Colorado's “Race to the Top” Colorado's “Race to the Top” Tier 2 Presentation March 16,

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 2

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 3

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 4

Nina Lopez Race 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 5

Linda Barker Director of Teaching and Learning Colorado 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 6

Commitment, Capacity, Courage Colorado’s RttT Team Barbara O’Brien, Lieutenant Governor Dwight D. Jones, Commissioner of Education Nina Lopez, Race to the Top CEO Linda Barker, Director of Teaching and Learning, CEA Richard Wenning, Associate Commissioner 7

Colorado’s Plan Builds On Cumulative Reform Momentum 8 The Accountability Act of 1997 (annual student assessment) 2009: Dropout Prevention (HB ) 2009: Education Accountability Act (SB ) 2009: Educator Identifier Bill (HB ) Jan: Preparation Program Effectiveness Bill (SB 10-36) Jan: Executive Order Creating Council for Educator Effectiveness 2008: Innovation Schools Act (SB ) School Accountability Act (School Accountability Report) 1992: Charter Schools Act 2004: Charter School Institute Act (HB ) 2007: Online Education Act (SB ) 2008: CAP4K (SB ) 2004: Longitudinal Student Academic Growth Bill (HB ) 2007: Longitudinal Student Assessment Bill (HB ) 1993: Colorado Standards-based Education Reform (HB ) 2009: Concurrent Enrollment in Public High School and College Bill (HB )

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 assessments Charters and statewide open enrollment Student and teacher IDs linked to Ed prep Alternative compensation Educator evaluations 9

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 ) Requires accountability system focused on the goal –Education Accountability Act of 2009 (SB ) 10

Key Catalysts for Performance 11 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 Model Hub 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 12

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West Denver Prep Charter School 15

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Focus on the User 18 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 19

We Have the Capacity to Implement Nimble structure leverages private and public entities Close collaboration with constituents Sustainable structures outside of government Relentless focus upon measuring progress, capturing data and making adjustments 20

Note: Fall 2009 enrollment data Source: 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 21

Executing our Turnaround Strategy Have 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 22

Great Teachers and Leaders All 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 23

Educator Effectiveness No 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 24

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Colorado Is Ready No policy barriers to executing this plan Foundation of trust and collaboration Statewide enthusiasm and participation 26

What Coloradoans Say About RttT… 27 “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! 28 R e d a c t e d