SBE Work News
Relevant Links:
CDE News Release
August 2, 2010
SBE Approves Common Core Standards in Math and English Language Arts
The State Board today voted 4-3 to fully adopt the Common Core standards in mathematics and English language arts. The vote followed more than an hour of comments from individual board members and a recommendation from Commissioner of Education Dwight D. Jones, who supported adoption of the Common Core.
The four board members supporting the adoption were Elaine Gantz Berman, Vice Chairman Randy DeHoff, Jane Goff and Angelika Schroeder. Opposed were Peggy Littleton, Marcia Neal and Board Chairman Bob Schaffer.
Commissioner Jones urged approval on the basis that the Common Core standards “tightly align” with Colorado Academic Standards approved by the state board in December 2009. The Common Core standards present a “robust foundation on which local educators can base their work,” he said. “They set a common destination for teachers to push their students toward, but the path to that destination remains in the hands of local teachers and local schools.”
The motion to adopt the Common Core includes the provision that these standards will be augmented with Colorado Academic Standards and that the changes will not equate to more than 15 percent of the total content standards in each subject.
- Full text of Aug. 2 News Release here.
- The Denver Post coverage here.
- Background on the Board's approval process here.
December 10, 2009
Colorado's New Education Standards
By Colleen O'Connor
The Denver Post
New standards for subject matter as varied as reading and theater were unanimously adopted by the state school board Thursday. The revisions of Colorado's 14 educational standards were designed to require students to dig deeper and think more strategically. They also will require a new test to measure how well students are learning.
"As of today, we have the most modern and up-to-date standards in the country," said Bob Schaffer, chairman of the State Board of Education.
Colorado first created Model Content Standards in 1994. They list the most important skills and concepts students must master at each grade level to be successful after high school. Although math and science standards were revised in the past five years, the others were between 7 and 15 years old, according to the Colorado Department of Education.
"The new standards are internationally benchmarked," said Dwight Jones, Colorado's education commissioner. Policymakers borrowed from countries such as Singapore and Finland, which have high rates of graduation and clear, concise standards, as well as from states such as Maryland and Virginia. "They ate our lunch every year," said Jo O'Brien, assistant education commissioner for standards and assessments. "Those two states were always superior."
Senate Bill 212, passed and signed into law in 2008, required the state to develop new standards for preschool through secondary education by this month.
Read more here.
June 30, 2009
State Defines What It Takes For High School Graduates To Be College And Workforce Ready
In a joint meeting held today at the State Capitol, the Colorado State Board of Education and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education adopted a description of “postsecondary and workforce readiness.” This was the first time in state history the two boards have met to take formal action on state policy.
“It’s a historic day for our P-12 and higher education governing boards to come together to adopt a description of postsecondary and workforce readiness", said Governor Bill Ritter. "The postsecondary and workforce readiness description serves as a guidepost to our state standards. The description outlinesthe skills, knowledge and behaviors that high school graduates will need in order to enter college and the workforce so they can compete and succeed in a 21st century global economy.”
Commissioner of Education Dwight D. Jones added, “This is not the end of the conversation, but the beginning. It is not the description itself, but what we do with it, how we implement it. Similarly, collaboration across the system is just the beginning; our next challenge is to consider how we maintain momentum during implementation in the field.”
Beginning in fall 2008, CDE and CCHE hosted more than 13 regional meetings across the state to discuss and solicit feedback on the elements of “postsecondary and workforce readiness.” More than 1,000 early childhood, P-12, higher education, businesses, parents, students and other community members participated in the meetings.
“The success today is the result of input from all over the state and from the full range of interests,” said CCHE Chairman Jim Polsfut, who also facilitated the meeting. “We are all determined to carry out the purposes of CAP4K to make sure all Colorado high school graduates are ready to continue their education or enter the 21st century workforce.”
Read the adopted description here.
The postsecondary and workforce readiness definition is unique in American education policy, representing the nation’s only formal, jointly adopted, standards-based definition of college and career readiness — a definition Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien stated is required in the state’s application for Race to the Top funds.
The postsecondary and workforce readiness description is just one component of Senate Bill 08-212, known as the Preschool to Postsecondary Education Alignment Act, Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids, or CAP4K. The purpose of the bill is to improve Colorado’s public education system through alignment of preschool through postsecondary expectations.The CAP4K timeline outlines several steps before completion:
- A school readiness description by Dec. 2008 – completed
- A postsecondary and workforce readiness description by Dec. 2009 – completed
- A set of newly developed content standards, aligned to school, postsecondary and workforce readiness - in progress
- A new system of assessments by Dec. 2010
- Implementation of CAP4K by Dec. 2011
Next steps include a postsecondary and workforce readiness assessment pilot which was started in the spring and will continue in the fall; a cost study that will evaluate implementation costs of revised standards; and assessment design conversations initiated between the Department of Higher Education and CDE once revised standards are adopted.
Assessment System Revision
The Colorado Department of Education is in full swing to develop a new state assessment system that will reflect the expectations of the updated state content standards, and the requirements of CAP4K (Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids), which calls for both school readiness and postsecondary and workforce readiness assessments.
A stakeholder advisory group and five subcommittes are helping to frame the issues of the current state assessment system, recommend improvements and define the work. Information regarding the assessment revision work can be found here.
Educator Effectiveness
School Finance
What would an “ideal” education system for Colorado cost? The answer? Nearly $9 billion a year, or $2.8 billion more than the $6.1 billion currently spent. This past year saw an overall cut in Colorado's K-12 funding of $260 million. Schools are already bracing for even more severe cuts in the 2011-12 fiscal year. Since 1997, Colorado's continuing revenue and budget crisis has caused Colorado to fall to nearly $1500 behind the national average for per pupil funding. For more background and details, watch this new video from the Great Futures Colorado coalition:
More information at:
Great Education Colorado
Colorado School Finance Project