Fordham Offers a Few Good Suggestions to Improve Colorado K-12 Accountability
Calling all Colorado education policy makers and policy wonks: I hope you’ll check out this new Fordham Institute report Defining Strong State Accountability Systems: How Can Better Standards Gain Greater Traction? My Education Policy Center friends and I can’t endorse everything in the publication.
But it’s worth looking at because Colorado is one of seven […]
DeGrow Questions High School “Diversity Day” Opt-Out Policy
Colorado Observer reporter Valerie Richardson quoted a comment from Education Policy Center senior policy analyst Ben DeGrow in her story about a controversial “Diversity Day” event at Niwot High School.
Harrison’s Reform Champion Mike Miles to Move On to Bigger Dallas Stage
I’m a little down in the dumps today, and the cool, gloomy weather only has a little bit to do with. Ed News Colorado has reported that bold Harrison reform superintendent Mike Miles is all but officially moving on to be chief of the Dallas Independent School District, the 14th largest in the nation. Apparently, […]
Center for Ed Reform Gives Colo. Charter School Law Another B: We Can Do Better
The Center for Education Reform (CER) today released its annual analysis of the state’s charter school laws, giving the nation a mediocre 2.1 Grade Point Average. CER’s gold standard measure looks at the practical effects of statutes and policies that govern the creation of high-quality, autonomous and accountable public charter schools to meet the demands […]
PACE Teachers Weigh In on Pensions, Open Negotiations, Funding, and Literacy
The Professional Association of Colorado Educators (PACE) — a young, small, but growing (Hey, sounds like me!) non-union teacher membership organization — this week released the results of a member survey on some key education policy issues facing our state. With a Spring Break Friday sailing me away into lazy oblivion, today seemed like the […]
Many Colo. Parents Aren’t Buying SB 130’s Early Childhood Bureaucratic Change
Look, I’m still young, but I’m learning that there are some different major philosophies out there about what government can and should do. My friends around this place believe that government’s role should be limited and tend to be very skeptical when proposals come forward to expand the government’s role. This one issue is a […]
In Denver on April 12? Bring Your Brown Bag Lunch to a “Teachers Matter” Event
If you live in the Denver area, please mark your calendars for Thursday, April 12, from 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM. The Education Policy Center is hosting a brown bag lunch event with special guest speaker Dr. Marcus Winters. The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs assistant professor and Manhattan Institute senior fellow will be sharing the findings and recommendations from his new book Teachers Matter: Rethinking How Public Schools Identify, Reward, and Retain Great Educators. Follow the link to find out how to RSVP.
Late-Night Louisiana House Advances School Choice, Tenure Reform Bills
A lot of big people were paying attention to Louisiana this weekend because of some big presidential primary election there. But I’m more interested in Bayou State developments from the world of K-12 education. And they look pretty big from here.
Last Thursday night Republicans and Democrats in the Louisiana House of Representatives came together to […]
Harrison Teacher Performance Pay: Fordham’s Guide to Serious Reform
It’s been awhile since I’ve written about the performance pay plan in Colorado Springs’ Harrison School District, so you may not be up to speed on this cutting-edge innovation. At that time, six months ago, Harrison superintendent Mike Miles was sharing the district’s story around Ohio.
From those events has come at last an excellent Fordham […]
Ed News Colorado Highlights Digital Learning Policy Roadmap
The Education Policy Center’s newly-released Digital Learning Policy Roadmap was headlined in the Denver-based nonprofit news service Education News Colorado‘s March 22 “Thursday churn”: The report, based largely on a national Digital Learning Now! campaign, evolved out of a Jan. 23 gathering co-sponsored by the institute and the Donnell-Kay Foundation and featuring Susan Patrick, CEO […]
Dougco Board and HB 1118: Tuesday’s Colorado Open Union Negotiations Two-Fer
Timing is everything, they say. What were the odds that these two key votes would go down the same day? The dual development certainly is noteworthy.
On Tuesday the Colorado House of Representatives adopted House Bill 1118, which simply requires school districts to open up union negotiations to public observation so taxpayers and teachers can see […]
Independence Institute Shares Colorado’s Own Digital Learning Roadmap
The Independence Institute’s newly-released digital learning policy roadmap reflects the expressed priorities of nearly 50 online education leaders and policy experts who convened in January. The publication covers nine key changes in the areas of funding, assessment and accountability, and student access and eligibility. The new roadmap shows what Colorado can do to effectively allow technology to enhance the work of great teachers and to foster innovation and students’ ability to customize their educational opportunities.
