Camping trips can be fun, but no one told me just how hard it would be to blog while out in the middle of nowhere in the great outdoors. No, seriously, it was fun to get away for awhile. But I hope none of you were left to wonder: If little Eddie isn’t watching the world of Colorado education, then who is? Probably not so much, especially since school is out for most students and people are focusing more on soaking up the summer rays.

Anyway, while I’m trying to get my bearings a bit, maybe it’s time to take a look at a couple of good summer reads on the world of education: Continue Reading »

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If you gave me a big box of crayons and asked me to write a manifesto, it’s probably not what I would have come up with. But I am glad to give it a big thumbs up, and hope that lots of big people sign on. What am I talking about? Closing the Door on Innovation: Why One National Curriculum is Bad for America:

We, the undersigned, representing viewpoints from across the political and educational spectrum, oppose the call for a nationalized curriculum in the Albert Shanker Institute Manifesto “A Call for Common Content.” We also oppose the ongoing effort by the U.S. Department of Education to have two federally funded testing consortia develop national curriculum guidelines, national curriculum models, national instructional materials, and national assessments using Common Core’s national standards as a basis for these efforts.

We agree that our expectations should be high and similar for all children whether they live in Mississippi or Massachusetts, Tennessee or Texas. We also think that curricula should be designed before assessments are developed, not the other way around.

But we do not agree that a one-size-fits-all, centrally controlled curriculum for every K-12 subject makes sense for this country or for any other sizable country….

Continue Reading »

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I’ve been to Glenwood Springs before with my parents. It’s a neat place, with the caves and the rides and, of course, the hot springs. But this has got to be the first time I’ve blogged about it here. The local Post Independent reports that the Roaring Fork School District looks like they are about to forge ahead with something quite innovative:

At tonight’s meeting, principals and teachers from Glenwood Springs and Sopris elementary schools, Glenwood Springs Middle School and Glenwood Springs High School, as well as district officials, will all be on hand to explain the concept and answer questions.

Called “Moving On,” the new levels approach to student placement is the next step in district’s ongoing effort to adopt a standards-based learning model.

The standards approach is intended to ensure that students achieve a certain degree of proficiency in a subject area, primarily reading, writing and math, before they move on to the next level.

Continue Reading »

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I only have time for a short posting this morning, but thought you should be aware of the newly-released results of the 12th-grade NAEP (National Achievement of Educational Progress) test scores. Instead of weighing in, I’ll point you to the analysis of a few others. First, Fordham’s Checker Finn writes:

The big news, alas, isn’t news at all, which is that proficiency levels remain dreadfully low in both reading and math (worse in math), that gains have been tiny, that college readiness is nowhere near what it ought to be, that the achievement gap hasn’t narrowed by a micron….

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With a little snow finally starting to fall around here, it’s time to go outside and play. So instead of any sort of grand analysis today, I just want to extend my congratulations to Michelle Pearson — who last week was named Colorado’s 2011 Teacher of the Year:

Pearson comes from a teaching family; both the maternal and paternal sides of her family had teachers in them, working in schools in the U.S. and Canada. She says her greatest accomplishments in education have not been what she’s done alone, but what students, families, colleagues and the community do together. Pearson believes standards are the key to teaching. She says in a true standards-based environment students should understand what they are learning, why they are learning it and be able to connect their work to their world.

Her belief in the importance of standards is exemplified by her recent service on the Colorado Department of Education’s social studies standards committee (along with my Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow). Continue Reading »

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Keep saying it to yourself: The election is almost over. Last week I told you about the low-profile contests for Colorado State Board of Education and the Denver Post endorsements in those races. My takeaway: Wouldn’t it be cool to have more education transformers on the Board?

If you have State Board members on your ballot and you’re not sure how to vote, or you just want to be a more informed citizen, I commend to you the profiles posted today at Education News Colorado. Candidates in the 2nd, 5th and 6th District — the three seats up for grabs in 2010 — responded to questions about school funding, selecting a new commissioner, common core standards, testing and Race to the Top. Check it out.

So all you big people out there, arm yourselves with the information you need. While you’re filling out your ballots for those big races and issues, don’t forget to get educated on the people who want to represent you in overseeing our state’s K-12 public education. One other resource: an iVoices podcast you can listen to with current State Board chair Bob Schaffer explaining what it is the Board does and how it works.

You have no excuses now.

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The big local education news of the day is the release of the latest results from Denver’s School Performance Framework. SPF — which in this case has nothing to do with how much protection you get from the sun — takes into account a host of measures of how DPS schools are performing, with an emphasis on student academic growth. Based on their score, each school receives one of five ratings (from best to worst):

1. Distinguished (Blue)
2. Meets Expectations (Green)
3. Accredited on Watch (Yellow)
4. Accredited on Priority Watch (Orange)
5. Accredited on Probation (Red)

The rating determines whether individual schools receive greater autonomy and rewards or greater support and corrective action.

Two major headlines come from Denver’s latest round of SPF results: Continue Reading »

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I know that political campaigns are going on. Election season is upon us. When I ask my mom or dad what’s happening in the race for governor, they usually roll their eyes, take a deep sigh, and pat me on the head: “You’ll understand when you’re older,” they say.

That may be true, but I do like to understand where the people running for office stand on education issues, so I was glad to see today’s story by Todd Engdahl in Ed News Colorado on Democratic candidate John Hickenlooper’s education agenda — which breaks down the campaign’s official issue brief:

Education needs to be about what is best for our kids and that means raising the level of their achievement in knowledge and skills necessary to be successful adults. We must continue our investment in building a 21st Century education system in Colorado. Without a strong education system, job creation and economic development cannot be sustained. Making Colorado synonomous [sic] with innovation has to include supporting great teachers, and engaging parents and local communities as partners to improve our schools. Continue Reading »

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Four weeks ago today the Colorado State Board of Education adopted Common Core academic standards in math and language arts by a 4-3 margin. Instead of putting the issue to rest, Colorado’s failure to secure an expected share of federal Race to the Top (RTTT) funds has resurrected the issue.

Why? Because some of the fuel behind getting the State Board to adopt the interstate educational compact was the value it would add to the state’s RTTT application — despite objections laid out by state senator Keith King (R-Colorado Springs) and others. Word on the street is that some local school officials have been raising the specter of repeal, feeding on the RTTT loss to add momentum to their cause.

In a new blog post, the State Board’s Marcia Neal (R-Grand Junction) reasserted her deep skepticism toward federal involvement in education and what she sees as a course of action leading Colorado down a path toward greater national dictates on our schools: Continue Reading »

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Not to spend too much time today dwelling in the past — it’s been 11 days now since the State Board regretfully adopted the Common Core standards — but I felt impelled to bring your attention to a guest column in today’s Denver Post. State senator Keith King, a charter school administrator and education expert, explained why he believes last week’s State Board vote forfeited a chance for Colorado to be an education leader:

This capitulation to national standards in pursuit of federal funds is misguided. Colorado could have led the nation in setting high standards for our public schools, not jump on the bandwagon of uncertain, still-evolving national standards.

Following the pied piper of new federal funding has proven to be a trap many times in the past. When will we stop being enticed into federal programs with some up-front federal funding and then be left hanging when those initial funds run out?

Besides the obvious problem of relying on federal funds that soon will disappear, Senator King raised a specific point I haven’t seen discussed much. Namely, that Colorado’s own high-quality writing standards figure to be forfeited once our state begins relying on regional or national assessments. I think we all can agree students need improved writing skills. It’s very hard to see how Common Core gets our state there.

On a related note, Debi Brazzale of the Colorado News Agency reported yesterday on the skepticism of rural superintendents toward the adoption of Common Core. She must have heard our recent 10-minute iVoices podcast (MP3) with Kit Carson school district “chief” Gerald Keefe.

Parting question for the weekend: Does this development mean Colorado is getting ready to part ways with the long-established principle of “local control” of public schools? If so, what would the implications be?

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