Ruling a clean sweep for Lobato plaintiffs | EdNewsColorado

Ruling a clean sweep for Lobato plaintiffs | EdNewsColorado:

Ruling a clean sweep for Lobato plaintiffs

by Todd Engdahl

A Denver judge’s ruling in the Lobato school funding case represents a sweeping legal victory – at least at the trial court level – for the parents and school districts that brought the case.

Site of Lobato trial in Denver City and County Building

In fact, District Judge Sheila Rappaport’s 189-page decision, issued late Friday afternoon, incorporates word-for-word virtually all of a proposed ruling filed by the plaintiffs in late October.

It’s an established legal practice for lawyers to file documents called “proposed conclusions of law and findings

New website rates schools A to F

by Nancy Mitchell

A coalition of foundations and advocacy groups today is unveiling a website that grades Colorado schools from A to F in what organizers say is an attempt to make it easier for parents and community members to understand how schools are performing.

A screenshot from ColoradoSchoolGrades.com.

Tim Taylor, president of Colorado Succeeds, said the grades are based on the same criteria used by the state in its accountability system, which last week issued ratings dividing schools into four categories ranging from “performance” to “turnaround.”

Taylor, who gave reporters a sneak peek of the website Friday, said those labels and the state’s highly detailed

Monday Churn: Honoring top performers

by EdNews staff

What’s churning:

The Colorado Department of Education will hold an awards ceremony to recognize the 18 districtsAccredited with Distinction under the state’s accountability system. The event starts at 10 a.m. in the CDE lobby at 201 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. Full list of winners:

Academy School District 20, Agate School District 300, Aspen School District 1, Buffalo School District RE-4, Cheyenne Mountain School District 12, Dolores School District RE-4A, Frenchman School District RE-3, Hinsdale County School District RE-1, Kiowa County School District C-2, Lewis-Palmer School District 38, Littleton Public Schools 6, Moffat School District 2, North Park School District R-1, Ouray School District R-1, Plateau School District RE-5, Ridgway School District R-2, Steamboat Springs School District RE-2 and Telluride School District R-1

The ceremony will also recognize the recipients of the 2011 Centers of Excellence award. Established by the

State Takeovers of School Districts Have Had Mixed Results - NYTimes.com

State Takeovers of School Districts Have Had Mixed Results - NYTimes.com:

State Takeovers of Other Districts Have Had Mixed Results

By WINNIE HU

Published: December 11, 2011

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A state takeover can bring additional resources and expertise to a troubled district, allow for more radical changes, and help deter nepotism, bickering and personal agendas among school board members. But it is usually a last resort because of staunch local opposition.

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• Growing Push in Newark to Retake School Reins (December 12, 2011)

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“Schools districts are best served by members of the local community who know their unique needs,” said Reginald Felton, assistant executive director of the National School Board Association. “We believe that operating from a federal or state level is too far removed from where the action needs to take place.”

Moreover, state takeovers have produced mixed results: Emery, Calif., ended a decade of state control in September

Growing Push in Newark to Retake School Reins

By WINNIE HU

Published: December 11, 2011

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NEWARK — For a generation of Newark students, every education decision, including choices on curriculum, spending and superintendent, has been made by state officials in Trenton.

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Aaron Houston for The New York Times

Parents of children in Newark schools sign a petition to wrest control from the state and give the school board a more active role.

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• State Takeovers of Other Districts Have Had Mixed Results (December 12, 2011)

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That level of state involvement has made the 39,000-student district an attractive laboratory for Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican seen as a national leader on education reform, and for prominent donors, including Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, who have pledged $148 million to remake this city’s failing schools.

But the influx of money, and the attendant national spotlight, has galvanized a growing movement of parents, educators and elected officials who want the schools

Kudos to the New York Times – We have said it all along…Hungry kids don’t bubble well… Poverty & Education: Class Matters « Continuing Change

Kudos to the New York Times – We have said it all along…Hungry kids don’t bubble well… Poverty & Education: Class Matters « Continuing Change:

Kudos to the New York Times – We have said it all along…Hungry kids don’t bubble well… Poverty & Education: Class Matters

by gatorbonbc

Quotes:

“The Occupy movement has catalyzed rising anxiety over income inequality; we desperately need a similar reminder of the relationship between economic advantage and student performance.”

‎”As we are now seeing, requiring all schools to meet the same high standards for all students, regardless of family background, will inevitably lead either to large numbers of

NYT: Dept. of Defense Less Strict than Dept. of Education | Dailycensored.com

NYT: Dept. of Defense Less Strict than Dept. of Education | Dailycensored.com:

NYT: Dept. of Defense Less Strict than Dept. of Education

Written by Adam BessieEducation, MediaDec 11, 2011

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“Military Children Stay One Step Ahead of Public School Students,” according to a recent report in the New York Times, based on a 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progressstudy, which found that students growing up on military bases outperformed their civilian counterparts in fourth through eight grades. And no, it’s not because children on military bases are more disciplined, because they have to polish their shoes each morning, or because they do fifty one-handed push ups for coming late to class.

No, it’s because the Dept. of Defense is less strict than the Dept. of Education.[1]

And no, this is not a joke.

The DoD didn’t follow No Child Left Behind, nor does it follow Race to the

A superintendent calls school reformers’ bluff - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

A superintendent calls school reformers’ bluff - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

A superintendent calls school reformers’ bluff

by Valerie Strauss

This was written by John Kuhn, the superintendent of a small public school district in Texas.

By John Kuhn

As a public school administrator, I have been a steadfast critic of the legacy of No Child Left Behind. But I’ve recently figured out a way that school reformers can get me on their side. It’s very simple.

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NJ Spotlight | Slow Down the School Reform Factory

NJ Spotlight | Slow Down the School Reform Factory:

Slow Down the School Reform Factory

Mechanistically linking test scores to teacher evaluations means trouble not accountability

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By Gordon MacInnes, December 12, 2011 in Opinion |Post a Comment

Reformers look on education as something like an assembly line: the requisite machinery and bins of gleaming parts are all in place. If the products that come off the line don't sell, it must be the welders who are to blame.

Under this mechanistic view, no one stops to consider blindingly obvious design flaws. What if the factory is tooled up to turn out gleaming, new … Edsels?

There's more than a little of this sort of oversimplification evident when the talk turns to teacher evaluation: Kids arrive for the school year well prepared. Teachers have been taught by the university and certified by the state. Principals and supervisors are trained to oversee

Colorado Judge Rips Republican Politicians, Hoover Institute Scholar in Final Failure to Fund Ruling | Scathing Purple Musings

Colorado Judge Rips Republican Politicians, Hoover Institute Scholar in Final Failure to Fund Ruling | Scathing Purple Musings:

Colorado Judge Rips Republican Politicians, Hoover Institute Scholar in Final Failure to Fund Ruling

by Bob Sikes

Wow. From Tim Hoover in the Denver Post:

A key witness for the state was Eric Hanushek​, a scholar at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, who testified that repeated studies have shown no consistent relationship between levels of funding and achievement. He also testified that average funding per pupil in the United States quadrupled from 1960 to 2007, while performance essentially stayed flat.

But Rappaport blistered Hanushek several times throughout her ruling.

“Dr. Hanushek’s analysis that there is not much relationship in Colorado between spending and achievement contradicts testimony and documentary evidence from dozens of well-respected educators in the state, defies logic and is statistically flawed,” the judge said, pointing to cases in