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Monday, April 2, 2012

Report: New schools outperform redesigns | EdNewsColorado

Report: New schools outperform redesigns | EdNewsColorado:


Report: New schools outperform redesigns

Denver Public Schools has opened 36 new schools in the past five years in the quest to improve student achievement, but a new report says not all types of new schools are performing equally well.
Students from Gilpin Elementary, a redesigned school, pose in this EdNews file photo.
In “Great Expectations, Mixed Results,” released today by the Donnell-Kay Foundation, report author Alex Ooms focused on student academic growth to compare the new schools to district averages at similar grade levels and to each other.
Charter schools – fueled by the West Denver Prep and Denver School of Science and Technology networks – led in performance among the three new school types, which also included innovation schools and district redesigns.
Between 2007 and 2011, the new schools posted higher academic growth scores in reading, writing and math than other DPS schools 53 percent of the time. They achieved similar growth 2 percent of the time and recorded


Monday Churn: ASSET bill vote

Daily Churn logoWhat’s churning:

The bill that would allow state colleges to charge lower tuition for undocumented students is expected to come up for final Senate approval this morning.
Senate Bill 12-015 won a 20-13 preliminary vote in the Democratic-controlled Senate on Feb. 10. But supporters have been delaying a final vote so they could build additional outside support, especially from college and university boards, to put pressure on the House Republican leadership.
Prime sponsor Sen. Mike Johnston, D-Denver, hopes the bill will at least get out of a House committee and make it to the floor.
The bill would create a new level of tuition at state colleges and universities for undocumented students, an amount higher than resident tuition but below out-of-state rates, which is what undocumented students have to pay now even if they live in Colorado. The measure would apply to students who have attended a Colorado high