d be writing a story about a principal who is dancing in the streets all day long.”

The timing of the story is remarkable. Why? Yesterday substantial checks went out to 14 metro area public schools and 2 public charter management organizations (CMOs) serving high-poverty student populations, with awards totaling $500,000. And they didn’t just go out to schools based on need, but to schools with a proven record of serving their students well:

Award winners were selected based on a variety of factors, including academic performance and growth, percentage of students qualifying for the Federal free and reduced lunch benefit, school culture, leadership, and instructional effectiveness.

So states the media release from the benefactor Foundation For Great Schools, a coalition of five private Colorado foundations, including the Daniels Fund (which also helps support my Education Policy Center friends). When they cite “academic performance and growth,” they aren’t kidding. All 16 recipients earn an A or B from the new Colorado School Grades site:

• Montview Math and Science Elementary (Aurora)
• Tollgate Elementary (Aurora)
• South Elementary (Brighton)
• Ricardo Flores Magon Academy (Charter School Institute – Westminster)
• Community Leadership Academy middle school (Charter School Institute – Commerce City)
• Beach Court Elementary (Denver)
• Bryant Webster Dual Language K-8 middle school (Denver)
• Denver School of Science and Technology CMO (Denver)
• Girls Athletic Leadership School (Denver)
• Greenwood ECE-8 middle school (Denver)
• KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy (Denver)
• West Denver Prep CMO (Denver)
• Deane Elementary (Jeffco)
• Stein Elementary (Jeffco)
• East Elementary (Littleton)
• Valley View K-8 elementary school (Mapleton)

I haven’t seen any reports indicating increased street-dancing activity taking place near any of the above schools. Yet while various kinds of celebrations may take place at each of those centers of learning, I will study up on the definition of this great word philanthropy. Remember: You can find more information on Colorado schools and the open enrollment process at the fantastic, parent-friendly School Choice for Kids website.

“My son Kaleb is a pencil sharpener –” his mother Angie Hiller started.

“– Writing tool assistant,” Coffeen’s school counselor Jennifer Black corrected, smiling.

Kaleb is one of many students who hold volunteer “leadership jobs” at Coffeen — one of several new initiatives at the elementary school that encourage responsibility, accountability and prepare students for the real world, according to Coffeen [Elementary] Principal Nicole Trahan.[link added]

Hey, I’m totally for personal responsibility and all that… at least in theory. Though when it comes to picking up my toys, making my bed, or helping with the trash around the house, it sometimes looks different in practice. I confess. All right? But I can’t quite imagine being charged with such responsibility at school. Maybe when I’m older.

Unless perhaps there were a position as school blogger. I wonder if Coffeen’s “Leader in Me” program has contemplated that? Or maybe my school would need someone to specialize in playing with Legos. Yeah, I could be the “executive plastic construction engineer”!

I know of at least some charter schools here in Colorado where upper elementary students spend some time aiding teachers of lower grades. So this doesn’t appear to be necessarily some sort of radical idea, though it may be more comprehensive than most other places. The Fox News article does suggest the program has had a positive effect on student test scores, and more significantly on student discipline problems. Luce finds that “impressive,” and it’s very hard to disagree.

The topic also happens to be something fun to write about for a Tuesday. Especially if it helps me someday become a school’s “senior online communication specialist.” This is kind of preparing me for the real world, isn’t it?

“This,” says Matthew Carpenter, “is my favorite exercise.” I peer over his shoulder at his laptop screen to see the math problem the fifth grader is pondering. It’s an inverse trigonometric function: cos-1(1) = ?

Carpenter, a serious-faced 10-year-old wearing a gray T-shirt and an impressive black digital watch, pauses for a second, fidgets, then clicks on “0 degrees.” Presto: The computer tells him that he’s correct. The software then generates another problem, followed by another, and yet another, until he’s nailed 10 in a row in just a few minutes. All told, he’s done an insane 642 inverse trig problems. “It took a while for me to get it,” he admits sheepishly.

Carpenter, who attends Santa Rita Elementary, a public school in Los Altos, California, shouldn’t be doing work anywhere near this advanced….

Funny, that’s what some people say about this 5-year-old’s edublogging prowess. But I digress. The article by Clive Thompson is a long and substantial one, but also engaging. If it doesn’t make you think about the current education paradigm — and whether and how we can go about it more effectively — then you’re not trying too hard. I’ve told you about Khan Academy before, but have yet to point you to anything this in-depth.

While Khan definitely has his critics, this article sure makes it look like his video-based program is having tremendous results for some students in the areas of math and science. Happy digging!

Yet can what sustain and build on those reading skills as students reach 8th grade and beyond? Take a glimpse at what has gone on the past few years in a small corner of the New York City Public Schools (New York City? I can almost hear some of you ask in the voice of disgruntled Texas cowhands. Yes, the Big Apple!). In a New York Daily News op-ed, Sol Stern highlights the success of the three-year Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) program piloted in 10 Bronx and Queens elementary schools:

After the first year, [then school chancellor Joel] Klein announced the early results: On a battery of reading tests, the kindergartners in the Core Knowledge program had achieved gains five times greater than those of students in the control group. The second-year study showed that the Core Knowledge kids made reading gains twice as great as those of students in the control group.

At the relatively minuscule cost of $300,000 per year, keeping this program alive should be a no-brainer. At least that’s what you’d think. Too often success in student learning is far from the most important metric in making K-12 budget and program decisions.

For those of you who aren’t deeply familiar with Core Knowledge, Robert Pondiscio explains the theory behind the action:

Comprehension is highly correlated with general knowledge—the more you know, the greater your ability to read, write, speak and listen with fluency and comprehension. Thus an essential component of reading comprehension instruction must be a focused commitment to build broad background knowledge in a coherent manner from the earliest days of schools–precisely what CKLA seeks to do.

Colorado is blessed to have a number of Core Knowledge schools — most of them of the public charter variety. In fact, Core Knowledge is one of the categories you can use to search for a school near you on our School Choice for Kids site. I count seven within a 10-mile radius of me right now!

If you are looking into a Core Knowledge (CK) school for your child, realize that not all features and results are necessarily the same. Take a closer look. See how much the school uses the CK curriculum and embeds it into the philosophy of learning and action. All part of the process of choosing the best school to suit your child’s educational needs.

The public charter sector in Denver is brimming with activity and opportunity for greater growth. Highly successful West Denver Prep and KIPP Sunshine Peak were among those proposing expansions to the board. Other proposals were two all-boys (Yippee!) charter schools — Miller-McCoy Academy and Sims-Fayola International Academy.

Now I can only imagine what that lady Diane Ravitch might have to say about these new educational opportunities for Denver students. Given her recent rude remarks about charter schools, you would think they came from someone of my tender age, not from someone of such (ahem) maturity. But I hope she opts to say nothing about Denver’s new prospective charter schools — that is, if she can’t say anything nice.

But I digress. Also presented to the DPS board were ideas for three new grassroots “performance schools”:

• Creativity Challenge Community Performance School
• School of Life Performance Middle School
• Generation Performance Secondary School

All in all, I think this may indicate little Eddie once again will need to get busy providing you with some more glimpses at new schools in Colorado.

The plan would raise state personal and corporate income tax rates to 5 percent from the current 4.63 percent. The state portion of sales taxes would go from 2.9 to 3 percent.

The additional revenue could be used only for public schools and the state’s higher ed system and couldn’t be used to supplant existing funding. The measure sets 2011-12 spending for schools and colleges as a floor….

The most interesting part of the story is not the predictable 5-year, $3 billion proposal itself, which so far has had trouble gaining traction among education establishment and business groups. Instead, not only did Senator Heath proclaim the tax increase proposal was “for the children,” but he also propped a classroom of Douglas County 4th graders behind him to drive the point home. As Kelly at WhoSaidYouSaid points out, there is a little problem with that:

Yes, you might want to get parents’ permission first. As a result, the teacher apparently has had to go back and apologize to parents for poor judgment, and district officials had to call TV news stations to keep them from airing footage of the kids. But the question is whether anyone among Senator Heath, his staff, or the advocacy groups bothered to ask if parents approved. The fact that the class just happened to be at the State Capitol on a class field trip probably answers it.

A very instructive and eye-opening moment for some. From time to time you’ll see school choice and reform groups with young students at their media events, but only with parental approval. As an interesting contrast to Monday’s press conference, though, has anyone seen the Douglas County school board or district staff use students in any such fashion to promote the groundbreaking new choice scholarship program? With or without parental permission?

Props to Douglas County. But shame on the tax hike crowd for using kids as a different kind of prop. Whether it comes to using students in a media event or taking teachers’ money for political causes, some people just seem to have a hard time Asking First.

Statewide, 73 percent of third-graders scored proficient or better — 67 percent proficient and 6 percent advanced — on the 2011 Colorado Student Assessment Program reading test, up 3 percentage points from last year.

More telling, though, than the big sweeping numbers is identifying the pockets of success. And nothing jumps off the page more than the fact that all 3rd graders at Harrison School District 2’s Wildflower Elementary in Colorado Springs are at least proficient in reading, as reported by the local Gazette:

…52 percent of its third graders scored in the advanced category — the highest of any school in Colorado.

It’s particularly noteworthy because 74 percent of Wildflower students come from low income families and are therefore considered at risk for falling behind and dropping out of school in upper grades.

“We are so excited, it’s a miracle,” said Wildflower principal Wendy Birhanzel.

Now this isn’t the time or place for me to opine on the existence of miracles. But maybe we could get at the nuance in the principal’s justifiably enthusiastic remark. Rather than look for divine intervention, there should be plenty of school officials, principals and teachers across Colorado demanding to know: What exactly are they doing at Wildflower? What can we learn and adopt from what they’re doing? In other words, principal Birhanzel’s school is a great and truly logical place for the lieutenant governor to go on his statewide tour to promote third-grade literacy.

Another place to look is at district leadership — where we already know Harrison 2 under superintendent Mike Miles has courageously and persistently advanced thoughtful and wide-ranging education reforms — among them a revolutionary teacher evaluation and compensation program. (Interestingly, the first and only other Colorado district to trade the old teacher salary schedule for real compensation reform, Eagle County Schools, registered some positive results from the latest CSAP news, too.) Harrison 2 also is considering a 5-year plan for further action, including ending social promotion to 4th grade for students who cannot read. Not that it would affect Wildflower Elementary this year!

But as the Gazette article points out, and easily verified by a search on Ed News Colorado’s database, not all of the district’s 16 elementary schools mimic Wildflower’s outstanding results — about half of them declined from the previous year (though the district overall made a slight increase). So what’s going on? What makes the difference there? Wherever three out four students are low-income, and half the school is “proficient” at reading while the other half rates “advanced,” there is a remarkable story to tell.

As honorable mentions, 95 percent of the 3rd-graders at the local James Irwin Charter School registered proficient or above, while Harrison 2’s Bricker Elementary and Monterey Elementary made tremendous leaps ahead in reading proficiency. Hats off to these schools as well. Overall, though, Colorado still has a long ways to go.

First and foremost, the group Stand for Children Colorado yesterday announced well-deserved recognition, along with giving out $1,000 each, to 10 superhero teachers across the state:

At Stand for Children, we’ve seen the impact a great teacher can make. And after reading nearly 100 nominations for outstanding teachers across the state, we know you have, too. Please join us in celebrating the ten teachers listed below who have won $1,000 to recognize and reward their commitment.

The list includes teachers from Evans to Grand Junction and all along the Front Range, teachers who represent the elementary and middle and high school levels, as well as six neighborhood schools, three charters and an alternative school. Congratulations to each and every one of them! Read the entries to see what their nominations had to say about them.

Now for something mostly different. Matt Ladner this morning has accepted — on behalf of Lindsey Burke as well — a prestigious Bunkum Award from the “NEA’s ‘academic’ mouthpiece” for their Heritage Foundation analysis of Florida’s success in closing the racial achievement gap. Rich with irony, Ladner explains how their Think Tank Project critic actually published a table undermining her critique and how she ignored some earlier work he had done with Dan Lips, then of the Heritage Foundation.

Some of us out here in the hinterlands confess to being a little envious, but send out kudos for the important honor. I also am glad he chose not to use his acceptance “speech” to ramble on and thank all the little people. I say that, despite so often being considered a little person myself. Mom says I still have a lot of growing to do, you know.

A couple observations, first about the school districts. As Ed News Colorado’s Nancy Mitchell explains and breaks down, there are five levels of rating districts can earn from the state’s Department of Education. Only 14 of 178 earned the highest (“Accredited with Distinction”), while 7 districts received the lowest (“Accredited with Turnaround”). Most districts fall somewhere in between.

Many times we’ve heard during the discussion about Douglas County’s groundbreaking private school choice proposals (which passed on to the superintendent in resolution form on Tuesday night) that the district doesn’t need choice because it’s the highest-performing district in the state. But a careful look at the list shows Douglas County isn’t anywhere in the top 14 “with distinction.” Maybe — just maybe — a whole slate of expanded choices and options for families will help the district compete and rise to the top. Hmmmm.

With the governor’s blessing today, the Colorado Department of Education also recognized 32 schools as “Centers of Excellence” for demonstrating the highest rates of student academic growth while serving at-risk student populations (75 percent or more). Included on the list are a number of Denver schools I have highlighted to you before, such as:

• Beach Court Elementary (neighborhood school)
• Cole Arts and Science Academy (K-8 innovation school)
• KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy (K-8 charter school)
• West Denver Prep — Federal campus (6-8 charter school)
• West Denver Prep — Harvey Park campus (6-8 charter school)

Congratulations to all 32 schools and 14 districts that received these highest honors. Now onward and upward to even greater things for Colorado students!

One of the charter networks deserving positive attention is Rocketship Education, the “hybrid” school network that launched a few years ago in San Jose, California. (To get up to speed, go back and listen to the iVoices podcast with Rocketship Education CEO John Danner.) The most recent results (PDF) show that Rocketship’s two elementary schools — both of which serve high-poverty stuent populations– are continuing on a high trajectory of academic performance:

Rocketship Education today announced 2009-2010 school year STAR results for its schools, Rocketship Mateo Sheedy Elementary and Rocketship Sí Se Puede Academy. Mateo Sheedy Elementary (RMS) earned an API score of 925 for the second year in a row, and Sí Se Puede Academy (RSSP) earned an API score of 886 in its first year of operation.

This places the two Rocketship schools in #5 and #15 positions, respectively, for all California schools with populations of students for whom at least 70% (or more) qualify for free and reduced meals.
Sí Se Puede Academy (RSSP) was the top school in this category, for new schools which opened in the fall of 2009.

“Any way that you slice the data, Rocketship students achieved stellar results,” declared Rocketship cofounder and CEO, John Danner. “These strong scores are another powerful proof point that we can eliminate the achievement gap, by providing all students – regardless of income – with an excellent education, and put them on firm footing for successful college prep.”

So what exactly does this have to do with Waiting for Superman? Two things. First, the very same release features a quote from the movie’s director:

“All parents deserve to send their kids to the best public schools, and all kids deserve a shot at a great education,” said Davis Guggenheim, Director of the new documentary, Waiting for Superman. “Rocketship is vivid proof that we can and should eliminate the achievement gap in just a single generation. Rocketship’s commitment, vision and dedication to helping low-income students succeed are amazing. And they’re doing it with the same public funding that all public schools receive.”

Second, Rocketship’s leadership is thinking bigger than its own backyard, having put together its Schools 2.0 blog, “an exciting venue for discussing the next decade as we collectively remake public education into an engine of growth for America.” It looks potentially like a great place to get involved by giving your input, sort of like our own locally-focused Colorado Kids Can’t Wait site, which I recommend as a great place for tangible ideas and resources to help citizens improve schools by doing things like getting involved in local school board elections.

Oh, I almost forgot a final connection. While far too many American children are out there waiting for Superman to swoop in and help them soar to new heights, it’s encouraging to see a few students find their Rocketship to help them take off!