The Colorado Department of Education (CDE), the Colorado Legacy Foundation (CLF) and The New Teacher Project (TNTP) today announced the launch of the Colorado Educator Effectiveness Project to more than 50 elected and appointed officials and education leaders.
The project is designed to bolster the number of effective teachers and principals who make a significant impact on improving students' academic growth. The project also seeks to more equitably distribute effective educators in public schools throughout Colorado.
"This project will ensure that the more than 830,000 public school students in Colorado are ready for success in work and college when they complete high school," said Commissioner of Education Dwight D. Jones. "To do that, we must provide an effective teacher in every classroom and an effective principal in every school."
Through a grant from Rose Community Foundation, during the next two years CDE will strategically align its staff and activities to better recruit, prepare, support and retain effective teachers and school principals.
By the end of the two-year grant, CDE will:
* Identify and expand educator preparation programs that successfully prepare effective teachers and principals, and eliminate those that don't.
* Determine state policies that support the preparation, recruitment, retention, development and promotion of effective educators—including recommendations to the Colorado State Board of Education and General Assembly for implementing those policies.
* Adopt measurable state goals to increase the number of effective educators statewide as well as the effectiveness of new educators; lower the number of ineffective educators; and address the equitable distribution of effective educators statewide.
* Create a temporary special advisor role within CDE to be staffed by a classroom teacher-on-loan who will advise the commissioner of education as policies are developed. The teacher-on-loan also will solicit the input of educators across the state.
CDE licenses all 50,000 teachers and 2,700 principals who work in Colorado schools; accredits each teacher and school principal preparation course offered by colleges and universities; and approves induction programs that all 178 school districts provide to their newly licensed teachers and principals.
The Colorado Legacy Foundation will convene the many groups focused on educator effectiveness to identify gaps in help needed from school districts; pinpoint opportunities for collaboration; and complement-not duplicate-existing efforts.
"The Colorado Legacy Foundation will look for ways that teachers and principals are positively impacting students in public schools as well as new and better ways to prepare them," said Executive Director Helayne Jones. "We'll ask ourselves at every opportunity how to provide Colorado teachers and principals with what they need to do their jobs well."
By the end of the two-year grant, the Colorado Legacy Foundation will:
* Share online resources to identify and disseminate best practices in identifying, recruiting and retaining effective educators.
* Implement plans that will dramatically improve how Colorado recruits, prepares, retains and supports effective teachers and school principals.
* Publish at least one best practices guide for schools and districts covering such topics as what works in performance-based compensation systems, or best practices for preparing those who want to teach students and lead schools.
* Recognize the accomplishments of Colorado's most effective educators and disseminate their instructional practices.
Colorado is one of only several pioneering states that are reaching out to TNTP to improve educator effectiveness statewide. TNTP will audit Colorado’s policies, programs and funding streams as well as identify opportunities to support the effectiveness of all of Colorado’s educators. Commissioner Jones will use these results to inform CDE’s goals and strategies for supporting effective educators statewide.
"The New Teacher Project brings extensive expertise in identifying obstacles to educator effectiveness and developing practical solutions," said Commissioner Jones.
In June, CDE announced an $800,000 two-year Rose Community Foundation grant that will fund the project. Funds are distributed among the three partners: CDE ($170,000), CLF ($421,000) and TNTP ($208,995). TNTP has raised an additional $200,000 from other private donors to support its work on the project.
“This innovative partnership will directly advance our goal to make supporting effective Colorado teachers and principals a central priority for the state,” said Commissioner Jones.
He also noted that while the Colorado Educator Effectiveness Project will be directly complemented by the state's application for round two funds under the federal Race to the Top grant program, Colorado is committed to ensuring there is an effective teacher in every classroom and an effective leader at every school with or without the Race to the Top funds.
About the Colorado Department of Education
The administrative arm of the Colorado State Board of Education, CDE supports and serves 178 school districts in their work to provide quality learning for more than 830,000 preK-12 students statewide. CDE also serves adult education and the state's libraries. Comprised of over 40 units, 25 different programs and 300-plus staff members, CDE is dedicated to increasing achievement levels for all students through comprehensive programs of education reform involving three interlocking elements: high standards for what students must know and be able to do; challenging assessments that honestly measure whether students meet standards and tell citizens the truth about how well schools serve children; and rigorous accountability measures that tie school districts' accreditation to high student achievement. CDE licenses all 50,000 teachers and 2,700 principals who work in Colorado schools; accredits each teacher and school principal preparation course offered by colleges and universities; and approves training programs 178 school districts provide to their teachers and principals.
More: www.cde.state.co.us
About the Colorado Legacy Foundation
Inspired by CDE's Forward Thinking strategic plan, the Colorado Legacy Foundation is the first foundation in the country to be launched by a state department of education. The Colorado Legacy Foundation was established in 2007 as a private nonprofit governed by an independent board of trustees that develops initiatives to support CDE's work. The Colorado Legacy Foundation's mission is to invest in promising strategies to improve public education. The privately funded nonprofit evaluates results, convenes education stakeholders and provides recommendations to schools for continuous improvement. Its unique partnership with CDE allows the foundation to advance innovation in public schools throughout the state.
More: www.colegacy.org
About The New Teacher Project
The New Teacher Project is a national nonprofit that helps school districts and states fulfill the promise of public education by ensuring that all students-especially those from high-needs communities-get excellent teachers. TNTP has been working in Colorado since 2007 helping districts recruit teachers, staff schools and
More: www.tntp.org
Students at Landmark academy at reunion celebrate first annual latin culture week
Landmark Academy at Reunion , a tuition-free public charter school, recently hosted their First Annual Latin Culture Week, a week focused on educating students on the various aspects of Latin culture, from music and art to sports and celebrities, through unique activities. During the week-long celebration, students were able to step into the lives of the Aztecs, Incas and Mayans with Latin culture lessons through piñata making, cultural crafts, songs, traditional foods and more. Students made maracas and learned a traditional Mexican Hat Dance; created Aztec suns working with metal tooling; and studied different countries in Mexico , Central America and South America . Aztec dancers from the Colorado Folk Arts Council also visited with students and educated them on the spiritual and traditional aspects of Aztec culture through dance. “We reside in a community with strong Latin and Hispanic roots,” said Matt Carlton, principal of Landmark Academy at Reunion . “Our community culture is important to us at Landmark. By providing unique ways for our students to learn the various backgrounds of our diverse community they are able to understand and appreciate different cultures.” For more information about Landmark Academy at Reunion , please visit www.landmarkacademy.org.
