CSAP Scores Get Little Attention, But Call For Expanding School Reform Approach
Yesterday morning the Colorado Department of Education unveiled the latest CSAP (state assessment) results. It’s hard to believe: in the past these events attracted a lot of fanfare. But for the most recent announcement, I missed the brass band and confetti. Maybe because there wasn’t any.
And that doesn’t take into account the fact the release [...]
Typology of Colorado Charter Schools
Senior Fellow Krista Kafer joins Pam Benigno to discuss a Colorado Department of Education study titled A Typology of Colorado Charter Schools 2009 http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdechart/download/typologyreport_012709.pdf and the updated version of an Independence Institute paper titled A Chronology of School Choice in the U.S. http://www.i2i.org/files/pdf/IP_3_2007_revised_April_2009.pdf
Parents Should Not Lose Easy Access to School Report Cards
Education Policy Center Director Pam Benigno discusses the latest from this week in Colorado education. State lawmakers are threatening to end the requirement that printed copies of the School Accountability Report (SAR) be delivered to parents. Poorer families without computer access will be most affected, since they often rely on the information to help find safer, better-performing schools for their children.
Bad News for Families: State Cuts Printed School Report Cards
Yesterday the Joint Budget Committee cut the printing of next year’s School Accountability Reports (SAR). Also, a bill going through the legislature that will make major changes to Colorado’s accountability system does not include printing of the new reports. Not sending home a SAR (aka school report card) keeps parents in the dark about a school’s student performance. [...]
Assessing Colorado Rural Public School Performance
How do Colorado’s rural school districts stack up in the area of academic performance? Research associate Paul Mueller joins Education Policy Center director Pam Benigno to discuss his new Issue Backgrounder Assessing Colorado Rural Public School Performance. Two school districts in particular are highlighted as examples of “beating the odds” when it comes to effectively educating a high-minority or high-poverty student population.
Assessing Colorado Rural Public School Performance
Author Paul Mueller analyzes performance data from the School Accountability Reports for all 86 rural Colorado school districts, and compared them to demographic factors traditionally associated with lower achievement. Two school districts – Sargent and La Veta – are cited as examples of “beating the odds” with effective instruction despite a high-poverty or high-minority student population.
Colorado Students Progress Assessed
The 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) writing results are in! Where do Colorado 8th graders compare to the rest of the country? More importantly, has the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) help to improve our rankings since its inception in 1997. Tune in as Ben DeGrow and Education Center Director Pam Benigno discuss the NAEP results and the progress of Colorado’s students.
Channel 7 Report: Benigno Comments on Governor's Education Reform
March 20, 2008–Education Policy Center director Pam Benigno responded to yesterday’s unveiling of Gov. Bill Ritter’s Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids in an interviewed appearance on Denver’s Channel 7 News.
Benigno Warns of Threat to School Accountability
May 3, 2007 Update: H.B. 1345 passed the legislature with an amendment that requires schools to “provide to the parent or legal guardian of each student enrolled in the public school…with a printed copy of the report.”
Offer greater school choice in Colorado
Gov. Ritter’s inaugural address stated a worthy goal: “To provide employers the best educated workforce in the nation, reduce the dropout rate, and close the achievement gap.” The governor should start with looking at the most successful public schools in the state. If he did so, he could see that school choice increases student achievement. The logical next step would be to place the public school system in the hands of “professional parents.”
