Lead teacher Margarita Rodriguez-Corriere, left, works with her 5th grade students at Ashley Elementary school in Denver, on March 3, 2015. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)
News released this week in the education world included the approval of next year’s budget for the University of Colorado, a study on the effects of marijuana led by college students from Metropolitan State University of Denver, and a new student counting dispute between a school district and the Colorado Department of Education. Catch up on those stories and more education news on this week’s Take Note…
The Douglas County School District reported Thursday that the after an audit that led the state to adjust how many DougCo students count as full-time students. Since the money is from past year’s funding, and already spent, the state would ask for a refund, payable over time. The district disagrees with the findings, and is considering a lawsuit.
Last Friday afternoon, Denver Public Schools released their findings of an in the Montbello area. The report concluded that the principal did change grades without consulting the teacher, students or parents, but also found evidence that the teacher whose grades were changed, likely gave out grades without a basis for them. The report makes recommendations for new policies to guide principals on how to address changing grades that might not be accurate. DPS also said in a release that they have taken disciplinary action, but would not say against who, or what it entailed.
Carolyn Thompson of the Associated Press this week wrote about the ongoing . The article focuses on the pressures teachers and districts face in adapting existing curriculum (including some textbooks that claim to be aligned but really aren’t), trying to create their own or looking to the online resources such as EngageNY, which is what Denver Public Schools has decided to use for next year. If you missed the series in the Denver Post in May that looked at how the new standards are working in the classroom, .
Trying to promote more community engagement, Golden renovated their Golden library recently in a far cry from no-talking-libraries of days past. Josie Klemaier of Yourhub has .
Chalkbeat’s Susan Gonzalez this week wrote about a new idea in Aurora Public Schools to students who are demonstrating advanced skills. The digital badge would be displayed electronically on a student profile page, where colleges and employers can turn to look up a student’s skills and use it to make admission or hiring determinations.
A former teacher in a Commerce City school in the Adams 14 School District was for allegedly molesting five young girls. The school district was vague in their response, but according to information released with the charges, the school district might have been aware of the complaints against the man years ago.
In higher ed: The University of Colorado board of regents for next year that includes raises for CU administrators, including a 3 percent raise for Chancellor Phil DiStefano. The raise was not discussed in public, the Daily Camera reports.
The Daily Camera to help create a plan to increase diversity. The plan will also work to expand the definition of diversity to be more broad.
Westword wrote about the research students from Metropolitan State University of Denver released this week . While they found some evidence of increases in both in the last year, their research also raised other questions that need to be answered before a link is made to the legalization of retail marijuana.
