Category Archives: Innovation and Reform

Really quick for a Friday, the good news for the education reform movement this week is that “Indiana’s loss turned out to be Florida’s gain.” What am I talking about? The sad news that the Hoosier State’s commissioner of education Tony Bennett lost his re-election bid is quelled by the fact he agreed to take over the same position in the only state with a longer, more comprehensive history of reform: Florida. Bennett sat down with national education guru Rick Hess for an interview to explain how it all came together, and what sort of challenges and opportunities face him in the Sunshine State. Anyone who hoped that Bennett might have become commissioner here in Colorado can be consoled by Hess’ reminder comparing Florida’s education reform acquisition with our state’s football acquisition: After all, it’s been a tough year for Indiana; they keep shipping homegrown stars elsewhere. This spring, the Indianapolis Colts cut ties with all-world quarterback Peyton Manning, with the Denver Broncos outbidding several other franchises for his services…. In a perfect world, I’d take both Manning and Bennett. Winning Super Bowl XLVII would be exciting enough. Winning the Super Bowl of education reform — providing more choice, opportunity, […]

I love lists, I love education, and I love to tell people about things. So it should be no surprise that my attention was caught by yesterday’s news release from Stanford: “Hoover Institution Education Experts Identify News Media Hits and Misses in 2012 Education Coverage.” The Koret Task Force on Education named five stories that were well-covered and five that were neglected. First, the hits: Charter schools Teachers’ unions Special education Pre-Kindergarten education No Child Left Behind Next, the misses:

Not many students can say their principal has served in Congress and chairs the State Board of Education. Perhaps even fewer can say their principal also has been a great champion for parental choice and positive educational transformation. In fact, that’s probably a unique distinction that belongs to the chartered Liberty Common High School in Fort Collins, Colo., in its third year of operation under the direction of Bob Schaffer. Another distinctive source of pride for Liberty Common, its inaugural junior class (2011-12) earned the highest ACT average scores in the entire state of Colorado. To see firsthand the source of the school’s success, my Education Policy Center friends two days ago joined a small group from Jefferson County Students First on a morning tour. The academic rigor and emphasis on core character values were evident throughout the building. Fairly unique, Liberty Common High School students are initiated into one of five different “houses” with a character trait as theme. The system promotes camaraderie among different grades and helps the students embrace and convey the school’s core values that ought to serve them well later in life.

The concept of time is the topic of 100 proverbs and cliches. In the world of education reform, it definitely doesn’t feel like time is on our side. Every year of delay in debating, approving and implementing important policy changes — including expanded parental choice — is a year many students will not get back. But what about just making sure they are spending more time in school? Colorado is one of five states taking part in a three-year pilot program to keep thousands of students in school longer: Spending more time in the classroom, officials said, will give students access to a more well-rounded curriculum that includes arts and music, individualized help for students who fall behind and opportunities to reinforce critical math and science skills. “That extra time with their teachers or within a structured setting means all the world,” said Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. “It means it allows them to continue the momentum they had the day before. It means they don’t slip back over the summer. It allows them to really deliver.”

Just the kind of glum news you (don’t!) want to hear before your weekend gets rolling, from the Wall Street Journal: A Louisiana district court judge ruled Friday that the state’s school-voucher program is unconstitutional, dealing a blow to one of the nation’s most expansive efforts to let students attend private schools at taxpayer expense. Judge Tim Kelley, a Republican, ruled that the program, created and championed by Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal, illegally diverts tax money intended for public schools to private and religious schools instead. Very sad to see the educational fate of thousands of students in private schools up in the air. Those of us in Colorado who waited more than a year for an Appeals Court hearing — and especially those Douglas County families who had everything turned upside down by the August 2011 injunction — feel the pain. Here’s hoping that Governor Bobby Jindal and all the great supporters of school choice in Louisiana are able to get things turned around, sooner rather than later. And here’s hoping that things turn out better in Indiana, where the nation’s most thriving private school choice program is before that state’s supreme court. Don’t know about you, but I’m […]

According to a school district dispatch yesterday, Douglas County’s visionary, cutting-edge work in performance-based educator pay and evaluations has received a key nod of community support: The Castle Rock Economic Development Council (EDC) has endorsed the Douglas County School District pay-for-performance program. “We know excellent schools are one of the top reasons that companies choose to locate in Douglas County,” said Frank Gray, President, Castle Rock EDC. “We applaud DCSD for their ongoing commitment to excellence and we believe pay-for-performance will continue to improve our schools.” The Douglas County Pay-for-Performance plan is something that my Education Policy Center friends and I are keeping a close eye on. District leaders are working hard and quickly to break the mold and upgrade how educators are evaluated and compensated, including a system of market-based differential pay based on teacher job descriptions. Except a more detailed report in the months ahead.

With so much going on in Colorado’s world of education reform — and all sorts of new and shiny things taking place — it can be easy to forget the state is in the middle of a large-scale change to teacher evaluations. The highly-charged debates over SB 191 in 2010 seem like a distant memory. Yet the long process of implementing a new evaluation system focused on educator effectiveness grinds forward across Colorado, with bill sponsor Senator Michael Johnston insisting there is no reason to delay further. A couple of new reports from different sources give reason for ed reformers to keep their fingers crossed. A Center for American Progress report by Patrick McGuinn unpacks the challenges facing state education agencies as they try to bring new evaluation systems to life on a large scale. The report specifically cites Colorado’s work to multiply the number of qualified trainers and the unique partnership between CDE and the Legacy Foundation — concluding that a lot of careful thought and planning has to be given to any state contemplating similar reform.

Sometimes the stars seem to align, and you have to wonder who is manipulating the telescope. I haven’t gotten into astronomy — at least not yet. But what I’m talking about really isn’t about astronomy. It’s about politics, and giving money to education bureaucrats. A metaphor, as it were. Today, Ed News Colorado reports that Governor John Hickenlooper’s statewide listening tour has yielded some convenient recommendations for K-12 education: Public school funding – tied to student outcomes – higher education support and expansion of preschool and full-day kindergarten should be top state priorities, according to the board of directors of TBD Colorado, the group that’s spent more than a year studying and sampling public attitudes about major issues facing the state. Throw more money at the problem? Hmmm. The stars are beginning to align between the governor’s “TBD” initiative and the established-interest-heavy School Finance Partnership. Well, I may be only a perpetually 5-year-old blogging prodigy, but that was predictable. More funding into the currently unsustainable K-12 system? I can’t say for certain whether the deck was stacked for the status quo. Or whether the findings actually are representative of Coloradans’ policy priorities for education, and little Eddie and friends just […]

Just when someone might think the innovation process in Falcon School District 49 has stalled out (just one school got rid of tenure so far?), here comes a pie in the face. Not a yucky key lime pie in the nostrils, mind you, but a delicious chocolate cream pie surprise that you can lick off your lips. The Colorado Springs Gazette reports yesterday that District 49 is actively working to change teachers’ professional career track: “If you’re a great teacher, in order to progress you have to go outside that environment and become an administrator,” said board Vice President Christopher Wright. Wright said he wants the district to create a professional development program where teachers are responsive to classroom needs, and where teacher training programs work consistently with schools to make ongoing improvements.

In a recent column for Forbes magazine, communications expert Nick Morgan gave Colorado some great kudos with his recognition of “The Best Speech About Education–Ever.” He was praising this great speech our state senator Michael Johnston made last month in Connecticut about “what’s possible and what’s next.” Watch the speech, and you’ll see why Johnston’s passion, knowledge and experience make him the leading voice on education in the Colorado state legislature. Sometimes we see eye to eye, and sometimes not. But his influence in several reform debates is difficult to dispute — whether it has been carrying the SB 191 teacher evaluation overhaul, defending Colorado’s embrace of Common Core standards, or even agreeing to sign on as sponsor of a parent trigger bill not popular within his own party.