Ridgeview Classical Continues Exceptional Approach in Pursuit of Excellence

by Eddie | 12:13 pm, December 17, 2012

Recently I told you about my Education Policy Center friends’ visit to Liberty Common High School in Fort Collins — which principal just so happens to be outgoing State Board of Education chair Bob Schaffer (whose farewell dinner earned a nice tribute in the Colorado Statesman). Well, if you’re going to make the 2-hour round [...]

Are Colo. School Districts Really Doing Better on New Global Report Card?

by Eddie | 2:26 pm, December 12, 2012

When confronted with the question of how well our schools are doing, too often we lack the full context needed to compare and understand what knowledge and skills students are acquiring to be strong citizens, competent workers, and trailblazing entrepreneurs for the next generation. Last year I told you about the Global Report Card, which [...]

Don’t Ask to “Show Me” Why K-12 Education Needs Differential Teacher Pay

by Eddie | 2:44 pm, November 1, 2012

If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you probably are well aware of the numerous flaws in the way our K-12 education system pays teachers. Most of the flaws emanate from the single salary schedule, which the vast majority of school districts use. Pay is differentiated almost exclusively by seniority and academic [...]

Colorado Initiative’s Early Success Raises the Math and Science Bar (Gulp)

by Eddie | 2:46 pm, October 26, 2012

I occasionally get accused of being some kind of verbal prodigy. Less often do I get asked about my math and science skills. And frankly, it’s fine with me not to go there. But I get the scope of the problem associated with not enough students qualified and ready for careers in science, math and [...]

Teachers or Union Politics? A (Brief) Colorado Tale of Two Recognitions

by Eddie | 12:24 pm, August 29, 2012

Have you ever played the “one of these things is not like the other” game with only two things? The results usually are neither too difficult nor surprising. But playing a quick game, like we’re about to do, can still be informative in its own way.
Okay, let’s go. The first item comes compliments of the [...]

Winters Just Made It Even Harder to Argue with Florida’s Education Success

by Eddie | 10:45 am, August 14, 2012

Last time I wrote about Florida, it was touting their “silver medal” among the 50 states for growing student achievement in the past 15 years. The Harvard study that handed out the imaginary awards analyzed how much progress 4th-grade and 8th-grade students have made on the national NAEP test.
Second place out of 50? Not too [...]

Harvard Study Puts Three States on Medal Stand for Boosting K-12 Achievement

by Eddie | 12:52 pm, July 26, 2012

The latest edition of the Olympic Games is almost here (who else do you know who gets to live through two different Summer Olympics at age 5?), so what better time to hand out some figurative medals to states for K-12 student learning success? A new Harvard study by Eric Hanushek, Paul Peterson, and Ludger [...]

Bad News in Colorado Remediation Rates Renews Call for Transformation

by Eddie | 2:46 pm, February 9, 2012

I usually don’t like talking about bad news, but sometimes it has to be done. When it comes to Colorado high school graduates needing extra help in reading, writing and math at Colorado colleges and universities, the news is just that: bad. Despite the positive higher education angle headlined by the Denver Post, there’s no [...]

Effective Math and Science Program Making Big Leap in Colorado High Schools

by Eddie | 11:55 am, December 13, 2011

Raise your hand if you agree with me that the USA — and Colorado in particular — can do a better job preparing enough students for success in the areas science, math and technology. Don’t worry about feeling self-conscious if you are in a room with other people. If you can’t overcome it, at least [...]

Reveling in Election Results? New NAEP Scores Mixed Bag for Colorado & Nation

by Eddie | 11:08 am, November 2, 2011

With all the important results related to education in last night’s election here in Colorado — hooray, the only dominoes that toppled were the ones supporting the Prop 103 tax increase on families like mine, AND the school choice champions in Douglas County all won — it would be easy for me to overlook some [...]

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• PPC Training for Activists

  UPDATE: Something apparently got messed up with the PayPal buttons during this past weekend’s database glitch – fixed now. Yes, it’s that time again — PPC will be conducting training classes for center-right activists on Saturday, April 20 and Saturday, April 27, at Independence Institute in Denver. The tentative class schedule is as follows: Saturday, [...]

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