Category Archives: Uncategorized

Good thing my parents don’t have any kids enrolled in Brighton Public Schools. Nothing per se against the school district northeast of Denver. But I can only imagine my mom and dad’s reaction if they got one of those tax hike-supporting political flyers in this year’s school information packet. Probably something like what one mom told Channel 7 reporter Russell Haythorn (though maybe a bit more colorful): “Education specific funding being used to push a political agenda — that’s not appropriate,” said concerned parent Stacy Petty. Agreed. And credit goes to the hard-working folks at Complete Colorado for breaking this story first. They have posted a copy of the flyer sent home to Brighton parents.

It was just last week I introduced you to a new video produced by my friends in the Education Policy Center that highlighted one family’s story to show why the Douglas County vouchers are needed to help save students. (Wouldn’t you like to see more of these brief video profiles that tell the real stories behind Colorado’s groundbreaking local school choice program?) Then today — what do you know? — the Goldwater Institute releases an article right along the same vein. You see, just like Douglas County became the first local school district to enact a private school choice program, Arizona this year was the first state in the nation to create “Empowerment Scholarship Accounts.” Designed to serve students with special needs, these ESAs are almost like super-vouchers. From the Goldwater report:

Don’t ask, because I don’t know what happened to all my time today. Rather than go in depth and expound on something profound, I will just direct you to this fascinating story in Wired magazine about “How Khan Academy is changing the rules of education”: “This,” says Matthew Carpenter, “is my favorite exercise.” I peer over his shoulder at his laptop screen to see the math problem the fifth grader is pondering. It’s an inverse trigonometric function: cos-1(1) = ? Carpenter, a serious-faced 10-year-old wearing a gray T-shirt and an impressive black digital watch, pauses for a second, fidgets, then clicks on “0 degrees.” Presto: The computer tells him that he’s correct. The software then generates another problem, followed by another, and yet another, until he’s nailed 10 in a row in just a few minutes. All told, he’s done an insane 642 inverse trig problems. “It took a while for me to get it,” he admits sheepishly. Carpenter, who attends Santa Rita Elementary, a public school in Los Altos, California, shouldn’t be doing work anywhere near this advanced…. Funny, that’s what some people say about this 5-year-old’s edublogging prowess. But I digress. The article by Clive Thompson is a […]

Learning to read is essential to a quality education. Kind of goes without saying, doesn’t it? There has been increased attention in recent years on the importance of phonics and scientifically-based reading instruction. These are crucial features of instructing students in the early grades, ensuring they get off to a strong start in their educational careers, yet in too many cases (at least in Colorado) teachers are not adequately prepared to impart the learning to students. Yet can what sustain and build on those reading skills as students reach 8th grade and beyond? Take a glimpse at what has gone on the past few years in a small corner of the New York City Public Schools (New York City? I can almost hear some of you ask in the voice of disgruntled Texas cowhands. Yes, the Big Apple!). In a New York Daily News op-ed, Sol Stern highlights the success of the three-year Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) program piloted in 10 Bronx and Queens elementary schools: After the first year, [then school chancellor Joel] Klein announced the early results: On a battery of reading tests, the kindergartners in the Core Knowledge program had achieved gains five times greater than […]

Today I’m going to step back and let someone else do the talking. You’ve probably been following the developments surrounding Colorado’s groundbreaking Douglas County Pilot Choice Scholarship Program. I’ve covered it a lot here. Since the promising program was approved in March, 500 students have won vouchers worth about $4,600 to help cover the cost of tuition at a private school families have chosen to best suit their needs. In this new video produced by my friends in the Independence Institute’s Education Policy Center, it’s a story like 13-year-old Nate Oakley’s that brings to life the need for Douglas County vouchers, and the real threat created by lawsuits filed by the ACLU and other groups: After that, what more can I say? For many kids and many parents, school choice really matters. Don’t take it away.

Ed News Colorado reports today that school districts are eager to participate in the pilot for the state’s new educator effectiveness law: Nearly a quarter of Colorado school districts have applied to participate in field-testing of new principal and teacher evaluation methods. It was “a surprise and an encouraging message” that the Department of Education received 41 applications, said Diana Sirko, deputy commissioner. “We look at is as very encouraging.” She said CDE had expected a couple of dozen applications at the most. According to the Denver Post, another CDE official indicated realistic hopes were for only about 10 positive responses from Colorado’s 178 school districts. Talk about the second local major education reform program of the year in which participation has exceeded all expectations. The more than 30 private schools that applied to be partners in Douglas County’s groundbreaking local voucher program (19 have been approved, as of this date) inundated staff who planned for about half the response. All in all, it appears to be a positive sign that a large number, and wide variety of (rural, suburban, urban), Colorado school districts want to be a part of piloting the educator effectiveness law, which garnered national attention last […]

(H/T Adam Emerson, RedefinED) From yesterday’s Boston Globe, the innovation school idea is starting to take off in Massachusetts: “It’s really catching fire,’’ said Paul Reville, the state’s education secretary. “I would predict innovation schools in a relatively short period of time could surpass the number of charter schools in the state if the growth continues at the rate we’ve seen recently.’’ … Innovation schools and the state’s 56 independently run charter schools are similar in that decisions about curriculum, staffing, and budgeting are made by a school-based governing board with the goal of crafting programs that meet the specific needs of their students. But unlike charter schools, which report directly to the state, innovation schools must negotiate the extent of the freedom to make their own decisions with the superintendent and School Committee, and are bound by most provisions of the district’s teachers union contract.

It’s July. School is out for the summer. Education news tends to be slow. To top it all off, your local edu-blogging prodigy is spending extra time at the swimming pool, and occasionally gets wrapped up in frustrating games of Angry Birds on his dad’s iPhone. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few things worth noting. First, have you ever wanted to make a persuasive case for school choice to a skeptical acquaintance, but didn’t want to recommend a too-thick tome they’d never read or have to send a list of web links that might disappear? Then Dr. Jay Greene just might have the solution for you, announcing the publication of his new 48-page booklet Why America Needs School Choice. To get a good hint of what it’s about, listen to the new School Reform News podcast interview with Dr. Greene. Second, the grassroots group supporting Colorado’s groundbreaking local voucher program (among many other expanded educational options) has launched a new website. Check out Great Choice Douglas County, and be sure to show your support! Remember, too… visit the page created by my Education Policy Center friends for all the information you’ll need on the Douglas County Choice Scholarship […]

This hasn’t been one of the big issues on my education transformer radar, nor is it one I’ve covered before. But it does bring out an interesting point of clarity for those who are interested in our K-12 schools and the politics that surround them. The Coloradoan in Fort Collins reported yesterday that the state’s largest teachers union has filed a legal challenge against a new public school reporting requirement: The statewide teachers union has sued the Colorado Board of Education over new rules requiring the public disclosure of teacher arrests. The board passed the new rules this spring at the prompting of Fort Collins resident and board chairman Bob Schaffer. The first attempt to establish the rule was shot down by a 4-3 vote in May 2010. The State Board went back to the drawing table to address concerns and complications, but the teachers union remained fundamentally opposed:

A couple weeks ago I filled you in on how there are two separate groups that have filed their legal complaints against the Douglas County Choice Scholarship Program. Well, as Ed News Colorado reports, now they’ve taken the next official step: Plaintiffs in two lawsuits challenging the Douglas County voucher pilot are asking for an immediate halt to the plan, arguing it must be stopped before any public dollars flow to private schools. “Once the money is illegally diverted away from public schools, the bell can’t be unrung,” said Gregory M. Lipper, attorney for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, one of the plaintiffs.