Go ahead, take it.
This week marks the debut of Take Note, our weekly roundup of news, commentary and whatever else we find interesting in the world of education in Colorado and beyond.
We aim to deliver these every Friday. This is a work in progress, and the format may change. The blog’s regular contributors will rotate writing duties
Seen something worthy of a mention? Don’t hesitate to leave a comment or tweet us.
This week was a busy one on the education beat, with most of the action centered in Washington, D.C. The Senate hosted the first hearing on a long overdue rewrite of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and President Obama’s State of the Union address touched on higher ed and said zip on K-12.
On to this week’s notes …
Owen Hill, R-Colorado Springs, new chair of the Senate Ed Committee.
Kumbaya at the Capitol: The General Assembly is getting down to the business of legislating and education issues are prominent, as always. With Republicans in control of the Senate, the dynamics have shifted significantly. , new Senate Education Committee Chair Owen Hill, R-Colorado Springs, and his predecessor in the role, State Sen. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood, suggest bipartisan common ground may be found in testing, spending and school choice. The two say it’s “time to stop kicking the can down the road” and make hard decisions. The piece is short on details. Notable in their testing remarks – a lot of empathy for teachers. One bill that would have capped college tuition increases
Seeing school through: Colorado graduation rates inched up and dropout rates declined for the eighth straight year by the barest of margins, DPS put the spotlight on North High School, where three articulate seniors described how the demands of family and school officials pushed them to succeed.
At North High School in Denver, where on-time graduation rates improved by 13 percentage points, tops in DPS.
— Eric Gorski (@egorski)
Bars and charts: Over at Chalkbeat Colorado, . Among the highlights: large graduation rate gains at Aurora Public Schools and Colorado Springs District 11 and a precipitous fall at the Falcon School District.
The Fruitdale School in Wheat Ridge (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post).
Local focus: Our YourHub reporting team weighs in with a number of education stories this week. Joe Vaccarelli reports on such as restoring old bikes and making bus stops more fun (good luck). Austin Briggs has details on – the largest private donation in its history – and the .
Tom Boasberg spoke at this week’s NCLB hearing (Denver Post file).
No Child Left Behind revisited: Alyson Klein of Education Week contributed on NCLB ahead of last week’s first hearing on a possible rewrite. The Washington Post’s Lacey , with a focus on the big question: whether annual tests should survive. Denver Public Schools Superintendent Tom Boasberg spoke in favor of keeping them: “To measure how students do from one year to the next, you need annual measurement. Itap equally important for high-achieving kids as low-achieving kids.”
Blow to PARCC in the Windy City: We’ve written about coming to Colorado classrooms in March. In a serious blow to PARCC, Chicago Public School intends to defy a state mandate to launch the online tests, citing a lack of access to technology.
A lightning rod name: In some circles, just uttering the name “Pearson” sets off waves of indignation. (“Gates Foundation,” “Koch Brothers” and “Obama” are others). on the U.K.-based educational publishing giant with $8.2 billion in revenues that critics view as “the Godzilla of education,” bent on controlling every element of the changing education landscape.
Finally, kudos to Andy Smarick of Bellwether Education Partners to K-12 issues in the State of the Union address.
Contact our education reporting team: Eric Gorski can be reached at 303-954-1971 or egorski@denverpost.com. Follow him on Twitter at @egorski and now on Instragram! Yesenia Robles can be reached at 303-954-1372 or yrobles@denverpost.com. Follow her on Twitter at @YeseniaRobles. She also has been known to Tout.
