Colorado's “Race to the Top”
Tier 2 Presentation
March 16, 2010
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Lt. Governor Barbara O’Brien
Chair, RttT Leadership Investment Board
Appointed by Governor Ritter to Lead
Colorado’s RttT process
Over 20 years as Colorado’s chief advocate for
children, including:
–Leadership role in the Constitutional protection
of K-12 funding
–Wrote and led coalition that passed 1992
Charter Schools Act
–Created the Colorado Preschool Program
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Commissioner Dwight D. Jones
Unanimously appointed by the State Board of
Education in 2007
Former teacher, principal and administrator
Supervised the turnaround of 11 schools in Kansas,
Missouri and Maryland
As Superintendent of Fountain-Fort Carson School
District, eliminated the achievement gap among
students
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Richard Wenning
Associate Commissioner
Leads implementation of Colorado’s accountability system,
the Colorado Growth Model and SchoolView
Co-Chair, RttT public input committee for Data Systems
– 20 years experience with accountability and longitudinal
data systems
– Led design of Denver’s school accountability system
– President, Education Performance Network an affiliate of
New American Schools
– Vice President, Colorado League of Charter Schools
– Senior Policy Advisor for CEO and accountability director
for DC Public Schools during Federal takeover
– U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee staff
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Nina Lopez
Race to the Top CEO
Governor’s Council for Educator Effectiveness, Vice Chair
Race to the Top public input committee for Great Teachers
and Leaders, Co-Chair
Past work includes:
– As Public Affairs Director for Colorado League of Charter
Schools, led coalition to create the Charter School
Institute
– As Policy Director for Donnell-Kay Foundation, created
the Trujillo Commission that resulted in the Online
Education Act
– 10 years private legal practice
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Linda Barker
Director of Teaching and Learning
Colorado Education Association
Former Montana Teacher of the Year, National Board
Certified
Member of the Technical Advisory Panel for development of
the Colorado Growth Model
Member of Advisory Board for School Leadership Academy
Chair, Race to the Top public input committee for Equitable
Distribution of Teachers in High Need and Hard to Staff
Schools
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Commitment, Capacity, Courage
Colorado’s RttT Team
Barbara O’Brien, Lieutenant Governor
Dwight D. Jones, Commissioner of Education
Nina Lopez, Race to the Top CEO
Linda Barker, Director of Teaching and Learning,
CEA
Richard Wenning, Associate Commissioner
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Colorado’s Plan Builds On
Cumulative Reform Momentum
2009: Dropout Prevention
2004: Charter School 2009: Educator
(HB 09-1243)
Institute Act Identifier Bill
1993: Colorado The Accountability (HB 04-1362) 2008: Innovation
(HB 09-1064)
Standards-based Act of 1997 (annual Schools Act (SB 08-130)
Education Reform student assessment)
(HB93-1313) Jan: Preparation Program
Effectiveness Bill
(SB 10-36)
1990 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010
2007: Online
1992: Charter Schools 2001 School Education Act
2004: Longitudinal (SB 07-215)
Act Accountability Act Student Academic
(School Growth Bill Jan: Executive Order
Accountability 2008: CAP4K Creating Council for
(HB 04-1433) (SB 08-212)
Report) Educator Effectiveness
2007: Longitudinal
Student Assessment Bill
(HB 07-1048) 2009: Education
Accountability Act
(SB 09-163)
2009: Concurrent
Enrollment in Public
High School
8 and College Bill
(HB 09-1319)
Results Require Courage,
Collaboration, Trust
Don’t back off on tough issues while getting buy-in
Accountability for achievement and closing the gap
Standards and assessments
Charters and statewide open enrollment
Student and teacher IDs linked to Ed prep
Alternative compensation
Educator evaluations
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The Results We Expect
• New bright line: all kids ready by exit
• Incentives focused on maximizing student
progress toward college and career readiness
• Requires definition of readiness and the standards
leading there
– CO Achievement Plan for Kids (SB 08-212)
• Requires accountability system focused on the goal
– Education Accountability Act of 2009 (SB 09-163)
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Key Catalysts for Performance
Breakthrough educator collaboration about
performance and practice
Outstanding instructional improvement
technologies drive insight and action by users at
all levels
Widespread understanding of performance
motivates public pressure for sustained reform
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SchoolView
Instructional Improvement System
Access to Colorado Growth Model
Hub for knowledge management
Aligns accountability system’s incentives and
disclosure of results with information needs of
each user
Collaboration extends across states: MA, AZ, and
IN have adopted the Colorado Growth Model
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West Denver Prep Charter School
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Focus on the User
Initiates a powerful conversation between
teacher, student, and parent
How much growth?
Was it good enough?
How can we improve?
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We Will Execute our Plan
CEO of Race to the Top - authority, responsibility
and autonomy to execute
Team has the relationships and trust to work
together immediately
CEO’s leadership team accountable for execution
– 25% of compensation dependent upon
meeting performance objectives
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We Have the Capacity to Implement
Nimble structure leverages private and public
entities
Close collaboration with constituents
Sustainable structures outside of government
Relentless focus upon measuring progress,
capturing data and making adjustments
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134 Colorado LEAs Committed to Participate,
Representing 94% of Colorado K-12 Students and 90% of Schools
Participating LEAs by # of Students Participating LEA Summary
802K 755K
100% • 94% of K-12 Students
Not Participating
• 94% of Free/Red Lunch
LEAs with Students
K-12 Enrollment <15K
80% • 90% of Schools
Littleton School District 6
• 96% of Charter Schools
Pueblo City School District 60
Percent of Students
60%
Greeley School District 6 (Weld County 6)
Mesa County Valley School District 51 • 92% of Low Performing Schools
Academy School District 20
Poudre School District R-1 • 75% of Districts
Boulder Valley District RE-2
Participating Colorado Springs District 11
• 132 school districts
Adams-Arapahoe School District
40%
Adams 12 Five Star Schools • Colorado Charter School
Cherry Creek School District 5 Institute
Douglas County School District
RE-1 • Colorado School for the Deaf
20% and the Blind
Denver County School District 1
Jefferson County School District
R-1
0%
All LEAs Participating LEAs
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Note: Fall 2009 enrollment data
Source: CDE
Executing our Turnaround Strategy
Have clear measures of school performance that are
grounded in student growth measures
Education Accountability Act of 2009 a national model of
school and district accountability
– State authority to take increasingly strong interventions
including directing closure
Commissioner created a CDE Unit of Turnaround and forged
partnership with Mass Insight and Public Impact
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Great Teachers and Leaders
All participating districts evaluate educators using system
based at least 50% upon student growth
Created the Governor’s Council for Educator Effectiveness
to ensure we develop AND implement well
District commitment to use evaluations systems for decisions
about individual professional development, compensation,
promotion, retention and dismissal
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Educator Effectiveness
No policy barriers to executing this plan
We have the foundation of trust and
collaboration
Governor’s Council for Educator Effectiveness will
ensure districts use valid, rigorous and fair evaluation
measures so tenure and licensure will be earned
and retained based upon demonstrated
performance
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Colorado Is Ready
No policy barriers to executing this
plan
Foundation of trust and collaboration
Statewide enthusiasm and participation
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What Coloradoans Say About RttT…
“Race to the Top will provide the critical resources and incentives to help us
make the tough decisions and implement necessary change.” Tom Boasberg,
Superintendent, Denver Public Schools
“It is a good plan that will make a huge difference in public education if it is
funded sufficiently and executed well.” Jeanette Cornier, Parent
“We all want highly effective teachers in every classroom. A solid
evaluation system that focuses on improving instruction is key to achieving
that goal.“ Justin Darnell, CO Teacher of theYear
“I felt like I was making a difference. …. Student voice achieves real results.
The educational system has been working for (as opposed to with) students,
like myself, for too long.” Christian Mendoza, Student, Denver School of Science
and Technology, participated in Race to the Top committee on Turnaround Schools
“The Colorado team understands how business best gets done in our state
when it comes to rethinking policy as it pertains to teachers and
principals. Legislative fiat matters very little if teachers and leaders aren’t
willing to race to the top as well. …. Taking on sacred cows is tough
business. But, in Colorado, we have a history of doing just that.” Phil
Gonring, Rose Community Foundation, key funder of Denver ProComp
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Thank You!
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