(From The Christian Science Monitor, May 7, 2010)

By STACY TEICHER KHADAROO

Colorado is the latest battleground for changing the way public school teachers are evaluated and protected in their jobs.

One provision in a controversial, fast-moving bill there: Teachers deemed ineffective for two years in a row could be put back on probation, losing the right to a hearing before being dismissed.

The bill has passed in the state Senate and will be up for a vote early next week in the House if it passes through the appropriations committee Friday. It would base part of teacher performance reviews on how well their students improve each year academically. Teachers would earn nonprobationary status by being judged effective for three years in a row.

Colorado is vying for a share of more than $4 billion from the US Department of Education’s Race to the Top competition. States can earn points for meeting a range of criteria, including creating links between teacher evaluations and measurable student progress. Education experts credit the competition for accelerating statewide education reforms that could barely get a foothold a few years ago.

If the bill becomes law, “it’s going to be very significant for the Obama administration [as a] progressive change in education that’s tied directly to their Race to the Top,” says Joe Williams, executive director of Democrats for Education Reform, a national political action committee in New York.

In Florida, a teacher-tenure reform bill was vetoed recently by Gov. Charlie Crist after massive opposition from unions and others in the state. Lawmakers in Connecticut, which is also competing for federal funds, approved a bill this week that would tie teacher evaluations in part to student performance, along with other reforms such as raising high school graduation standards and more aggressively improving failing schools.

Critics say the rush for some of these reforms is creating a punitive, demoralizing climate for teachers.

“All of these bills contain this ludicrous proposition that the reason for low performance is the schools must have bad teachers,” says Diane Ravitch, an education historian at New York University and author of “The Death and Life of the Great American School System.” The relentless focus on teachers is a red herring, she says, when public education is challenged with everything from poverty to an influx of non-English-speaking students.

The Colorado bill represents “an erosion of due process for teachers,” Ms. Ravitch says.

The Colorado Education Association agrees.

“You are removing due process rights from someone who has earned them, and you’re throwing them back into a probationary pool where you can be let go for any reason or no reason,” says CEA spokeswoman Deborah Fallin. That’s one reason her group, representing about 40,000 educators, opposes the bill. (She notes that negotiations this weekend and possible amendments early next week could soften the union’s position.)

The American Federation of Teachers in Colorado, a much smaller union, supports the bill.

Teachers receiving unsatisfactory evaluations would in essence have three years to take advantage of professional development and improve their work before facing the possibility of losing their jobs, says president Brenda Smith. “If a teacher is unsatisfactory for three consistent years, then [there’s] a problem.”

(From The Denver Post, April 7, 2010)

By JEREMY P. MEYER

One more time.

Colorado will make a second attempt to win the federal Race to the Top grant competition.

“Our Round 2 application will make an even stronger case for how we will improve student achievement, turn around struggling schools and improve educator effectiveness,” Gov. Bill Ritter said Tuesday.

The state will be seeking $175 million — $200 million less than in the first round — to implement reforms, including creating a statewide data system and developing a more robust evaluation system.

The big question: Can Colorado write a new application that fixes some of the obvious flaws identified in the state’s first application? The state finished 14th among 16 finalists in the first round.

The state was downgraded by reviewers for having a persistent wide student achievement gap among ethnic groups and income levels.

It was criticized for not having a good enough pipeline for bringing in aspiring teachers and principals. It was roundly knocked for failing to get full buy-in from teachers unions and all of Colorado’s 178 school districts.

Half of the local teachers unions with collective bargaining agreements refused to sign on, including in the Cherry Creek, Aurora and Boulder districts.

“We are still working on our trust and collaboration issues,” said Melissa Tingley, president of the Boulder Valley Education Association.

The state will be seeking full buy-in for less money, which could be a problem, said Kelly Hupfeld, assistant dean of the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver.

“Hitting all four reform areas in a comprehensive way is more difficult with 50 percent less money,” said Hupfeld, who helped write the state’s first-round application.

Colorado scored low on the crucial teachers and leaders section — which asked states to describe how they plan to recruit, develop, reward and retain effective educators.

Some believe a bill not yet introduced from state Sen. Michael Johnston, D-Denver, that focuses on teacher effectiveness and evaluation will answer some of those issues.

The bill seeks to rewrite state tenure laws and tie evaluations of teachers and principals to student academic growth.

“If that doesn’t pass, it’s highly unlikely the state will win Race to the Top,” said Van Schoales, executive director of Education Reform Now.

Legislating some of the changes would automatically mean districts and unions would have to buy in, Johnston said. “That is the law of the land, whether a district signs on or not.”

The Colorado Education Association is not so optimistic about Johnston’s bill.

“It is not enough of this entire application to make that big of a difference,” said CEA spokeswoman Deborah Fallin.

Nevertheless, Colorado had better get bold because reviewers are likely to be tougher this time around, said Timothy Daly, president of The New Teacher Project, which created a report about how states can improve their scores.

“You will need both very strong policies and good buy-in,” Daly said. “We think (the U.S. Department of Education) will have plenty of applications that will have both.”

(From The Denver Post, March 29, 2010)

By JEREMY P. MEYER

Colorado did not win in the first round of the federal education grant competition known as Race to the Top, the U.S. Department of Education announced this morning.

The winners are Tennessee and Delaware.

“We received many strong proposals from states all across America, but two applications stood out above all others: Delaware and Tennessee,” said Education Secretary Arne Duncan. “Both states have statewide buy-in for comprehensive plans to reform their schools. They have written new laws to support their policies. And they have demonstrated the courage, capacity, and commitment to turn their ideas into practices that can improve outcomes for students.”

Delaware will receive approximately $100 million and Tennessee $500 million to implement their comprehensive school reform plans over the next four years.

Colorado was among the 16 states out of 40 and the District of Columbia tabbed as first-round finalists for a share of $4 billion in school improvement money.

Colorado applied for $377 million to augment its reform efforts, specifically to develop a cross-state data system.

The state had been a strong contender but most education experts placed Colorado’s chances as being slim to win in the first round because the state had not tackled tough issues such as teacher tenure, improving evaluation systems and removal of ineffective teachers.

But in a press conference this morning, Duncan discounted the suggestion that union buy-ins in Tennessee and Delaware were the big factors in their win for the Race to the Top grants.

“It’s a 500 point competition involving many factors. Everyone likes to think there’s one simple answer, but that’s not the case. We looked for the strongest applications overall,” Duncan said.

Colorado ranked No. 14 in the original review of applications, scoring 409.6 points out of 500. Delaware ranked No. 1, scoring 454.6 points.

Duncan said he was impressed by Delaware and Tennessee’s plans to involve 100 percent of their students. “Urban, rural and suburban,” he said. “It’s taking student success to an entirely different scale.”

Applicants for the second-round grants will be required to submit budgets within originally suggested ranges, which are based on each state’s population of kids aged 5 to 17.

Most first-round applications ignored the suggestions.

Tennessee is in category 3, eligible for grants ranging from $150 million to $250 million. Delaware is in category 5, eligible for $20 million to $75 million

Colorado is within category 4, for which the required range is between $60 million to $175 million.

In the second round, if there are enough strong applications, Duncan said he hopes to award between 10 and 15 grants.

Colorado’s education commissioner Dwight Jones said the state will apply for the second-round grants after reviewing feedback from the first application.

The U.S. Department of Education will have about $3.4 billion available for the second phase of the Race to the Top competition.

“We set a very high bar for the first phase,” Duncan said. “With $3.4 billion still available, we’re providing plenty of opportunity for all other states to develop plans and aggressively pursue reform.”

Applications for phase 2 will be due on June 1 with finalists announced in August and winners in September.

“I am totally impressed they are keeping the bar high,” said Van Schoales, who works for Education Reform Now. “For Colorado, they said, ‘That’s nice, but it’s not enough.’ Because you need substance behind it.”

The peer reviewers who evaluated the applications awarded the highest scores to Delaware and Tennessee for their commitment to reform from key stakeholders, including elected officials, teacher’s union leaders, and business leaders.

In both states, all school districts committed to implementing Race to the Top reforms.

Delaware and Tennessee also have aggressive plans to improve teacher and principal evaluation, use data to inform instructional decisions, and turn around their lowest-performing schools. In addition, both states have put in place strong laws and policies to support their reform efforts.

Or, what if you decided to host a party, but Colorado was the only state that showed up…

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter this week appointed Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien to serve as his hand-picked “Race To The Top” czar, to make sure the state is demonstrating its commitment to meaningful refom so it can qualify for boatloads of innovation funding for schools contained in the recently adopted stimulus festivus.

O’Brien, a member of the DFER-Colorado steering committee, is the perfect person for the job, and you’d have to say that Colorado is poised to be one of Education Sectetary Arne Duncan’s top reform-minded posterchildren at this point. (In my Stimulus tournament bracket I have Colorado going all the way to the Final Four.)

Ritter’s press release is after the jump. Look for DFER at the big Colorado Democratic Party Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Denver on Saturday night. And even though the whole idea of governors doing anything interesting with education is like, so 1990’s, it will be interesting to see if anyone else follows Ritter’s lead here.