Denver Public Schools on Monday received a $4.6 million grant from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation to fund the second phase of its performance-management and accountability work, which has the goal of boosting student achievement.
Janet Mountain, executive director of the foundation, said DPS is considered a “go-to district” for its work developing a school-performance framework, merit-based pay for teachers and principals, data systems and central office performance-management programs.
On a per-student basis, the grant announced Monday is the foundation’s largest performance-management grant.
In February 2008, the Dell Foundation and the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation gave DPS $4.75 million to improve data collection related to issues including individual school performance and transportation.
“We were very successful in accomplishing those goals,” DPS Superintendent Tom Boasberg said. “The Dell Foundation agreed to continue working with us on the next phase of the performance-management work.”
The second part of work is focused, he said, on the Digital Doors project, which lets teachers and principals access — in a single online clearinghouse — information that will help improve instruction.
“It is really focused on how we get accurate, timely data to teachers in a very user-friendly way, that will enable teachers to understand and best meet the individual needs of each of their students,” Boasberg said.
Digital Doors helps the district meet two of the four key elements of the competitive Race to the Top grant, Boasberg said: better use of data systems, and teacher effectiveness. DPS has applied for a slice of Race to the Top, a pool of $4.5 billion in economic stimulus money earmarked for school innovation.
Colleen O’Connor: coconnor@denverpost.com or 303-954-1083.
Teacher improvement touted
On the same day that DPS landed a grant to help improve teacher effectiveness, the Colorado Legacy Foundation released a paper called “Improving Teacher and School Leader Effectiveness: Designing a Framework for Colorado.”
Helayne Jones, executive director of the foundation, said in a statement that “research shows that one of the most important influences in children’s academic success is their teacher. We have convened experts and stakeholders to develop a comprehensive plan to enhance teacher quality.”
A discussion on this paper will be held from 8 to 10 a.m. Oct. 1 at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
