a strong voice for kids 2nd Congressional District
a strong voice for kids 2nd Congressional District
Chairwoman Chlouber made a presentation to Clair Orr of the gavel that he used as chair of SBE.
HUDAK: First I thanked Lynne Fontanier (Director of State Board Relations) for taking care of me yesterday when I had the extreme allergy attack and making sure that I got proper medical treatment; I said that I would have had a much harder time getting through it if she hadn't been there for me. Next I mentioned three parts of the NASBE (National Association of State Boards of Education) Legislative Conference last month in Washington, D.C., that I found particularly relevant: (1) The President's Education Reform Plan - includes several components that are similar to what we have in Colorado; namely, requiring states to have standards in the five main content areas, requiring states to do annual assessments in reading and math in grades 3-8 (Colorado tests reading in grades 3-10 and math in grades 5-10), and requiring states to issue report cards on how schools are doing on the assessments. The plan includes using the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) to assess if states are making adequate yearly progress on standards [see DeHoff's comments about this in the Work Session yesterday], and there will be sanctions for those doing poorly and bonuses for those doing well. NASBE's position is that we need solutions, not sanctions for poorly-performing schools. Currently 36 states have report cards and 49 have state standards and assessments. (2) The Education Trust gave a report on closing the achievement gap. Research shows that one-third of what influences student success is teacher effectiveness. Many schools in high-poverty areas have teachers that are either uncertified or not certified in the subject that they are teaching. The keys to improving the achievement of minority students are: teacher quality, high standards, and funding targeted to the neediest schools. (3) A report on Early Childhood mentioned the importance of improving early childhood education for future student achievement. Preschool programs need to have teachers that have credentials and receive higher salaries. Child care facilities should have performance standards and licensing standards. NASBE is doing a study on Early Childhood, and I will be attending the conference on this in May. Finally, I concluded my report by mentioning the award ceremony I attended last week for National Library Week. Awards were given to Colorado school children who designed posters for National Library Week, as well as for an essay contest and a poetry contest. One of the winners in the poetry contest, sponsored by the Colorado Center for the Book and entitled "A River of Words," was a 4th grader from Southmoor Elementary in Denver named Jacob Newman, who included in his poem on "Cutthroat Trout" the term "basibranchial teeth." I commented that if we have 4th graders using terms like this, surely the future of education in Colorado is bright!
STANFORD: Also attended the Library celebration and expressed thanks to Nancy Bolt, CDE's Library Director, who put the program together. Commended Roscoe Davidson on the extraordinarily good job he has done on accreditation. Has been out in the field - attended an event of the Hugh O'Brien Youth Foundation, with hundreds of students learning about becoming better citizens; many had questions about standards and about becoming a teacher. Commended several CDE staff who distinguished themselves at the recent Service Learning conference - this was a colossal national conference. The good work of CDE and our schools in service learning were featured; Colorado was a showcase for the rest of the country. Special credit goes to Jill Conrad for her help in organizing the conference and to Dave Smith, for his workshop on service learning in a time of high-stakes testing; we got many words of praise. Commended Aurora Public Schools on its selection of Bob Adams for Superintendent to succeed retiring Dave Hartenbach - a smooth transition. Denver Public Schools is down to three splendid finalists for Superintendent. Denver is surely the "flagship school district of the state" and good things are going on in DPS - Manuel High School is addressing multiple learning needs, a radical and welcome proposal to create 3 schools in the one high school. Acknowledged the colleges that met the expectations for renewal of their teacher preparation programs in today's consent agenda. It's great to see that accreditation contracts are going out. DPS has put in place a teacher residency program - has tried to make good use of alternative licensing, but it's good to see them making good use of this. Good news that the school finance act was passed - good recognition of the priorities of this board, pressing for inflation plus growth in PPOR as well as in categoricals, items we supported in implementing Amendment 23.
ORR: Met recently with some high school seniors - they asked good questions and were very astute about what's going on. Along with State Representative T. Williams and other civic leaders, met with 3rd graders in Greeley who had recently studied the American presidents; it was inspiring to see our youth observing our heritage and democracy. Spoke with Dr. Gaffney with the Character First program, talking about character education and a letter sent by him to the Wyatt-Edison Charter School in Denver about a student who frequently visits principal's office, has a troubled home life, and has been exhibiting acting-out behavior. This student wrote that he recently changed his behavior, because he's practicing the character traits of obedience and courtesy. Cortez is now a "character town." Encouraging that people are getting actively involved in character education. Shared with the board a cartoon entitled "Misplaced Priorities" that shows a student (basketball player) holding two pieces of paper, one that says "Final exam grade - 2 points," and the other "Final round - 2 points!"
POLIS: Questioned why CU Boulder was not on this month's agenda for approval of teacher preparation programs [Lynne Fontanier responded that it will be on next month's]. Has proposed a resolution for the SBE to create a student advisory committee - students have important information from their unique perspective; hopes we pass this resolution at our next meeting. Regarding the SB186 implementation, believes that CDE should be working collaboratively with superintendents and others in the education field. Wants SBE to discuss how people receive their GED in Colorado, rather than just getting it in the mail; we should recognize them more. Traveled around to several districts in state - impressed with a program in a junior high school in Poudre School District, which had motivational speakers (the school had recently had some violence problems and had become a media circus). Spoke to some elementary and high school students about civics. Has a proposal to create a virtual high school in Colorado - proposal presented to SBE yesterday; people are welcome to get involved. His term of office is being discussed across the street, with a bill in the Legislature to end his term next year and replace him with someone elected from the newly formed 7th Congressional District - he will fight to serve the full 6-year term to which he was elected. Recognized school districts that just received accreditation contracts.
DEHOFF: Said that the encouraging part of board members' lengthy reports is that we have so much to share. Regarding GED awards - will be presenting some tonight in Jeffco, a very impressive ceremony, with people between the ages of 17 and 70 receiving their GEDs. Also attended the NASBE Legislative Conference; he serves on study group called the Changing Face of American Students, which studies how to maintain the common ideals that hold this country together and still respect and honor various cultures - a fascinating experience. Attended the Governor's Education Summit last month - mentioned Floyd Flake's inspiring speech about holding high expectations for students. Serves on the NAEP Math Steering Committee, which currently is reworking the framework of the test to keep it current with current standards. One key issue is about using NAEP to check on states' assessments; it isn't designed to do this, just to track trend data. Would be good against our assessment, because we have good alignment, but not in general - for example, Texas allows the use of a calculator on its math assessment, and NAEP disallows calculators. The U.S. House version of the bill for President Bush's education reform allows states to volunteer to use NAEP. Attended a presentation by Just4Kids, which takes Texas assessment data and other data and uses it to present a picture of longitudinal growth of schools; it showed us what can be done by having this data available. We are on the track of doing this kind of thing (comparing schools, taking into account socioeconomic and numbers of ELL students). Pointed out that the Texas data shows that some schools in high socioeconomic areas weren't making as good progress as those in high poverty areas; also pointed out that some schools where students were performing poorly had teachers not prepared to teach at that level. Defining teacher quality is like art - you know it when you see it, but it's hard to define. We are working on radical revamping of how we train teachers. Lots of teachers are dedicated but weren't taught the skills that they need, such as teaching reading; we have an obligation to the teachers out in the field as well as new teachers. Visited Jeffco Even Start Links to Literacy program, which teaches parents English - was very encouraging. Next week is the second anniversary of Columbine - keep the community in mind and realize that they can't just "get over it"; his family still has traumatic reactions to things, such as hearing about the shooting at Santee High School or hearing helicopters flying about the house.
CHLOUBER: Signed another 20 accreditation contracts this morning. Attended many of the meetings mentioned. At the Governor's Education Summit, it was nice to see John Elway speaking for public education, someone that everybody knows and loves, acknowledging that we need to do good things for children. Still worrying about heating, roofs, and other school safety issues - we didn't have enough money to fix everything when we recently allocated the $5 million; but met recently with people from the Department of Local Affairs in the Mesa School District, which gave some extra money to local schools for repairs. Appreciates what they're doing. Heard a compelling report by Kati Haycock at a recent NASBE meeting on the topic of closing the achievement gap. Over and over again we hear that teachers are the key - is hopeful because she knows that teachers are up to the task, but they must be at the table when we discuss these things. Don't just talk about people, talk with them.
BURNETT: (Absent)
COMMISSIONER MOLONEY: Very pleased with the resolution passed by Legislature, House Joint Resolution 01-1014, on closing the learning gap, which charges SBE and CDE "to take appropriate steps to make closing the learning gap a central element of educational accountability in Colorado." Is it really possible to close the learning gap? How would we do that? Discussed this yesterday with Senators Reeves and Tate at SBE's reception with legislators. Cited the article by Kati Haycock that Mrs. Chlouber referred to on this; we intend to "paper the state" with this article. Highlights: America has had success in the past closing this gap, especially in the 1970s and 1980s; 50% for blacks, 33% for Latinos. Progress has worsened in the last 12 years; created silence and embarrassment. What happened? "We now know what we can do about this American emergency." Young people say that teachers don't know the subjects they're teaching, counselors that place them in the wrong classes, teachers are boring , etc. What they say they need are high standards, rigorous curriculum, quality teachers, and extra help. Roscoe Davidson came to us as an expert on Sanders' value-added project on effective teachers, which shows the stunning effect of teacher quality on students' learning. We have an obligation to look closely at what is going on. Haycock gives the example of coloring books being used excessively in high-poverty schools, even high schools - it is the "soft bigotry of lower expectations." Kentucky is a pioneer in standards - now 7 of its highest 20 schools are in the highest poverty areas. Pueblo, Colorado, has 10 of the 11 schools that have highest Title I achievement. The problem isn't the children and their families. This is central to the work of our Coalition to Close the Learning Gap. Good news for all of us is the support of the Legislature, Governor, and Attorney General. Now we will demonstrate that we have the will to "fix what is wrong."
Approved motion to postpone the hearing to consider amendments to the rules for the Administration of the Waiver of Statute and Rule, 1 CCR 301-307, until July 12, 2001. On February 8, the Board scheduled this hearing to consider amendments to these rules in order to bring them into conformance with HB 00-1040 and SB 00-186. However, proposed legislation in the current session, HB 01-1355, which was proceeding through the legislative process until it was killed two days ago, would again have affected the Board's rules, if it had passed. Therefore, the Board postponed the hearing to avoid the possibility of needing to reopen these rules again in the very near future.
Approved teacher preparation program:
[SB 99-154 requires the Colorado Department of Education to do site visits of all teacher preparation programs within 2 years of their being implemented and for SBE to then approve them. These programs must meet the Performance-Based Standards for Teacher Preparation Programs, which SBE approved in January 2000. All programs must also be approved by CCHE (Colorado Commission on Higher Education). The deadline for the programs to become standards-based is July 1, 2001.]
Approved a contract between the State of Colorado for the use and benefit of the Department of Education and Larimer County School District in the total amount of $31,000 for July 1, 2001, to June 30, 2002, for the establishment of a Model Demonstration Family Literacy Site. The Colorado Family Literacy Consortium will establish a Model Demonstration Family Literacy Site which will provide training and demonstration for community members from existing or new family literacy programs and from communities which are targeted to receive planning funds. The site will also assist school staff members as they incorporate family literacy into such reform strategies as Title I Schoolwide programs and Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration projects and assist school districts in the accreditation process. The contractor is Poudre School District in Larimer County.
Scheduled a hearing on July 12, 2001, to consider amendments to the Rules for the Administration of Education Reform.
Approved accreditation contracts for the following school districts:
Approved the establishment of the following on-grounds special education schools/facilities, which have met the criteria for eligible facilities as described in the Rules for the Administration of the Public School Finance Act of 1994, as well as the requirements set forth by the Special Education Services Unit:
Approved emergency Type III educator authorizations for 81 initially and 15 renewals.
[Local districts may request Type III Emergency Authorization to employ non-licensed teachers, principals, administrators, or special services providers if they agree to provide an induction program. The SBE's approval is based on consideration of whether the district has demonstrated a shortage of licensed personnel and the employment of non-licensed personnel is essential to preserving the instructional program and to the well-being of the children enrolled.]
Approved the Teacher Residency Program for Denver Public Schools. The DPS Teacher in Residence Program provides the district with a vehicle through which to reduce the number of teachers employed on Emergency Authorizations in math, science, English Language Acquisition, foreign language, and music.
[Colorado school districts and boards of cooperative educational services (BOCES) are authorized to establish teacher in residence programs, enabling them to hire non-licensed individuals with appropriate degrees for two years, providing that they give these people individual training, support, and evaluation and that they recommend them for licensure upon completion of the program. The intent of the teacher in residence program is to enable districts to address teacher shortages and reduce the number of people employed under Type III Emergency Authorizations. It also attempts to help school districts and BOCES to recruit and employ nontraditional teacher candidates.]
Approved payments of $2,100,000 under the Exceptional Children's Education Act for Children With Disabilities for 2000-2001.
[Beginning with the 2000-2001 school year, the Legislature appropriated funds of $2.1 million under ECEA for children with disabilities for whom tuition is paid by administrative units for children to receive educational services at eligible facilities approved by the state and who are "educational orphans" (children who are legally emancipated or whose parents are incarcerated, cannot be located, or have lost parental rights).
Approved charter school waiver requests from April 12, 2001, to June 30, 2005 for the following:
Approved charter school waiver requests from April 12, 2001, to June 30, 2003, for the following:
Approved charter school waiver requests from April 12, 2001, to May 10, 2001, for the following:
Rejected the initial decision of the Administrative Law Judge and revoked the license of one teacher through its term ending on August 6, 2002.
Approved charter school waiver requests, except for 22-32-109 (1) (aa), from April 12, 2001, to May 10, 2001, for the following:
Denied request for waiver of 22-32-109 (1) (aa), adoption of content standards and a plan for implementation of these standards.
Regarding waiver of 22-32-109 (1) (bb) (I), ban of tobacco use on campus: Investigation into this by CDE staff shows that the charter school wishes to adopt a more restrictive policy than the school district has; however, with this waiver they would technically have the right to implement a policy that is less restrictive. But because it is a "delegation waiver," the district would then be able to revoke the waiver.
Approved emergency rules for the Administration of Education Reform, as follows:
[SBE adopted rules on August 10, 2000, to implement SB 186; when Legislative Legal Services reviewed them, they determined that we exceeded our authority in certain areas, for which there are legislative remedies (included in HB 1215, HB 1348, and HB 1131), and they identified certain technical defects, which can be remedied through a combination of legislative changes and rule amendments. In order for the school report cards to go out this summer, rules changes are necessary immediately; but because the process that the Board needs to follow to make rules requires 5 months, during which a hearing is held, the Board needs to make emergency rules to implement the changes. Then, the Board will go through the regular process for permanent amendments - thus, the item on the consent agenda to schedule the hearing on July 12, 2001, to consider amendments to the Rules for the Administration of Education Reform.]
Report by Roscoe Davidson & Gerry Difford
The fundamental components of the new rules for the Accreditation of School Districts include the following: assessments aligned to standards; holding districts accountable for all parts of the plan; closing the learning gap (which does not mean bringing the top down while bringing the bottom up - we must accommodate needs of different youngsters, including gifted and talented); recognizing instructional strategies, using state and local assessments; laws already existing (Literacy Act, Safe Schools, etc.); focusing on recruiting and retaining quality teachers; and standards in all 12 content areas. Districts are invited to tailor the plan to their own needs. We do want to keep an eye on comparing schools, but the longitudinal collection of data will help us find strategies that work to close the learning gap. There is not the tension about these rules changes as there were two years ago when the rules were adopted, because we're letting districts set their own goals. Two years ago 38 superintendents (or their assessment directors) sent a letter to SBE that they wanted annual testing. It was a significant move on their part and was added into SB 186 - we're putting it into action in the accreditation process. But - who will be doing the graphs tracking the longitudinal progress? We will answer it eventually; now we are focused on producing the report cards. The School Finance Act does include money and personnel to help CDE do the longitudinal tracking.
Report by Bill Windler
Two years ago CDE began an aggregation of federal funds to decentralize into Regional Assistance Centers by putting teams into 8 local regions of the state to work with BOCES to provide assistance to districts, such as professional development. Recently Congress made some funding changes that will result in the loss of $4 million of the $5 million we had received to fund the RACs (Goals 2000, Technology Literacy, Title I professional development. Goals 2000 was the largest by far of this money ($2.6 million, which has been redirected to 21st Century Learning Community Grants, which is being put out directly from U.S. Department of Education to districts and schools, instead of going through the state department). Staff of CDE did some brainstorming recently about what we can do to keep the RACs alive; will meet next week to figure out how to distribute the remaining $970,000. Professional development is low on federal priorities now, and new federal money is more restrictive on how it can be used, so we are looking for other resources, such as working with Read to Achieve recipients' professional development programs and getting money from local districts.
Report by Dave Smith
CDE manages several major initiatives for preschool. The Colorado Preschool Program is for 4- and 5-year-olds with significant risk factors. Also, there is the Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities through IDEA, Family Literacy/Even Start through Title I, Special Education for 3- and 4-year-olds with identified disabilities, and Consolidated Child Care Pilot Program. CPP is funded through the School Finance Act, and slots are approved by CDE. The School Finance Act provides an increase this year in the number of children allowed (additional 1000), but also allows for an additional 500 that can go into full-day kindergarten (currently have 500). There is a debate about the use of preschool money for kindergarten and about the effectiveness of full-day kindergarten, especially if the children did not previously have preschool. SB 91 for Full-Day Kindergarten is not slot-allocated like CPP; it will be for "F" school students meeting free lunch requirements.
Report by Randy DeHoff and Gully Stanford
The national conference on character education requested our participation this year, since Colorado is a state in the forefront on this issue. The deadline for a decision is tomorrow to design a workshop. Gully is proposing to do a panel on policy-making in a local control climate. The conference is October 18-20 at the Marriott Tech Center. Participants were so impressed with our state conference this past fall. With the small amount of funds left over from state conference, Gully is proposing is to compile a written report to distribute at the next conference (and throughout the state) on best practices (transcribed from audiotapes made at workshops at the last state conference).
Site reviews of the following teacher preparation programs have been completed:
[SB 99-154 requires the Colorado Department of Education to do site visits of all teacher preparation programs within 2 years of their being implemented and for SBE to then approve them. These programs must meet the Performance-Based Standards for Teacher Preparation Programs, which SBE approved in January 2000. All programs must also be approved by CCHE (Colorado Commission on Higher Education). The deadline for the programs to become standards-based is July 1, 2001.]
SB 99-154 requires joint site reviews of all Colorado teacher preparation programs by the SBE and CCHE (Colorado Commission on Higher Education). The SBE has been considering and acting on the content leading to licensure of the preparation programs. CCHE has been evaluating a set of performance measures: (a) Admission System, (b) Ongoing Screening and Counseling, (c) Coursework and Field-Based Training, (d) 800 Hours of Field Experience, (e) Skills Required for Licensure, and (f) Knowledge of Subject Matter. However, the independent colleges and universities have a different relationship to CCHE than the public institutions. Their primary oversight comes from the SBE through the licensing requirements, and they are addressed separately in SB 154. Through an agreement reached between the independent institutions and CCHE, it was determined that CCHE would approve Section (d) and the SBE would approve the remaining sections. Therefore, in order to approve the programs of the independent institutions (Colorado Christian U., Colorado College, Regis U., and DU), the SBE needs to act on Sections (a), (b), (c), (e), and (f). After review of these Performance Measures at the April meeting, the SBE will be able to approve them at the May meeting.
The SBE is being asked to approve interest expenditure of $61,344.81 from the Mary Jones Trust fund for the next fiscal year. The MJT fund was created in 1981 with a donation to the Colorado Talking Book Library. The intended use of the fund is to support projects that have an impact on a large number of CTBL patrons. CTBL has always made it a practice to expend only the interest of the trust. CTBL is requesting that the interest income be used for operational expenses at the library. The expenditure of the interest funds will be monitored by the Chief of Staff at CDE.
Due to resignations, the SBE will be asked to appoint 2 new individuals to serve on the CCLD, one who is from Congressional District 2 (not currently working in a library or serving as part of its governing body) and one who is a special library representative (currently working in a library or part of a library governing body). Members of CCLD serve 3-year terms and are eligible for reappointment to one additional 3-year term. Meetings are held quarterly (Feb., May, Aug., and Nov.) from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Expenses are reimbursed.) CCLD is the principal advisory body on library matters to the SBE, the State Librarian (Commissioner of Education), and the Assistant Commissioner for State Library and Adult Education Office.
Annually at the May meeting, the SBE will appoint new members to the Colorado Special Education Advisory Committee (CSEAC) to fill positions vacated due to terms ending or resignations. Currently, vacancies exist for one parent or adult with a disability, one teacher, one representative from the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, and one special education administrator from a rural area. The CSEAC nominating committee has made recommendations for three of these positions, and there are other applicants for them, as well.
[Colorado school districts and boards of cooperative educational services (BOCES) are authorized to establish teacher in residence programs, enabling them to hire non-licensed individuals with appropriate degrees for two years, providing that they give these people individual training, support, and evaluation and that they recommend them for licensure upon completion of the program. The intent of the teacher in residence program is to enable districts to address teacher shortages and reduce the number of people employed under Type III Emergency Authorizations. It also attempts to help school districts and BOCES to recruit and employ nontraditional teacher candidates.]
SBE rules provide that Colorado school districts, BOCES, accredited independent schools, or accepted institutions of higher education may develop and implement alternative teacher programs for the preparation and licensure of individuals who have not completed a program through an approved teacher education institution. Such programs must meet the requirements of SBE rules and state statutes. Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center has submitted a request for approval as a designated agency for the Alternative Teacher Program.
Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center seeks a waiver of the requirement that their alternative teacher candidates pass the PLACE assessments prior to accepting employment as alternative teachers. The waiver would allow the school to employ alternative teachers who have not yet passed the assessments but meet all other requirements for the program. The teachers would then be required to complete the assessments during the school year and prior to receiving their provisional license.
[The SBE may grant waivers for alternative teacher programs pursuant to state statute and SBE rules. Waivers may be for a two-year period and renewable.]
The SBE is requested to raise the evaluation fees for the next fiscal year for teaching licenses from $36 to $48 and for one-year substitute authorizations from $18 to $24. The proposed revenues to be generated from the increased fees is based on an anticipated 31,600 applications next year. The fee increases are being requested to keep the reserve funds above the statutory limit and at the minimum necessary to maintain operations. The SBE is being requested to maintain the current charges for background checks at $36, reflecting known costs for CBI/FBI.
[The Educator Licensing Act of 1991 authorizes the SBE to annually establish the evaluation fees for licenses, authorizations, certificates, and endorsements. In addition, the Department is required to conduct CBI and FBI background checks and to collect the actual costs of those background checks from applicants.]
The SBE will consider Request for Proposals and Model Contract to procure an independent auditing firm, per the requirements of SB00-186, to "contract with a nationally recognized, independent auditing firm to annually audit the process of preparing the report cards . . . to ensure data reporting integrity and quality control. The Department shall award the contract based upon a competitive bid."
JAMES E. DAVIS: He is the Executive Director of the Social Science Education Consortium, a not-for-profit educational organization with a mission is to improve the teaching of the social sciences at the pre-college level in our nation's schools. The SSEC has assumed a leadership role for a civic renewal program for the state of Colorado and to develop a model project for the state. They conducted a study of the status of civic education in the state (the study included 21 school districts which contain together about 75% of the students) and learned that there has been a decrease in and lack of commitment to civic education in the last five years. This can be attributed to the emphasis on the subjects tested by CSAP. However, nearly half the districts have some kinds of civics program, such as Kids Voting, Mock Trials, Service Learning, or Character Education. On the other hand, there is no cohesive program, and the small amount of time that students spend in the programs that exist indicates that it is questionable whether there is any meaningful civic education being done. What SSEC proposes to do about this is: (1) work to inform school districts about the declining status of civics education and the need for making it a priority; (2) conduct a needs assessment for curriculum and program design; and (3) work with stakeholders in civic education, such as the League of Women Voters, CASB, ACLU, etc.
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