Category Archives: Denver

It sure looks like Denver’s education reform backlash has made some noise of late. As the editors of the Denver Post explain today, what’s really absurd is the venomous propaganda being launched at successful charter schools in the district’s proposal to expand them into the northeast region of the city’s troubled education system: DPS has produced a thoughtful blueprint for reforming schools in northeast Denver, using programs and tools that have proven successful in other parts of the city. DPS board members ought to publicly disavow the misinformation campaign that says charter schools “perpetuate the school-to-jail track” and also alleges that the reforms will “force hundreds of high school students out of their neighborhood.” It is unbelievable that anyone who cares about education, even if they disagree with DPS policy, would use such blatantly false rhetoric.

You might be saying by now: When will this kid stop writing about the movie Waiting for Superman? To be honest, I don’t know. I’m too young and impulsive to plan that far ahead. But since today is the movie’s official opening in Colorado, what better reason to bring it up again today? Well, here’s one. My Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow got the opportunity to conduct a 5-minute exclusive interview of the movie’s director Davis Guggenheim. You can listen to it online. Special thanks to the gracious staff of the Colorado Children’s Campaign for their help in making the interview possible after their special 25th anniversary luncheon event. (For another Guggenheim interview from yesterday’s event, check out Ed News Colorado’s blog, complete with video.) No, make that two reasons: My Education Policy Center friends are going to see the movie today. Do you think they invited me? No. Not even to cheer me up from the “Reformer-Michelle Rhee-Resigned-from-Her-Job-in-D.C.” Blues. So maybe if they read this, they’ll feel guilty and invite me along. At least I hope so. While my friends soon will be Done Waiting to watch Waiting for Superman, this Colorado kid can’t wait any longer to […]

The Denver Post reports this morning (via the Washington Post) about a newly-released Vanderbilt University study on teacher performance pay: The study, which the authors and other experts described as the first scientifically rigorous review of merit pay in the United States, measured the effect of financial incentives on teachers in Nashville public schools and found that better pay alone was not enough to inspire gains. Advocates of performance pay did not immediately challenge the methodology of the study. But they said its conclusions were narrow and failed to evaluate the full package of professional development and other measures that President Obama and philanthropists such as Bill Gates say are crucial to improving America’s public schools. Does this mean we should throw out the whole idea of incentive or performance-based pay for school teachers? Not so fast.

The new week brings an interesting Ed News Colorado story from new writer Katie Kerwin McCrimmon called “Keeping Up with the Dunruds.” The story highlights a Denver family with a boy about my own age who sounds like he shares some of my penchant for prodigy: Braeden Dunrud was riding in the family car when he saw a sign for the Spicy Pickle restaurant and asked his mom if it said “Spacey Pickle.” Pretty darn close for a 3-year-old. A short time later, Braeden revealed his reading abilities again. As he carried a can of root beer to the recycling bin, he called out, “Does it say Mug’s?” His parents looked at each other, stunned. Yes, as a matter of fact, it did say Mug’s, a brand name the parents never used. Clearly, Braeden was teaching himself to read. Now 5, Braeden is among 38 children in advanced kindergarten at the Center for Early Education in Denver, a stand-alone site that houses preschool programs for four southeast Denver feeder schools, along with both traditional and advanced kindergarten classrooms. The center opened in 2009 and expanded to provide preschool for 3-year-olds, along with kindergarten, this year.

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): Distinguished (Blue) Meets Expectations (Green) Accredited on Watch (Yellow) Accredited on Priority Watch (Orange) 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:

Seeing as it’s Friday, rather than laying on the analysis really thick or going off on one of my infamous tangents, I wanted to make sure you saw a long but very interesting article that came out this week. In the September edition of Denver’s 5280 Magazine is a feature by Robert Sanchez titled “The Education of Ms. Barsallo” — which highlights on a very personal level the challenges and rewards of a first-year teacher in a high-poverty public school. The reason why I decided to give the article some special attention? Ms. Barsallo taught last year at Cole Arts and Science Academy, an Innovation School in Denver that my Education Policy Center friends had the privilege of visiting last November. So I guess you could say it has somewhat of a special place in their hearts. But anyway, please go ahead and read Ms. Barsallo’s story in 5280 Magazine. It may pull at your heartstrings, and it also may provoke you to think a little more deeply about urban education reform. Have a great weekend, everyone!

If the Denver Post can take a glimpse, so can I. Not that I am excited by the prospect of taking a glimpse at a school full of icky girls. But here goes anyway…. About 120 sixth- and seventh-grade girls who enrolled in the Girls Athletic Leadership School now inhabit the third floor of Calvary Temple, near Cherry Creek mall. G.A.L.S. is the only single-gender public school in Colorado, aimed at empowering girls and providing them opportunities denied in a co-ed setting. Interesting factoid about the Girls Athletic Leadership School. What a clever acronym, too. Maybe it’s time for an all-boys charter school. Let’s call it the Gents United Youth School (G.U.Y.S.). I’m all about equity and balance, you know. Anyone with me on starting G.U.Y.S.?

Yesterday morning the Colorado Department of Education unveiled the latest CSAP (state assessment) results. It’s hard to believe: in the past these events attracted a lot of fanfare. But for the most recent announcement, I missed the brass band and confetti. Maybe because there wasn’t any. And that doesn’t take into account the fact the release was scheduled on primary election day, which limited the news media coverage. Oh, well. The Denver Post reports that CSAP scores once again were flat, though there were some notable bright spots, like Beach Court Elementary and the West Denver Prep and Denver School of Science and Technology charter schools in DPS, and Mapleton Public Schools. On the larger scale, however, Colorado education reformers can be anything but satisfied. Disappointed would be a better word. We still have a long ways to go. It’s time to look at what the more successful Colorado schools and districts are doing while also broadening our vision to look at other states with clearly successful track records (e.g., Florida’s education reforms).

Colorado has been a national leader in public school choice. One of the small facets of that choice is the Innovation School concept pioneered by a 2008 state law. These public schools or school districts can seek waivers from some state laws to have more flexibility in program and/or personnel policies. Up till now, the handful of schools that have sought and received Innovation School status are all located in Denver, designed to serve challenging urban student populations. But in the 2008 law’s own pioneer spirit, the tiny rural Kit Carson School District on the Eastern Plains is changing the trend. On the newest iVoices podcast (click here to listen to the MP3 in another window), Kit Carson superintendent Gerald Keefe talks about his district’s Innovation waiver proposal to be brought before the State Board of Education in coming months. Rather than wait for the groundbreaking new SB 191 to go into effect, Kit Carson has some ideas of its own how to implement a more performance-based teacher evaluation and dismissal system. In any case, it’s good to be reminded that innovation comes in all shapes and sizes — and population densities.

As I write this, I’m listening to the Mike Rosen Show on AM 850 KOA Denver as he interviews director Madeleine Sackler about her newly released edu-documentary The Lottery. A month ago my Education Policy Center friends attended a special screening of this film. The Lottery is back in Denver this week, and you can watch it at the Starz Film Center at the Tivoli.