Can’t We Just Get Colorado on the CER Tax Credit Report Card… Please?
Imagine this scenario: The teacher has posted the grades for the final exam on the wall outside the classroom. There, standing and staring at the paper is a young student crying. “What’s the matter? Did you not get a passing grade?” the passerby asks. The weeping student, struggling for composure, simply shakes her head. “Then […]
Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is: Jeffco’s Ken Witt Pokes Recall Advocates
Friday Fun Day has arrived yet again. I don’t have super-secret materials to share or an inspiring video to show you today. But I do have something pretty darn entertaining: A school board reformer in Jeffco calling the bluff of recall proponents in Jeffco by filing a complaint against… himself. Yes, that’s right. Tired of […]
Tennessee Study Sequel Pours More Cold Water on Pre-K Enthusiasm
Given new results from Tennessee, and Brookings’ key finding, best optimistic expectations for universal pre-K should at least be severely restrained.
Harrison’s Successes Continue Under Pay-For-Performance System
A few months ago, I wrote about how important it is to use the right metric—fairness for teachers— when evaluating the success of pay-for-performance compensation systems. That post was a response to a rather biased Denver Post article on the subject, which featured as one of its subheadings the assertion that these systems provide “No […]
Top Secret School Board Candidate Briefing Materials Declassified
Last night, the Education Policy Center team finished the last of its five school board candidate briefings at the Independence Institute in Denver. This year’s briefings have garnered a fair amount of attention from anti-reform folks, including some pretty interesting conspiracy theories. I am pleased to report that after talking it over with their evil […]
Student-Based Budgeting: A Quick Colorado Primer
Independence Institute senior education policy analyst Ben DeGrow talks with Education Policy Center director Pam Benigno about the important but overlooked practice of student-based budgeting to better ensure dollars are reaching students to serve their needs. Six Colorado school districts have stepped up to adopt the system that puts more control and responsibility in the […]
Colorado’s ACT Flatline Has Me Worried
I feel like I’ve been alienating my fellow edu-nerds in recent weeks by spending so much time talking about the antics of the courts. Most recently, we examined a Colorado Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of the “Negative Factor” under Amendment 23. One could be forgiven for believing that I had suddenly changed careers […]
Student-Based Budgeting Means Fairer and More Effective Education Spending
Given pressing budget limitations, how districts allocate money to schools matters more than ever. Some local education providers have successfully kept unavoidable cuts away from services that aid students.
New Survey, Research Point to Need for Balanced Computer Use in Learning
Given the prodigious quantity of blogging here, some may find the contents of this particular post somewhat hypocritical, or perhaps just a little bit ironic. But I certainly strive to keep things interesting. Once upon a time, you heard quite a bit more from little Eddie about blended learning — though recently my eyebrows have […]
Colorado Supreme Court Nixes Negative Factor Challenge
We’ve been talking a lot about the courts lately. Between the Dougco voucher decision, the ridiculous silliness going on in Thompson, and Washington’s bizarre decision that charter schools are unconstitutional, there hasn’t been much cause for celebration. I’ll admit to feeling pretty darn frustrated with the courts. Now, many of the folks on the other […]
Granddaddy of KIPP Studies Shows More Success for Growing Charter Network
I can confess to you that something has made Eddie a little sad lately. That’s just the amount of crazy charter-bashing going on these days. Some of this craziness gets imported locally by reform opponents who twist themselves in knots to dance around their rage at the Jeffco and Thompson boards of education providing fair, […]
Thompson Majority Fights On for Local Control
Most of you probably remember that there’s sort of a thing going on in Thompson School District. Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an understatement. In actuality, Thompson now stands alongside Jefferson County as ground zero for one of the most important education battles in Colorado. More specifically, Thompson has been engaged in an ugly […]
