Thursday Churn: Start-date study

DPS tonight begins a look at whether to start school later in the year and a new study shows states wrestling with teacher evaluations

Poverty’s bottom line hits waistline too

Hunger and obesity are two sides of the same coin – poverty – so it’s no wonder Colorado’s child obesity rate is rising

School “urgency” and the loss of the human dimension

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to visit a well-known charter school in a major city on the eastern seaboard. The school, which largely serves minority students living in poverty, exemplifies what has been dubbed the “no excuses” model: Students are required to wear uniforms, adhere to a strict code of behavior, and remain in school long past the two o’clock bell. The school proudly advertises its unrelenting focus on the twin goals of character education and college readiness, and in recent years almost 90 percent of its students have passed state tests in reading and math.

As I had expected, the school was a bastion of order and, in some senses, of learning. Classes were focused and goal-oriented. Teachers appeared to be genuinely invested in their students’ progress. Students moved through the halls without clamor. And yet, as I moved from classroom to classroom, I began to notice a curious pattern.

The teachers seemed stiff and preoccupied; they rushed through the material even when it was apparent that the students had more questions or needed more time. The students, for their part, were compliant but uncharacteristically solemn. The whole school seemed to be held captive by the kind of energy that I associate with the moments before a major exam: Formal, anxious, and subdued. When I asked one tenth-grade girl how she felt about the school, she told me, “The teachers are always stressing out and it’s like they put that stress on us… I guess it’s good ’cause we’ll be ready for college, but it’s just like work, work, work all the time here.”

From left or right, deliberate distortion is dishonest

I definitely place myself on the left of the political spectrum.  I am not going to defend my position by stating what I am for or against; take my word for it.  And as a “lefty”, I am frustrated with all of the recent diatribes from the left fringe concerning their convoluted take on education reform and elections in Colorado (see here, here, and here).

What they obviously don’t understand is that their wild conspiracy theories and follow-the-money “exposes” are not grounded in truth and are really nothing more than the continual verbal diarrhea that masquerades as public discourse but actually masks what should be the real education discussion: Finding ways to deliver a quality education products that prepares all kids for success in life.

I equate these fringe-left finger-waggers with the likes of Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh on the right – charlatans preaching to their own choirs.  I am usually content to let both ends of the spectrum lob their vitriol at each other while the rest of us who find themselves somewhere in the middle of these edges of the bell curve get to work building coalitions to support real change to benefit kids.

But it bothers me when folks from the side I identify with hide behind distorted ideology and use faulty rhetoric to make their points think they are speaking for me.  You don’t speak for me or most of the left; progressives that want to preserve the “public” aspect and delivery of a free public education, but don’t think that the current system or power structure works to benefit all kids and the future of our nation.

Wednesday Churn: Obama’s back

Updated – President Obama today made his second appearance in a month on a Denver campus, plus new reports on charters and online education

Testing bill gets panel approval

Budget clouds as grey as the storm clouds outside hung over a legislative study committee as it wrestled with proposed 2012 bills.

Tuesday Churn: Time to decide

The Educational Success Task Force, a panel of lawmakers and educators, convenes today to vote on five proposed bills for the 2012 legislature.

Hancock expounds on education issues

On the eve of his 100th day in office, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock spoke with Education News Colorado on a range of education issues.

Campaign money builds for tax proposals

About $263,000 has been raised by campaign committees supporting school district tax increase proposals around the state.

A national model and game-changer for Denver

This week Denver Public Schools  is rolling out “School Choice,” a new common enrollment process for all DPS schools, and a companion guide for families.  It’s a bit surprising that there has not been more chatter about all of this but there is a ton of other education news with elections, SB 10-191 rules, the Alexander Russo talk, a George W. Bush visit to Get Smart Schools, etc.

I suspect that many of us will look back on the launch of this new enrollment process as a true paradigm shift for Denver’s efforts at community engagement and school improvement.

Last week, DPS released the “Discovery” school guide, which is the first step in the rollout of the new system. For the first time, the guide includes not just basic information such as school location and hours, it prominently features performance ratings for each school. This will have a huge impact on parent understandings of school quality and may in turn drive more changes in student enrollment from low to high performing schools.

Think of what the combination of Consumer Reports and the web have done to car buying; no longer are we beholden to our local car dealer for information on quality and price for a car purchase.   An informed consumer can now see objective data on cars along with purchase and repair costs before even setting foot into a showroom.