Let’s Look at the Other Important Part of Colorado’s Early Literacy Problem, Too

by Eddie | 1:40 pm, March 13, 2012

If I weren’t so little, I might have stayed up to hear the first result for Colorado’s most talked about education bill of the session. But it went past my bedtime before the House Education Committee agreed to adopt HB 1238, as Ed News Colorado reported:

The House Education Committee Monday gave a full hearing – [...]

New Fiscal Impact Study Reinforces Benefits of Dougco Choice Scholarship Program

by Eddie | 5:15 pm, March 1, 2012

The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice has released an interesting new study titled “The Fiscal Effects of School Choice Programs on Public School Districts.” Author Benjamin Scafidi took a state-by-state look at total per-pupil spending, breaking out the fixed costs from the variable costs.
Here’s the basic idea. Take a state’s K-12 “expenditures on capital, [...]

Comprehensive Milwaukee Voucher Study Shows Some Positive, No Harmful Results

by Eddie | 3:26 pm, February 28, 2012

The big news from the education reform world this week is the release of the School Choice Demonstration Project’s final reports evaluating five years of matched student comparisons between the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program and the Milwaukee Public Schools. What can we learn about vouchers from the results of this program?
The American Federation for Children [...]

February a Month to Remember (or Forget) in National K-12 Standards Debate

by Eddie | 11:48 am, February 24, 2012

Last spring I told you about a growing movement to oppose the Common Core standards and accompanying assessments, as well as the momentum toward a national curriculum. Well, a recent spate of evidence suggests that the Common Core cause has fallen on hard times, to say the least:

Two recent Pioneer Institute reports not only call [...]

“Education Justice League” Sums Up Research, Points to School Choice Future

by Eddie | 3:52 pm, February 22, 2012

Once in awhile an article comes along that makes you stand up and cheer. For me, the latest is a new Education Week column signed by “nine scholars and analysts” that lays out clearly what the research says about school choice. I was tempted to re-post the whole thing, but the big people in my [...]

National Eye on Colo.’s HB 1238 to Enhance Literacy by Curbing Social Promotion

by Eddie | 3:06 pm, February 16, 2012

Colorado’s legislative bid to enhance early literacy is getting some national attention. The bipartisan House Bill 1238 enlists parents and educators to focus on interventions for struggling readers in the early grades and requires the local superintendent to sign off before a non-proficient reader can advance past 3rd grade. My Education Policy Center friend Ben [...]

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 [...]

Colorado Has Made Some Progress, But a C for Teacher Policy Isn’t Good Enough

by Eddie | 5:30 pm, January 30, 2012

Now that School Choice Week is over, and I’m able to relax a bit after my manic phase of hyperactivity, it’s back to the (fun) edublogging grind. Right out of the gate, it’s time to tackle an important education reform item that emerged last week but falls a little bit outside the school choice arena. [...]

A+ Denver Report Gives More Evidence that Charter Franchises Are Getting It Done

by Eddie | 5:10 pm, January 12, 2012

Just a quick post today. More good news emerging from DPS today. Ed News Colorado highlights an intriguing new report from A+ Denver that breaks down some key performance data from the state’s second-largest school district:
This report shows that Charter Management Organizations (charter organizations that manage more than one school, currently DSST, West Denver Prep [...]

Bob Schaffer Looks Back at 10 Years of NCLB Federal Education Failure

by Eddie | 3:56 pm, January 10, 2012

Yesterday I peered ahead at the upcoming legislative session. Today I take a look back at a landmark piece of national education legislation. Yes, I sometimes get confused like that. Anyway, it was 10 years ago this week that then-President George W. Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). A whole [...]

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