U.S. pressured by international rankings

Education Week’s 2012 report on the state of American schools puts U.S. education in a global context

School reform players, politics: A view from the left

Editor’s note: This piece was submitted by Angela Engel, the author of the book, “Seeds of Tomorrow; Solutions for Improving our Children’s Education” and the director of Uniting4Kids a new national non-profit promoting quality neighborhood schools through parent, teacher and student leadership.

National interests are investing heavily in Colorado’s school board races. The players are many, the politics ugly, and the possibilities well…

The Players

Stand for Children established a Colorado Chapter in 2010 in order to push legislation that tied teacher evaluations to test scores. Their investors include The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, and New Profit Inc. – a “national venture philanthropy fund.”

Democrats for Education Reform, DFER, is a newer organization that promotes charter schools, alternative certification training, and performance pay, and in addition promote mayoral control.

ACE Scholarships originated in Colorado in 2000. ACE members made significant campaign contributions to the Douglas County school board responsible for directing private dollars away from some of the most high-performing public schools in the state. Several other funders have also joined the ranks, and the one thing they all have in common are trustees and board members with corporate connections and very deep pockets.

The Politics

So why are corporate executives and wealthy entrepreneurs suddenly interested in public education? Because they like to make money and recent education reforms along with “new tax credits” and Education Management Organizations, EMO’s, have provided ample opportunity to make a dollar. Here’s how they do it:

In Denver, Bush touts school leadership

Former President George W. Bush emphasized the importance of strong school leaders during a brief stop in Denver Thursday

New school nutrition guidelines are sensible

Editor’s note: The following letter was submitted by Maren Stewart, President and CEO, LiveWell Colorado, Anne Warhover, President and CEO, The Colorado Health Foundation and Chris Watney, President and CEO, Colorado Children’s Campaign.

New U.S. Department of Agriculture school food nutritional guidelines add more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat milk to school meals and are based on Institute of Medicine recommendations.  While these standards represent an opportunity to improve student health, which research shows correlates to improved academic achievement, some leaders have voiced opposition.

Establishing standards for charter school authorizers

Editor’s note: This article was submitted by Alex Medler, vice president of research and evaluation at the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA).

Readers of Education News Colorado are accustomed to fights over charter schools.  The decisions to approve or close charter schools in Colorado are made by school districts and Colorado’s Charter School Institute. Their decisions are based on the work they do in their roles as authorizers.

Collectively, the practices of Colorado’s charter school authorizers may be less than compelling news.  But their work is crucial to shaping the degree of quality and innovation that families find in our charter schools.

For the last couple of years, Colorado has been engaged in serious discussions about the standards that ought to apply to charter schools and to charter school authorizers.  I had the privilege of chairing a statutorily-created commission that met for a year to discuss these standards. In August, the 1412 Commission, as it is known, forwarded recommendations to the legislature and the State Board of Education.  The Commission had recommendations for both charter schools and their authorizers, but I will focus my commentary today on the standards proposed for authorizers.

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.

Changing rules on educator effectiveness

Rocky Mountain PBS and EdNews hosted a lively talk Friday on the new law that dramatically alters how Colorado teachers and principals are evaluated

Lobato 8/3: Student takes stand

Nineteen-year-old Taylor Lobato had been waiting for this day for five years. Wednesday was her day in court. With 9News video

Education policy critics march in D.C.

Teachers and supporters gathered near the White House on Saturday to chant, cheer, and march for changes they hope to see in public schools

Some states leave low-income kids behind

A ProPublica analysis shows, in some states, high-poverty schools are less likely to have students enrolled in higher-level classes. Link to interactive database