CEA president comments on Phase 1, Race to the Top competition - March 29, 2010

CEA participated in this morning’s Race to the Top news conference with state officials. President Beverly Ingle said, “Winning Race to the Top funding in phase 1 would have been a significant feat. Our proposal was built on the outstanding work already done under the leadership of Governor Bill Ritter, Lt. Governor Barbara O’Brien, and Education Commissioner Dwight Jones. CAP4K, improved accountability measures, new content standards, and the Colorado Growth Model are major accomplishments and will serve as the basis for continued improvement, even without immediate federal funding.

“The strength of our proposal was the collaborative process used to develop it. When we receive feedback from Washington, the state will evaluate it and work to make the appropriate adjustments before applying for phase 2.

“The work we have done to prepare the initial Race to the Top application will guide the state going forward because it’s what’s right for our students and what’s right for our public schools. Federal funding would help us move more quickly, but regardless we will continue our efforts to improve student achievement and create strong public schools for the children and the citizens of Colorado.

“Colorado’s progress in strengthening our public schools is critical to our students and our educators. The new data tool, SchoolView, will provide teachers with the information they need to help every student succeed. We will support and work to renew our priority schools. And, through the Governor’s Council on Educator Effectiveness, we will create a fair and objective evaluation system that will help us have a highly effective teacher in every classroom.

“We believe we have a good Race to the Top proposal and will look at ways to improve it. But our primary goal is to improve our public schools and help our students be 21st century successes. That is what is most important.”

Colorado presented Race to the Top proposal - March 17, 2010

Five education leaders from Colorado presented the state's Race to the Top application to reviewers in Washington, D.C., on March 16. Lt. Governor Barbara O'Brien and Education Commissioner Dwight Jones led the state's team which included Linda Barker, CEA Director of Teaching and Learning. O'Brien said the team was happy with its presentation to give reviewers, but "they were hard to read." O'Brien and Jones said the reviewers asked many detailed questions about the state's application, but not any about teacher evaluation or the new Governor's Educator Effectiveness Council that met March 11 for the first time and will be working over the next 18 months on reforms to Colorado's K-12 teacher and principal evaluation system.

Joining O'Brien, Jones, and Barker on the team were Rich Wenning and Nina Lopez of the Colorado Department of Education.

Read Colorado's proposal.

Background on Colorado's Application

Colorado was among 16 finalist states selected to interview for Phase I of the U.S. Department of Education's Race to the Top education stimulus fund grants.

Winners of the first round of grants will be announced in early April. The 16 finalists, culled from 41 applicants, include the District of Columbia are Colorado, Delaware, Washington D.C., Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

CEA President Beverly Ingle said, "So much work has gone into this process. All parts of Colorado's education community were engaged together in developing a proposal that will help advance student achievement. It is great that this effort has been recognized at the federal level.

"Our state's approach differed from some other states. Ours was a collaborative process designed to capitalize on the many advances we've already made in K-12 education including CAP4K (Colorado Achievement Program for Kids), the comprehensive education reform law that is helping the state create a seamless system of public education, preschool through higher education. Other advances Colorado has already made are the longitudinal measurement of student achievement called the Colorado Growth Model; recent modifications of the state academic content standards; and the work being done to align the state's education accountability measures under one new system."

The Race to the Top competition required states to outline how they would use the extra money in four major, but broad policy areas:

• Standards and testing that prepare students for college and work;
• Data systems that measure students' growth in achievement and help teachers improve instruction;
• Recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals;
• "Turning around" the lowest-performing schools

The state applications were graded by outside judges hired by the U.S. Department of Education using a 500-point scoring system. The interviews in mid-March may change each state's total score, but the final decision about which states get the one-time federal funding will be made by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. (Race to the Top information from the U.S. Department of Education

Governor Bill Ritter said, "Colorado is committed to providing a 21st century education that fully prepares our students to compete and succeed in a global economy." I am pleased we have been named a finalist, but this is a competitive grant process and we still need to make our case. Regardless of the outcome, we now have a roadmap that leads directly to stronger and more effective student-centered education reforms."

Commissioner of Education Dwight Jones was equally as positive about the news. He said, "We are thrilled to be invited to Washington to share our vision in person. We are equally confident about the next step in this process. No matter what happens, however, we will not give up our work. Our mission will not waver. Our mission was the same before Race to the Top and it won't change going forward. We are working to turnaround chronically under-performing schools. We are working to improve our data systems so they produce the most accurate and relevant detail about all aspects of school performance. We are working to implement our recently-adopted, internationally benchmarked standards and we are working to install the right tools to identify and improve teacher effectiveness."

Commissioner Jones indicated that Colorado's application, because of school district participation, represents more than 94 percent of the state's students. "We are pleased that our proposal has drawn widespread support from school districts as well as bipartisan support from members of the Colorado State Legislature and the Colorado State Board of Education. The application also represents teamwork and participation from the Colorado Education Association, Colorado Association of School Boards, Colorado Association of School Executives, and the business community.

Colorado Submitted "Race to the Top" Application, CEA President Ingle Expressed Association's Support - January 19, 2010

At a news conference January 19 at Denver's East High School, Gov. Bill Ritter, Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien, and Education Commissioner Dwight Jones presented the state’s application for the federal "Race to the Top" grant. CEA President Beverly Ingle spoke in support of the application and the creation of the Governor’s Council on Educator Effectiveness, a group that will make recommendations for an overhaul of the teacher and principal evaluation system.

For details and to read CEA’s letter of support, visit CEA’s new blog, Pathways to Achievement. While there, sign up for our Facebook fan page and to follow us on Twitter.

Read Colorado's Race to the Top Application and information from the Colorado Department of Education about the appplication, application process and rules, and potential grant of one-time money for our state.