DPS board candidates grade Boasberg

Candidates for Denver school board gave Superintendent Tom Boasberg grades ranging from D+ to B+ during a forum Tuesday.

Wednesday Churn: Bad completion news

Updated - A new report on college completion finds the situation may be worse than many previously thought.

Auditor to consider online schools’ review

A top legislator’s request for an audit of state online education programs is moving ahead.

Opinion: Don’t opt out of Obama school talk

If you’re a parent of a child in public school, chances are you recently got a notice like this from your teacher, school or district:

Dear Parents,

We’ll be listening to and watching President Obama’s Back to School Speech on Wednesday. If you want to opt out and not have your child watch this you must fill out the attachment and return it to school on Monday.

As much as I like to be in the loop as far as school events are concerned, this really ticked me off. This is not a choice I want. I don’t believe it’s a choice I should have. I don’t care if our president is a Republican, a Democrat, an independent, black, brown, white, young, old, middle-aged, Jew, Mormon, Christian, man or woman.

Public education: A space of possibility

This article was written by Katie Salen, a professor in the  College of Digital Media at Chicago’sDePaul University. Salen is also executive director of the Institute of Play. She spoke at the Sept. 27 “What Matters and What Counts” discussion series breakfast.

When I tell people about the two middle schools I have helped to open, Quest to Learn and ChicagoQuest — schools based on principles of game design and play—the typical first response is, “No way.”

“How is it possible,” they ask, “to design a public school to meet all the state assessment requirements and support 21^st century skills like empathy, collaborative problem solving, design thinking, and creativity? There must be rules and requirements that get in your way. How do you find teachers with the right kinds of expertise? How do you support technology integration? How do you cover all that content without teaching to the test?”

While none of these questions come with simple answers I often respond, by drawing on my own background as a game designer. Game designers approach rules much as players do: As constraints to be challenged, pushed against and creatively reconfigured.

Jeffco candidates spark lively debate

Party politics, vouchers and the teachers union emerge as issues for candidates who want to run the state’s largest school district

Tuesday Churn: New higher ed grant

Updated – The Department of Higher Education has received a $35 million federal grant for pre-college programs.

Find your Denver school’s 2011 district rating

Search the EdNews database to see how your Denver school fared on the district’s 2011 school report cards released Sept. 26

DPS increases schools with top ratings

Updated – Denver Public Schools released its individual school report cards Monday, with more schools earning the top two ratings

Brill: Colorado a reform bellwether

The author of a controversial new book on education reform discusses his views with Education News Colorado