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Today - 2:39 pm
High school students join Colorado branding effortSixty-four Colorado teenagers will contribute to the state’s effort to brand itself by posting on social media outlets like Tumblr, Facebook and Pinterest over the next two months. The students, representing 33 of the state’s 64 counties, were selected from a few hundred applicants to participate in the “Making Colorado” Youth Ambassador program, an unpaid internship that started Monday. Aaron Kennedy, Colorado’s chief marketing officer, said the teenagers will bring energy and vitality to the branding project, which will culminate with a brand unveiling on August 28th. “It won’t be your grandfather’s branding project,” he said. The students, all incoming high school seniors, will post stories, photos, and other multimedia content that answers the question, “What’s your county’s vibe?” While Kennedy said there are general ground rules such as no derogatory remarks, he anticipates “an honest and genuine bit of journalism.” “We want to keep it real,” he said. “There will be some poignant components.” In addition to producing social media content, the youth ambassadors will attend webinars on marketing and social media, and weigh in on the top three state logo and slogan concepts. Some of the teens will also be selected to attend meetings of the Making Colorado Brand Council. While organizers of the youth ambassador program had hoped to select one teen representative from every county, there weren’t applicants from all of the counties so they selected two from some higher population counties. Kennedy noted that in some sparsely populated counties there can be as few as 20 incoming high school seniors. The Making Colorado project launched last August and grew out of the state’s blueprint for economic development, which recommended creating a stronger Colorado brand. The new brand is intended to stimulate economic development, unify statewide programs and showcase the state to the rest of the world. Postings from the youth ambassadors will be at the following links starting July 12: Tumblr  Twitter (Hashtags: #makingcolorado, #youth4colorado) Facebook  Pinterest 
Yesterday - 1:37 pm
DCTA endorses deBaca - not Merida After putting its political weight behind then DPS board candidate Andrea Merida four years ago, the Denver Classroom Teachers Association is now backing one of Merida’s opponents in southwest Denver — union organizer Rosario deBaca. The DCTA political action committee recommended deBaca this week after interviewing all announced candidates for the seat. Former City Councilwoman Rosemary Rodriguez is also vying for the southwest Denver seat on the seven member board. The DCTA said deBaca best demonstrated its core values of working to accomplish student success through promoting excellent educators, shared accountability and 21st century skills through her work as a community organizer and an involved DPS parent.  Before the endorsement was officially announced, Merida provided her own take on the union’s change of heart.  “It’s clear that this decision is in retaliation for my vote to support the termination of the ineffective teachers among the more than 200 probationary teachers terminated just three weeks ago,” Merida said in a statement. “It unfortunately is an action that does not reflect the work of thousands of good teachers in Denver Public Schools, and underscores why DCTA’s leadership represents one of the most substantial barriers to real and meaningful reform in Denver and fulfilling the promise of so many Denver children and families.” The DCTA said it appreciated Merida’s “passionate pursuit of equity for all students” but said her actions over the past four years “have hurt her effectiveness in accomplishing our values as well as the causes she states she believes in.” The actions cited include poor judgment in collaboration with stakeholders; a determination that groups of teachers are ineffective without taking the time to access individual performance; a disregard for her own accountability on expenditures, and the perpetuation of divisive rhetoric.
Yesterday - 11:18 am
"Tension still exists over what role higher education should play."Much of the anxiety about increasing college degree completion focuses on the perceived need to have a better-educated workforce so the United States can have a strong and growing economy. That point certainly gets made repeatedly as Colorado policymakers fret about the future of the state’s thinly funded higher ed system. (It also comes up when people talk about the reforms contained in Senate Bill 13-213 and the billion-dollar tax increased needed to pay for it.Blogger Mikhail Zinshteyn has an interesting look at the debate in a post of EdMedia Commons, headlined “What’s Behind the Drive for More College Degrees.” Check it out.
Yesterday - 11:14 am
School supply drive kicks off early in DougcoThe Douglas County Educational Foundation is getting a jump start this year on its annual school supply drive for needy students. For most parents, back-to-school is still a long way off but we’re already planning to help hundreds of students in need,” said Amy Sherman, president of the DCEF Board of Trustees. “We want to make sure that every single Douglas County student has the supplies he or she needs to start school and be successful.” According to Sherman, last year DCEF raised more than $20,000 and provided 600 students with supplies ranging from notebooks to calculators. This year, the organization is shooting to beat those numbers and give teachers additional classroom supplies. DCEF has joined with a number of community organizations to collect school supplies. The lengthy list of community partners includes Leadership Douglas County, the Giving Tree, Douglas County Libraries, Douglas County Safeway Stores, Douglas/Elbert Task Force, Panther Pantry, Waste Management, Walgreens, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, DIRECTV, the US Army, Chambers of Commerce, the Meadows Neighborhood Company, Sam’s Club and others. Donations are being collected at the following locations: Douglas County School District Administration Building, Douglas County Chambers of Commerce offices, Belly-Up Spa in Highlands Ranch, Smart Cow in Castle Rock and the U.S. Army Recruiting Station in Parker. Beginning July 7 Douglas County libraries will collect donations and on Saturday, July 20, Safeway stores across Douglas County will accept donations.
Jun 17 2013 - 4:45 pm
Jun 17 2013 - 7:36 am
Report explores status of Colorado girls and womenIn 2012, Colorado girls in third through 10th grades scored proficient on state math and science tests at nearly the same rate as boys. But the gap widened when graduating seniors took college readiness assessments. In both math and science, girls were six percentage points lower than boys when it comes to the proportion that met benchmarks on ACT subject tests. The information comes from a new report from the Women’s Foundation of Colorado called “The Status of Women and Girls in Colorado.” The 160-page report assessed the well-being of women and girls across five broad areas, including educational opportunity. In addition to looking at statewide trends among females, the report includes analyses by racial and ethnic group and county-by-county comparisons. While the report noted the math and science achievement gap between girls and boys, it also highlighted several areas in which girls are doing better. For example, more girls score proficient on both TCAP and ACT reading and writing tests. In addition, the drop-out rate among girls in 7th-12th grade has decreased from 4 percent in 2005-06 to 2.8 percent in 2010-11. (For boys the rate dropped from 4.8 percent to 3.2.) Finally, Colorado ranked fifth among all the states and the District of Columbia for the percentage of women 25 or older who hold at least a bachelor’s degree. For women, the figure is 36 percent and for men, it’s 37 percent.
Counterpoint
Voices: The problem with the new teacher education program ratings
June 19, 2013 | No Comments

Rebecca Kantor, dean of the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Colorado Denver, argues that newly-released ratings of teacher training programs are deeply flawed.

Harmonious co-location
Denver board hears report on campus sharing
June 19, 2013 | No Comments

It’s key for staff and school leaders to meet regularly and build relationships for a colocation to be successful, according to a review by Denver Public Schools staff.

making the grade
Voices: Is today’s high school diploma the equivalent of Weimar republic money?
June 19, 2013 | No Comments

Van Schoales, head of A+ Denver, argues that current requirements for graduation aren’t rigorous enough to ensure the highly-educated workforce we need.

Blacklisted teachers
Changes proposed to DPS “do not rehire” policy
June 18, 2013 | No Comments

Members of the Denver school board said they needed more specifics before agreeing to modify the “do not rehire” practice that affects some probationary teachers.

Making the grade
New report ranks Colorado teacher training programs poorly
June 18, 2013 | 6 Comments

Updated: An already-controversial new report argues that the majority of traditional teacher training programs are not preparing teachers for the classroom.

History lesson
Voices: As state charter law turns 20, one of its champions seeks new role
June 18, 2013 | 1 Comment

Ben DeGrow traces former Lt. Gov. and current DPS board hopeful Barbara O’Brien’s work shepherding the state’s charter school law into existence.

PRICE OF HIGHER ED
Tuition hikes only one piece of college costs
June 17, 2013 | 1 Comment

Colorado college students are again facing tuition increases next year, but the jumps are a bit more moderate than in recent years.

Structural thinking
School leaders go back to school
June 16, 2013 | No Comments

School leaders go back to the classroom to explore whether school structure is more important to effective management than traditional problem solving strategies.

SCHOOL TAX PLAN
Petition approval gives clue to K-12 ballot measure
June 13, 2013 | No Comments

Backers of a proposed tax increase for K-12 schools haven’t announced which ballot measure they’ll push for the November election, but a recent filing with the state hints at the likely finalist.

Capitol News

K-12 News

Healthy Schools

Higher Ed

Colorado Health Foundation Walton Family Foundation Daniels fund Gates Family Foundation Pitton Foundations Donnell-Kay Foundation
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