Colorado's “Race to the Top” Colorado's “Race to the Top”

Tier 2 PresentationMarch 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 LopezRace 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 BarkerDirector of Teaching and

LearningColorado 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 GovernorDwight D. Jones, Commissioner of

EducationNina Lopez, Race to the Top CEOLinda Barker, Director of Teaching and

Learning, CEARichard Wenning, Associate

Commissioner7

Colorado’s Plan Builds On Cumulative Reform Momentum

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The Accountability

Act of 1997 (annual student

assessment)

2009: Dropout Prevention

(HB 09-1243)

2009: Education Accountability

Act(SB 09-163)

2009: Educator Identifier Bill (HB 09-1064)

Jan: Preparation Program

Effectiveness Bill(SB 10-36)

1990 2000 2008 20102002

Jan: Executive Order

Creating Council for Educator Effectiveness

2008: Innovation Schools Act (SB

08-130)

2004 2006

2001 School Accountability

Act (School Accountability

Report)

1992: Charter Schools Act

2004: Charter School Institute

Act(HB 04-1362)

2007: Online Education

Act(SB 07-215)

2008: CAP4K(SB 08-212)

2004: Longitudinal

Student Academic

Growth Bill (HB 04-1433) 2007:

Longitudinal Student

Assessment Bill (HB 07-1048)

1993: Colorado Standards-based

Education Reform (HB93-

1313)

2009: Concurrent Enrollment in Public High

School 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 assessmentsCharters and statewide open enrollmentStudent and teacher IDs linked to Ed prepAlternative compensationEducator 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

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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

SchoolView Instructional Improvement System

Access to Colorado Growth ModelHub 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

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Initiates a powerful conversation between teacher, student, and parent

How much growth?

Was it good enough?

How can we improve?

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 constituentsSustainable structures outside of

governmentRelentless focus upon measuring

progress, capturing data and making adjustments

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0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Perc

ent

of

Stu

den

ts

All LEAs

Not Participating

Participating

802K

Participating LEAs

LEAs withK-12 Enrollment <15K

Littleton School District 6

Greeley School District 6 (Weld County 6)Mesa County Valley School District 51

Academy School District 20

Poudre School District R-1Boulder Valley District RE-2Colorado Springs District 11

Adams-Arapahoe School District

Adams 12 Five Star Schools

Cherry Creek School District 5

Douglas County School DistrictRE-1

Denver County School District 1

J efferson County School DistrictR-1

755K

Pueblo City School District 60

Note: Fall 2009 enrollment dataSource: CDE

Participating LEAs by # of Students

134 Colorado LEAs Committed to Participate, Representing 94% of Colorado K-12 Students and

90% of Schools

• 94% of K-12 Students

• 94% of Free/Red Lunch Students

• 90% of Schools

• 96% of Charter Schools

• 92% of Low Performing Schools

• 75% of Districts

• 132 school districts

• Colorado Charter School Institute

• Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind

Participating LEA Summary

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Executing our Turnaround StrategyHave 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 LeadersAll 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 EffectivenessNo 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 ReadyNo policy barriers to executing this plan

Foundation of trust and collaboration

Statewide enthusiasm and participation

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What Coloradoans Say About RttT…

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“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 the Year

“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

Thank You!

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