Wednesday Churn: Dougco for Mitt
Updated – Dougco board members are supporting Mitt Romney and Greeley board member Brett Reese has resigned
Archive for: January, 2012
School group critical of “School Grades”
The Colorado Association of School Executives has sent its members a letter critical of the recently launched school grades website
More education pieces fall into place
Several significant pieces of education legislation were introduced in the Senate Tuesday, covering such issues as charter schools and coordination of early childhood services.
Tuesday Churn: DCTA files grievance
Updated – Denver’s teachers union today filed a grievance against the district over a plan to extend the day in some schools this fall
House Ed puts CDE on hot seat
The Department of Education has got some explaining to do to the House Education Committee about testing and educator evaluation costs.
DPS mulls longer day for middle schools
Denver Public Schools leaders want to extend the school day in traditional middle schools by an hour this fall, to some parents’ dismay
Commentary: Diving deep into value-added study
A lot of attention has been paid to the recent work on the long term impacts of teachers by Chetty, Freidman, and Rockoff. The New York Times, EdNews Colorado, and Mother Jones all discussed this remarkable research. The researchers were able to show a correlation between value-added measures of teacher effectiveness in English and math for Grades 3 through 8 and:
- Reduced teen pregnancy rates (with larger reductions for minority and low income students).
- Increased college attendance rates.
- Increased quality of colleges attended (as measured by earnings of the college’s graduates).
- Increased lifetime earnings.
They also found that, as would be expected, movement of an effective teacher out of a school reduced the average growth of students in that school and movement of an effective teacher into a school increased the average growth of students in that school.
Finally, they showed that the removal of a low-performing teacher (bottom 5 percent of teachers) and the replacement of that teacher with an average teacher would increase the average lifetime earnings of a student in that class by $9,422.
Monday Churn: Authorizer report card
Updated – A new study of charter school authorizing practices finds a decline in charter closures around the U.S.
Commentary: Today’s miracles usually fade
Twelve years ago, Bessemer Elementary was the Tim Tebow of Colorado schools. Hundreds of visitors from across the nation flocked to Pueblo in an effort to learn how a school with a poverty rate of more than 80 percent could boast some of the state’s highest test scores rates and gains.
As a reporter for the Rocky Mountain News, I was one of the many who made the Pueblo pilgrimage. Like others before me, I was duly impressed. “From ‘F’ to Ace in 3 Years, Failing Pueblo School has Become Governor’s Model of Success” was the headline that ran with my 2001 feature on the school, where the walls were covered with laminated photographs of smiling Bessemer kids hugging politicians.
In the years that followed my visit, this political poster child of a school has all but disappeared from the state and national consciousness. A quick glance at the state data explains why. In 2011, Pueblo 60’s three-year, median growth rate was in the 38th percentile statewide. The district is “accredited with a turnaround plan,” with 44 percent of students proficient or advanced on Colorado Student Assessment Program exams.
Bessemer, the miracle/no excuses school, has a 38 percent proficiency rate. It is also under a turnaround plan.
Legislative calendar Jan. 30-Feb. 3
Here’s the calendar of education-related meetings in the legislature for Jan. 30-Feb. 3.
