Colorado officials believe that the state’s recent retooling of its education system aligns well with President Barack Obama’s proposed changes to No Child Left Behind.
The Obama administration this week outlined changes that would replace the current education system with one “built around the goal of helping all students graduate high school college- and career-ready,” according to the U.S. Department of Education.
In many ways, Colorado has already begun to comply with many parts of Obama’s plan by creating a measurement system that tracks academic growth, getting all subgroups of students on track to college and career readiness.
Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien suspected last summer that the state would be in good shape when officials from the U.S. Department of Education visited the state on a listening tour seeking suggestions on how to change No Child Left Behind.
“From the questioning, I thought where they were headed and what Colorado was doing were pretty close together,” O’Brien said.
No Child Left Behind is based on stronger accountability for results, more freedom for states and communities, proven education methods and more choices for parents.
Over the past few years, Colorado has made structural changes to its education system that in many ways mirror what Obama is pitching:
• Senate Bill 08-212 — also known as the Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids — began the process of aligning the preschool-through-postsecondary educational system in Colorado with a new set of content standards. A new assessment is in the works to replace the Colorado Student Assessment Program.
• The state created a data system that calculates each student’s progress on state assessments over time. Specifically, the model looks at how individual students (and groups of students) progress toward state standards from year to year. Each student’s progress is compared with other students in the state with a similar score history on CSAP in that subject area.
• The Educator Identifier bill passed last year is moving the state toward a process that uses data systems to evaluate a teacher’s performance, the effectiveness of teacher-training programs and whether highly effective teachers are in the proper schools.
Obama’s proposed plan would make federal funding more competitive, rewarding schools that push reforms and close the achievement gap.
Denver Superintendent Tom Boasberg says he welcomes competition for his district, which receives the most federal education funding because of its large numbers of poor students.
