Last month I encouraged citizens to attend a "listening tour" for the Lieutenant Governor. The subject was early childhood education. Since standardization and testing has failed so miserably for 3-12th graders, they wanted to expand to preschoolers through 2nd grade. I went; I'm quite certain I was the only parent. The majority were Early Childhood Council staff, city leaders, pre-school directors, and a couple of pre-school teachers. We were given questions and the opportunity to respond.

The criticism was plentiful:

• Complex data systems that don't deliver the resources and information needed
• Cumbersome grant proposals that often cost more to write and manage than the funding provides
•  More demands and fewer resources for low-paid preschool teachers
• Expensive and time consuming reporting requirements and less time and money for improvement
• Hundreds of children on county pre-school waiting lists unable to access pre-school

When the Colorado Dept. of Education asked the question, "How do you define quality early childhood education?" I spoke up and said, "Please don't." These folks will spend the next year writing a paragraph that attempts to capture what hundreds of early childhood books and PH.D's have been developing through practice and research for a couple of centuries.

When they asked the question, "Where should we invest these dollars and what should we expect for our return on investment." I spoke up again. "Wrong question," I said. "Those investments are our tax dollars. Our four-year-olds don't have to prove how those dollars were spent, you do." As a taxpayer I don't need evidence that little Cindy can finger paint the alphabet, I just need to know that my dollars bought the finger paint and the easel.

So the outcome of that listening tour is that Colorado is applying for nearly $60 million of the $500 million that the feds are using to leverage more control. If awarded, all of that money will flow directly to the department of education so they can standardize and test our little ones, write more policy manuals on where to position the chairs, and spend their $68 dollar an hour salary telling the $10 an hour preschool teacher how to do her job better. As part of the grant requirements, not one single dollar will be used to place one of the 10,000 children currently waiting on the Colorado preschool list.

So here's my recommendation. The Lieutenant Governor is hosting a "pretend" listening tour on early literacy. Just stay home because no matter what you say, come January there is going to be a bill in the legislature that is likely to flunk all third graders who can't pass a battery of reading tests. It's the "new" approach to addressing Colorado's fastest growing rate of poverty. Below is the link to the national campaign to sell more tests to third graders so take a look and remember our most vulnerable children can't get into preschool but we're preparing to have those same children repeat the third grade.  Too bad hungry kids can't eat those tests, we might actually accomplish something.

Here's a great piece from NPR on why preschool is still the best job training program.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/08/12/139583385/preschool-the-best-job-training-program

"Play is the serious undertaking of a child's life. It is the umbrella under which ALL learning takes place."                        
                                                                                                                         - Joseph Chilton Pearce

Links on standardization and testing for young learners:
Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge Priorities:
•    Priority 1: Absolute Priority – Using Early Learning and Development Standards and Kindergarten Entry Assessments to Promote School  Readiness
•    Priority 2: Absolute Priority – Using Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement Systems to Promote School Readiness
•    Priority 3: Competitive Preference Priority – Including all Early Learning and Development Programs in the Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement System
•    Priority 4: Invitational Priority – Sustaining Program Effects in the Early Elementary Grades
•    Priority 5: Invitational Priority – Encouraging Private Sector Support

http://www.ed.gov/early-learning/elc-draft-summary
http://earlychildhoodcolorado.org/inc/uploads/RTTELC_ExecSummary.pdf
http://www.ffyf.org/search/node?keys=Race+to+the+Top&x=0&y=0
More testing, more testing, more testing:
http://www.gradelevelreading.net/tools/launching-your-campaign-for-grade-level-reading/

My Picks for School Board Races:
Denver
Emily Sirota
Frank Deserino
Arturo Jimenez

Douglas County
Gail Frances
Kevin Reilly
Susan McMahon

This election year Douglas County Voters will have an opportunity to demonstrate the power of citizen engagement and the necessity of directing our communities from a local level. Current Douglas County school board members, receiving substantial campaign contributions from ACE, a pro-voucher organization, ran a political agenda that weakened high-performing Douglas County Schools. First they hired an inexperienced superintendent and paid her more than any other superintendent in the state. Douglas County is also the only district to charge families bussing fees to transport children to neighborhood schools.
Secondly, in the midst of a major budget crises, current board members voted to direct taxpayer dollars to private schools with zero accountability to the public for those dollars or those children. An expensive law suit proved what critics had explained all along. The separation of church and state protects the religious freedoms and diverse religious practices protected by our constitution.  The court ruling also qualified the assurance that with public dollars comes public oversight.
Douglas County residents deserve a board that is committed to the strong neighborhood schools that have grown a thriving community. We need leaders that understand the importance a strong education system plays in attracting and sustaining business and home buyers.  And our children and their future warrant a local government dedicated to protecting and serving their interests. By voting for the new board candidates Gail Frances, Kevin Reilly and Susan McMahon, voters can restore common sense and return education integrity to Douglas County families. It's a great opportunity to set things right and discipline a board that has put self-interests above community service. But most importantly this election offers the potential example of a community's commitment to its children. Ballots are out. Cast your vote for Kids!

Events

Education Reform and the outcomes for Colorado
DATE: Saturday, October 29
WHERE: Lakewood Library, two blocks west of Kipling, 4 blocks north of Colfax.
TIME: 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Sponsored by Evolution Revolution

Movie and Discussion: The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman
The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman is a very honest discussion about what passes for education reform today and the facts about its failure. Unfortunately, the same issues discussed are being used in Denver’s schools today, but all is not lost. It will give us ideas about what we can do to change things for the better.

DATE: Sunday, October 23rd
TIME: 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
WHERE: home of Ray Flesher and Betty Harris, 6281 S Cedar St, Littleton, CO 80120.
Please RSVP to 720.560.3806.
Free of charge
This program includes a potluck starting at 5:30 pm and ends with open discussion after the movie which is about 2 hours.
Sponsored by CD6 Littleton/Centennial MoveOn Council, Uniting4Kids and Angela Engel, author of Seeds of Tomorrow.

• Calling Colorado Education Leaders and children's advocates
• We're getting organized. Click here to Connect.
• Over the next couple of months we'll be inviting you to meet other education leaders from around the state and build on the good work of improving our neighborhood school and protecting the interests of children.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, September 23rd

CONTACT: Angela Engel, 303.908.1954

Uniting4Kids opposes performance pay because evidence shows it is ineffective, costly, and perpetuates inequalities

(September 23, 2011 - Denver, Colo.) Today as President Obama explained to the nation that waivers for NCLB would only be granted to those states that complied with Performance Pay, Uniting4Kids offered the following challenges to the wasteful spending and futile attempts to quantify and standardize Colorado's educators.

1) Research demonstrates that performance cannot be predicted and that financial incentives have an insignificant impact on student test scores. In a climate of "evidenced based outcomes,” policy makers need to follow the evidence.

http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2010/09/teacher-performance-pay/

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/18/education/18rand.html

http://etd.auburn.edu/etd/handle/10415/1286

2) The estimated cost of SB191, and to implement performance pay in Colorado is $49 million dollars annually. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation only contributed $9 million, leaving Colorado $40 million dollars short. This level of expenditure cannot be justified given that in the past year alone student per pupil funding has decreased by 5.1 percent. Over the past three years $600 million dollars has been cut to K-12.

The statewide average per pupil funding is estimated at $6,468 in FY 2011-12, compared with $6,813
in the prior year.

Read the full summary of the school finance bill SB11-230 and the impacts of these cuts to each district: http://www.angelaengel.com/blog/?p=184

If you are wondering how we move from chaos to order and conflict to unity, take the advice of kids…"play together." We can learn a lot from dirt under our feet and wind in our hair. It's in this spirit Uniting4Kids will be hosting future play dates and fund raisers. Can't afford it…no worries…we'll spot ya.

Good Fun for a Good Cause!

Join us for an old-fashioned game of kick ball in Wash Park

Sunday, Sept. 18th at 2pm

Parking at Franklin and Kentucky
Look for the banner and canopy on the field

Special thanks to our sponsors:
Parker Froyd & Associates
Rathbun Hardwood Floors, Inc. Sutton & Associates, Multi-Financial Securities Corporation
Horace Mann Ins., Jerry Glunz
StudioAtlantis
Wanna Hoop
Community Auto Repair

http://www.angelaengel.com/kick-ball-at-wash-park

$10 in advance, $15 day of event (includes beer)

Kids are free but don't get any beer.;)

All proceeds benefit Uniting4Kids. www.uniting4kids.com

The First Annual
Equity in Education Film Festival
with Guest, Antwi Akom
September 16th & 17th, 2011
Starz Theatre Complex | Tivoli | Auraria Campus

"What most of us must be involved in--whether we teach or write, make films, write films, direct films, play music, act, whatever we do--has to not only make people feel good and inspired and at one with other people around them, but also has to educate a new generation to do this very modest thing: change the world." — Howard Zinn

Along with the Office of P-20 Education Initiatives and Anschutz Medical Center Office of Inclusion and Diversity, the Center for Culturally Responsive Urban Education is hosting a two-day film festival on September 16th and 17th, 2011. The focus of the Equity in Education Film Festival is to provide a venue for critical inquiry about the issues that impact public schools and education reform and bring together the multiple perspectives of various stakeholders – teachers, school personnel, policy makers, academics, community members, families, and students. Our mission is to frame the ideas from a larger context of education reform in urban schools, to provoke thought on the issues through narratives and counter-narratives from the films, and shift the way we as a community have conversations about the issues that impact Colorado schools.

Our ticketing agent, brown paper tickets is live and can be used to purchase tickets now at: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/193439 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Back to School Again

This article was featured in the Littleton Independent and Centennial Citizen, September 1, 2011 (Article Link)

"Those who help kids develop deserve thanks"

                Well it's back to school again. My youngest daughter, Sophie, finished elementary school last spring and she's now headed off to middle school,  I think back to that first day of elementary school when I left her at the kindergarten door and then cried all the way home. Now our family bids farewell to the children’s playground, the miniature furniture, and all those wonderful elementary school teachers who taught both our daughters to read, write, add, divide, and everything else in between.

          Looking back, it wasn’t the curriculum that mattered most. When I remember their early years of elementary school, I picture the Halloween parades - each grade marching through the halls lined with parents and their cameras. Field day was the highlight with the 100 yard dash and 'capture the flag' - the parents played too. My daughters both fell in love with music after Mr. Waibel introduced them to the recorder. My oldest daughter Grace eventually graduated to the flute, and now plays piano. The gym teacher, Mr. Hill, hosted jump-roping and gymnastics programs where the children proudly displayed their choreographed routines to music. The grandparents all came to clap and cheer at the Veterans Day Assembly. Each year the school featured an author’s night, and every child read their "published" stories from a real bound book complete with illustrations and a dedication page. I was never mentioned but our dogs Lucy, Lilly, and Penny always got first billing. The talent shows were another favorite -each child shining in their own light, entertaining the audience with jokes, roller skating and dance routines.

          Elementary school was a magical time for my children and it should be. Of course it wasn’t all roses. I complained when classes grew to twenty-eight kids. I pitched a royal fit when the principal eliminated three teacher aid positions but retained his 'Dean of students.' Our whole family signed the student-led petition to begin recycling in the cafeteria. Once I even stormed the principal's office after he eliminated the afternoon recess. But that too is our job as parents. 

          Over the past six years, we’ve come to realize that what we focus on expands. We've taken stock in what we value: creativity, community, compassion and curiosity. Together our family celebrates the discoveries and embraces the challenges. We learn to discard the parts that are bureaucratic and useless to the lives and futures of our kids. Each year we opt our children out of the state standardized test, CSAP. We spend more time on walks and board games and less time on homework sheets. Lessons that capture their hearts and imagination are extended at home and the rote and mundane are forgotten. Although difficult at times, we recognize that our child's education is all their own and we become the passengers in their new found journey to discover themselves, the world and their place in it. 

          As we leave the safety of elementary school, we pay tribute to the teachers who are hard working and innovative. Many of them have taught their entire careers at our elementary school. They helped to create a learning community where kids are respected and parents made partners. Optimal human development begins with a beautiful childhood. It’s not the drill but the spark. The way my daughters came skipping off the school bus told me this was the good stuff. So this week when I left Sophie at the middle school door, the tears I cried were of gratitude. Thanks to all of you teachers, parents and citizens across America for the investments you make in our children and our shared future.

 Angela Engel,
 Centennial CO

If you are wondering how we move from chaos to order and conflict to unity, take the advice of kids…"play together." We can learn a lot from dirt under our feet and wind in our hair. It's in this spirit Uniting4Kids will be hosting future play dates and fund raisers. Can't afford it…no worries…we'll spot ya.

Good Fun for a Good Cause!

Join us for an old-fashioned game of kick ball in Wash Park

Sunday, Sept. 18th at 2pm

Parking at Franklin and Kentucky

Special thanks to our sponsors:
Parker Froyd & Associates
Rathbun Hardwood Floors, Inc.
Sutton & Associates, Multi-Financial Securities Corporation

Horace Mann Ins., Jerry Glunz

Wanna Hoop
Community Auto Repair

http://www.angelaengel.com/kick-ball-at-wash-park

$10 in advance, $15 day of event (includes beer)

Kids are free but don't get any beer.;)

All proceeds benefit Uniting4Kids. www.uniting4kids.com

The First Annual
Equity in Education Film Festival
with Guest, Antwi Akom
September 16th & 17th, 2011
Starz Theatre Complex | Tivoli | Auraria Campus

"What most of us must be involved in--whether we teach or write, make films, write films, direct films, play music, act, whatever we do--has to not only make people feel good and inspired and at one with other people around them, but also has to educate a new generation to do this very modest thing: change the world." — Howard Zinn

Along with the Office of P-20 Education Initiatives and Anschutz Medical Center Office of Inclusion and Diversity, the Center for Culturally Responsive Urban Education is hosting a two-day film festival on September 16th and 17th, 2011. The focus of the Equity in Education Film Festival is to provide a venue for critical inquiry about the issues that impact public schools and education reform and bring together the multiple perspectives of various stakeholders – teachers, school personnel, policy makers, academics, community members, families, and students. Our mission is to frame the ideas from a larger context of education reform in urban schools, to provoke thought on the issues through narratives and counter-narratives from the films, and shift the way we as a community have conversations about the issues that impact Colorado schools.

Our ticketing agent, brown paper tickets is live and can be used to purchase tickets now at: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/193439 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Back to School Again

This article was featured in the Littleton Independent and Centennial Citizen, September 1, 2011 (Article Link)

"Those who help kids develop deserve thanks"

                Well it's back to school again. My youngest daughter, Sophie, finished elementary school last spring and she's now headed off to middle school,  I think back to that first day of elementary school when I left her at the kindergarten door and then cried all the way home. Now our family bids farewell to the children’s playground, the miniature furniture, and all those wonderful elementary school teachers who taught both our daughters to read, write, add, divide, and everything else in between.

          Looking back, it wasn’t the curriculum that mattered most. When I remember their early years of elementary school, I picture the Halloween parades - each grade marching through the halls lined with parents and their cameras. Field day was the highlight with the 100 yard dash and 'capture the flag' - the parents played too. My daughters both fell in love with music after Mr. Waibel introduced them to the recorder. My oldest daughter Grace eventually graduated to the flute, and now plays piano. The gym teacher, Mr. Hill, hosted jump-roping and gymnastics programs where the children proudly displayed their choreographed routines to music. The grandparents all came to clap and cheer at the Veterans Day Assembly. Each year the school featured an author’s night, and every child read their "published" stories from a real bound book complete with illustrations and a dedication page. I was never mentioned but our dogs Lucy, Lilly, and Penny always got first billing. The talent shows were another favorite -each child shining in their own light, entertaining the audience with jokes, roller skating and dance routines.

          Elementary school was a magical time for my children and it should be. Of course it wasn’t all roses. I complained when classes grew to twenty-eight kids. I pitched a royal fit when the principal eliminated three teacher aid positions but retained his 'Dean of students.' Our whole family signed the student-led petition to begin recycling in the cafeteria. Once I even stormed the principal's office after he eliminated the afternoon recess. But that too is our job as parents. 

          Over the past six years, we’ve come to realize that what we focus on expands. We've taken stock in what we value: creativity, community, compassion and curiosity. Together our family celebrates the discoveries and embraces the challenges. We learn to discard the parts that are bureaucratic and useless to the lives and futures of our kids. Each year we opt our children out of the state standardized test, CSAP. We spend more time on walks and board games and less time on homework sheets. Lessons that capture their hearts and imagination are extended at home and the rote and mundane are forgotten. Although difficult at times, we recognize that our child's education is all their own and we become the passengers in their new found journey to discover themselves, the world and their place in it. 

          As we leave the safety of elementary school, we pay tribute to the teachers who are hard working and innovative. Many of them have taught their entire careers at our elementary school. They helped to create a learning community where kids are respected and parents made partners. Optimal human development begins with a beautiful childhood. It’s not the drill but the spark. The way my daughters came skipping off the school bus told me this was the good stuff. So this week when I left Sophie at the middle school door, the tears I cried were of gratitude. Thanks to all of you teachers, parents and citizens across America for the investments you make in our children and our shared future.

 Angela Engel,
 Centennial CO

July  13, 2011

Rally to support kids and SOS March in CO:
When: Saturday, July 23, 2011
Time: 10:00 AM — 3:00 PM
Where: The Gazebo at Lincoln Park,
Downtown Greeley

See attached flyer

Save Our Schools March & National Call to Action!

July 28-31, 2011 in Washington, D.C. and around the country

We’re putting the Public back in public schools!

http://www.saveourschoolsmarch.org/

Important articles:
How important is class size after all? by Marion Brady. Featured In the Answer Sheet by Valerie Strauss

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/how-important-is-class-size-after-all/2011/07/11/gIQAgNUj9H_blog.html#pagebreak

"There are hundreds of ways to mix and vary class size, learning environments, staffing, schedules, curricula, and other factors affecting the quality of education, but forget all those potential options. Only if parents, grandparents, and caring citizens revolt will the mayors, CEOs, lawyers, venture capitalists, rich philanthropists, and politicians now pulling the education “deform” strings and levers let go of the “just work harder” mantra.
Questions: What best explains the last quarter century of attacks on public schooling — the convening of education reform conferences with no educators invited, the constant denigrating of teachers, the destruction of due process protections, the rejection of poverty as a major factor in school performance? What best explains the refusal to respect research, legislation cleverly designed to hang the “Failing” label on more schools every year, orchestrated campaigns pushing vouchers, tuition tax credits, alternative licensing for teachers, counterproductive merit pay schemes, and weakened local control?
These aren’t efforts to improve public schools; they’re sneaky approaches to privatizing them. But so artful has been the campaign, millions of people opposed to privatization have acted, and continue to act, in ways that promote it."
-------
Stephen Krashen: Race to the Top for Tots: Don't Measure the Temperature of the Fire - Put it Out! Posted by Anthony Cody
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2011/07/stephen_krashen_race_to_the_to.html

We don't need more precise data. The US Department of Education's plans for extreme and detailed testing make no sense: The house is on fire. Fire departments do not spend time determining the exact temperature in each room. Instead, they rush to put out the fire as soon as possible.
Instead of spending money to deal with the problems of poverty, we are giving it to testing companies who are eager to spend billions of our tax dollars creating expensive new tests and measures that will only tell us what we already know.
-----
Sirota: The Finland Phenomenon by David Sirota, The Denver Post
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_18442383
"When I heard the news last week that the Department of Education is aiming to subject 4-year-olds to high-stakes testing, all I could do is shake my head in disbelief and despondently mutter a slightly altered riff off "The Big Lebowski 's" Walter Sobchak: Four-year-olds, dude."

-----

The Fragile Success of School Reform in the Bronx, by Johnathon Mahler, The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/magazine/mag-10School-t.html?pagewanted=1&sq=Reformed%20School&st=cse&scp=4

Featured Education Leader: Nina Bishop. This Colorado Springs mother declares her independence in this e-mail response to the Colorado Department of Education. Her children were denied enrollment to a charter school for not participating in CSAP. We must champion those few among us who have the courage to stand against the herd and challenge the injustices. Bravo to you, Nina and thank you for balancing the rage with a bit of humor!

Dear Jhon,
Blah, blah, blah…
1.    Crap.

2.    Crap.

3.    I don’t give a CRAP about your state law that costs taxpayers millions of dollars with zero returns for kids. Did the CDE hire you based on your CSAP score? What is your CSAP score, Jhon? I’d like to know that you’re at least experienced in the stuff you’re shoveling. As a parent, I will decide what’s best for my own kids. You didn’t push something the size of a watermelon through a hole the size of a grapefruit; I did! They’re my kids! The US Constitution; 14th Amendment, and the Supreme Court support me and my decisions to protect the interests of my children. There are schools all over the world that don’t test their students to death and are promoting educated critical thinkers; not bubble colorers who need remediation before entering college. CSAP is a failure, has always been a failure, and it will continue to be a failure, only under a different name, "TCAP". Renaming it won’t improve it but it least you're getting closer at identifying it correctly, "TCRAP." The CDE should be investigated for misuse of education funding and for failing Colorado's children - now that would be accountability! I don’t give a rat's ass about school scores or that THE SCHOOL meets their academic goals. Education is supposed to be about meeting children's goals. The day that you quit making it about you, your departments, and your neat little score cards, we may actually be able to improve schools. I want my children to enjoy their education and expand their thinking including creativity, inquiry, and the courage to challenge the things that aren't right in the world.

4.    When the CDE is not passing off its leadership responsibilities, you’re acting as terrorists holding our schools, our teachers and our kids' hostage. My next call is to Homeland Security since education policy and your assault on justice and free-thinking has become the new act of terrorism against democracy.

5.    Patronizing Crap.

Put this in your CSAP longitudinal growth model and analyze it!
 
Enraged and engaged parent
Nina Bishop
Colorado Springs, Colorado


________________________________________

Subject: TCAP CSAP what's the difference!

Dear Nina Bishop:

Thank you for contacting the Colorado Department of Education.  In response to your communication, we trust you will find the following information helpful:
1.       CSAP tests are the primary form of academic accountability in Colorado to measure student performance.
2.       Schools and districts are held accountable for student performance so each test is very valuable along with the results illustrated.
3.       As a parent, you should know that state law requires all students be tested.  However, if for some reason a child misses taking the CSAP test, those tests are deemed no-scores and those impact the school because its accountability for student performance is not waived.  This, in turn, will not help the school meet its academic goals.
4.       You mention schools that you appear to have serious concerns about in serving the needs of your child(ren).  These types of issues are handled at the school and district level.  We are sending the communication to your district to alert them to the issues you have raised.  We encourage you to call and set an appointment with the school principal to resolve your issues.  If that is not satisfactory, please call your superintendent and get your issues resolved at that level.  However, if all of these avenues are non-responsive, please contact your locally elected board of education so you can bring your issue to that group for final resolution.
5.       We appreciate your care and concern for the well-being of your children and your willingness to be actively involved in their learning.
We wish you the best in working with you local school officials to gain mutually satisfactory resolution.

Sincerely
Jhon
Jhon Penn
Director, Performance Support, Colorado Department of Education

Colorado

This Sunday, June 26th at 5 p.m. at 6281 S Cedar St, Littleton, 80120 

Potluck and conversation about the future of education in Colorado and what it means to present and future citizens.

Guest speaker: Angela Engel
Please RSVP to 303.347.1758
Bring a dish, a friend and ideas to share.
Betty Harris and Ray Flesher, Hosts and Organizers

Wisconsin

July 18–21, 2011

Marian University School of Education presents:
Summer Institute 2011
Angela Engel - keynote speaker
Summer Institute Schedule
More Info

http://SOE.marianuniversity.edu/

Portland, Oregon

We invite you to join hundreds of educators, parents, students, academics, authors, activists, and other change-makers at this year's conference, Transforming Education & Our World. For the first time in our eight year history, AERO conference will be held on the west coast in beautiful Portland, Oregon, August 4-7, 2011.

Register online at www.educationrevolution.org/registration.html

Sign up for this free leadership training:

http://www.coloradofamilyleadership.com

Presentation Section 1 - http://db.tt/pxj93kC

Presentation Section 2 - http://db.tt/H9n9Yhb

Bring PLTI or FLTI to your community!

Featured education leader: Representative Judy Solano, Colorado

After teaching elementary school for 29 Years, Representative Solano headed to the Colorado Legislature where she has represented the voice of children for the past seven years. In a climate where education policy makers keep getting it wrong, Solano understands that best teaching practices mean relevant learning and relationship building. Many times she has stood alone against both Democrat and Republican's costly education reforms that evaluate teacher performance, student learning, and school quality through a single measurement tool. Under the slogan, "kids before corporations," Representative Solano has courageously introduced legislation that reduces high-stakes testing, returns assessment and evaluation to professional educators, and promotes education improvements that lead to opportunities, not sanctions, for Colorado's children.

Read more in this week's Denver Post Column by Johnny Young:

http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_18311

Cutting Kids:

The trend in education has been to build bigger accountability systems to monitor teachers and students through test scores while simultaneously cutting programs, services, and people. The result of this misappropriation of funding is that bureaucracies have more ways to complain about the problems they are NOT solving. It is a trap for educators and an unending bleeding of our children.

Over the next couple of months I'll be turning my attention nationally. Future e-mails will come from Uniting4Kids. As our website nears completion you will be asked to fill out a short profile. This will allow us to direct notifications that are pertinent to your region. For the past decade it has been an honor to serve Colorado's children and families. Please remember that I don't make a salary and I don't have a paid staff. In the upcoming months you  will have the opportunity to sustain this continued work by becoming an associate of Uniting4Kids or donating here:

https://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6950/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=3642

Help end NCLB and return the focus to children with relevant, challenging and empowering learning opportunities for students:

In bi-partisan commitment, Colorado legislators from both sides of the aisle have a brought forth a Memorial to end a decade of the failed No Child Left Behind Act. The Memorial, JSM-11-004, TITLE will be debated in the Senate Education Committee on April 21, at 1:30 in SC354 on the third floor of the capitol or if the room is too crowded in the Old Supreme Court Chambers in the basement.

Senate Joint Memorial 11-004 urges Congress to “completely repeal” the No Child Left Behind law “as soon as practicable” and generally reduce federal mandates and oversight of K-12 education, returning to the original intent behind the Elementary Secondary Education Act. (Read the text here.) 

READ the fact sheet here: In light of findings that NCLB and increasing standardized testing does not increase achievement, even when measured by test scores, how can we justify spending billions of dollars when our state has just cut .5 billion over the past two years. Our children are losing teachers, computers, libraries, literacy programs, course options, art, music, after-school programs, intervention services, and so forth.

You can help bring an end to excessive testing, ineffective policies, and wasteful spending:

Contact these elected Representatives:

Governor Hickenlooper: (303)866-2471; http://www.colorado.gov/apps/oit/governor/citizen/assistanceUtility/shareOpinionGovOffice.jsf
Lieutenant Governor Joe Garcia at: (303)866-2087; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Senate Education Committee Member:
Michael Johnston, Adams County (303)866-4864; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it


Testify in the Senate Education Committee:
Our legislators need to hear from parents, teachers, students and citizens. Sign up to testify with Lisa Alonge Morgan, Uniting4Kids administrative assistant: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . You’ll be invited to a phone conference call on Wed. at 9:30 to discuss the Memorial and how you can make sure it is passed and signed by Governor John Hickenlooper.


My Picks for Denver

Denver election - ballots Due May 3rd
James Mejia - http://www.mejiaformayor.com/vision-policy/education
Larry Ambrose - District One http://www.ambrose4council.com
Deborah Ortega - Council at Large http://ortegaatlarge.com/

Children and Family Resources:

Resources vary for children with special health care needs vary from county to county. WONDERbabies website helps families identify services available to them based on the county they live in.
Check it out! http://www.wonderbabiesco.org/Resources2.php
Amanda Millar is a 2009 FLTI graduate

The guide also includes strategies to promote community awareness of these key protective factors, as well as tip sheets in English and Spanish to share with parents and caregivers. To download or order a hard copy of the guide, go to the Child Welfare Information Gateway website by clicking on the link below.
http://www.childwelfare.gov/preventing/preventionmonth/guide2011/index.cfm


Opportunities:

MESA - Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement
Call for Judges. MESA day Friday, May 6, 2011 7:30-12
Auraria Campus
Register at http://bit.ly/fFYv5g
Contact Kevin Owens; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . (303)556-5923


Are you looking to further your career as an advocate?

The National Women's Law Center is committed to helping emerging leaders make positive change for low-income women and their families. We are now accepting applications for our 2011 Progressive Leadership Advocacy Network (PLAN) program, a leadership training institute October 12-15, 2011 for select advocacy leaders.

The PLAN experience helps advocates sharpen their skills and deepen their understanding of the steps they need to take to be effective leaders. It's highly interactive and introspective and includes:
•    An intensive, three-day PLAN Fall Institute for new members;
•    Ongoing strategic leadership, policy, and advocacy learning opportunities; and
•    Access to individualized technical assistance from NWLC policy and advocacy staff.

http://www.nwlc.org/progressive-leadership-advocacy-network


Events

Wednesday, April 20th 6pm - Film screening and evening with director Amy Valens
August to June
Jefferson County Open School (7655 W. 10th Ave.)
AUGUST TO JUNE is an 88 minute documentary celebrating values we are on the brink of losing in the single-minded pursuit of higher test scores!
Come inside a public school happily and purposefully going against current trends and join 26 8-10 year olds, their teacher, and their parents for a year bursting with opportunities for curiosity, creativity and compassion.
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajwCQ3PQuVA&feature=player_embedded

Thursday, April 21, 2011, 7-8:30 Townhall with Morgan Carroll on Education Funding and Challenges
Aurora Center for Active Adults (NOTE:  LOCATION CHANGE THIS MONTH ONLY) at 30 Del Mar Circle (south of 6th Avenue, west of Peoria).  The topic will be Education Funding:  Challenges & Successes.  Our guest panelists will be:
Jeanette  Carmany, Aurora School Board Member  
Jane Goff, State Board of Education Member
Guy Bellview, Chief Financial Officer for Cherry Creek School District
Casey Wardynski, Chief Financial Officer for Aurora School District
Kim Olszewski, Aurora Public School Teacher
All are welcome.  Panel discussion will be followed by Q&A by audience.  If you care about the future of public education in Colorado, please join us!

State Senator
MORGAN CARROLL
MAJORITY CAUCUS CHAIR
200 E. Colfax Ave., Room 271
Denver, CO 80203
Capitol: 303-866-4879
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.senmorgancarroll.com

January 2011

Wow! Our December screening of Race to Nowhere, the education documentary, was a full house. So we have scheduled two more. See below.

Introducing Uniting 4 Kids

Six months ago I met Anthony Dallmann-Jones, Ph.D., author, NAREN Director, entrepreneur and education leader extraordinaire. In the founding of Uniting 4 Kids, we've embarked on a life-long dream.
Uniting 4 Kids is an associate driven 501c3. Our mission is to be a catalyst for coordinating, clarifying, and uniting the capabilities of teachers, parents and students to inspire the highest levels of intellectual thought, integrity, and cooperation through our shared commitment to children.

We've been busy at work putting together the people, plan, tools, and process to make Uniting 4 Kids a ragingly successful national initiative. There will be more to come on this. Sometimes actions really do speak louder than words:

• Renowned education expert and historian Diane Ravitch is coming to Denver, February 17th. Mark your calendars. Uniting 4 Kids is helping to plan an exciting evening. Please contact me if you are interested in being listed as an event sponsor. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

• Launch Party and Dinner to benefit Uniting 4 Kids, Saturday, February 12th. Invites will be arriving soon.

Find Me at:

February 2nd, CCIRA, Conference on Literacy, 9:15 to 11:15 Hyatt Regency Tech Center, 7800 Tufts Ave. Registration information at: www.ccira.org

Sunday, February 13, Centennial Park Library, Greeley CO, 1 to 3 pm. Sponsored by The Greeley Parent Advocacy Group, The Coalition for Better Education, Latinos Unidos.

February 21-25, National At-Risk Education Network 8th Annual Conference in Panama City, Florida, at the Edgewater Beach Resort Hotel - Wednesday keynote. For more detail on the conference, the resort, and this powerful week of presentations and workshops: http://www.atriskeducation.net/events/conferences/naren/2011/index.html

Race to Nowhere

Wednesday, January 19th, at 6:30 pm

The Starz Film Center, 900 Auraria Parkway, Denver, CO 80204
With a one hour panel discussion following the movie

Tickets can be purchased at: http://rtnstarzfilmcenter.eventbrite.com
Additionally, here is the link to the electronic invitation:
http://www.racetonowhere.com/postcard/january-19th-denver-co

Tickets are $10 in advance; $15 at the door (A portion of the proceeds benefit Uniting 4 Kids)

Tuesday, February 8, 2011 at 6 p.m
Arapahoe Community College, Waring Theatre, 5900 S. Santa Fe Drive, Littleton, CO 80120
With an hour panel discussion following the movie

Tickets can be purchased at:  http://rtnarapahoecc.eventbrite.com
Additionally, here is the link to the electronic invitation:
http://www.racetonowhere.com/postcard/february-8th-littleton-co

I hope your year is off to a great start,

Angela Engel

Education Update

Sir Ken Robinson on Changing Education Paradigms:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U


Featured Education Leader, Dr. Yong Zhao
An excerpt from the preface of Catching Up or Leading the Way:

"This book is about education in America but it began as a book about education in China. My original intention was to write about the mammoth challenges China faces in education to curb America's surging enthusiasm for China's education practices that seem to be an object of admiration, a model of excellence, or a source of competitive students who will threaten America's future. I was going to write about China's efforts to decentralize curriculum and textbooks, diversify assessment and testing, and encourage local autonomy and innovations in order to cultivate creativity and well-rounded talents. I was also going to write about China's repeated failures and unwavering desire to undo the damages of testing and standardization. But while I was going through the reform policies, scholarly writings, and online discussion forums and blogs about education in China, I realized that what China wants is what America is eager to throw away - an education that respects individual talents, supports divergent thinking, tolerates deviation, and encourages creativity; a system in which the government does not dictate what students learn or how teachers teach; and culture that does not rank or judge the success of a school, a teacher, or a child based on only test scores in a few subjects determined by the government.
Having grown up in China, experienced the Chinese education system as both a student and teacher, and closely studied its history and recent reforms as a researcher, I understand the reasons behind its reforms. China is determined to transform from a labor-intensive, low-level manufacturing economy into an innovation-driven knowledge society. An innovation-driven society is driven by innovative people. Innovative people cannot come from schools that force students to memorize correct answers on standardized tests or reward students who excel at regurgitating dictated spoon-fed knowledge. Thus China decided to change its "test-oriented education" into "talent-oriented education." To engineer this change, China made a conscious, global search for models--education systems that are good at producing innovative talents. As a country with the most Nobel laureates, most original patents, most scientific discoveries in the 20th century, and largest economy in the world, the United States of America seems a reasonable candidate.
In the meantime, the U.S. has been trying hard to implement what China has been trying to be rid of. An increasing number of states and the federal government have begun to dictate what students should learn, when they should learn it, and how their learning is measured through state-mandated curriculum standards, high school exit exams, and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). There are calls for even more centralization and standardization through national standards and national testing, as well as through rewarding or measuring schools and teachers based on test scores.
I find this trend in American education perplexing. If China, a developing country aspiring to move into an innovative society, has been working to emulate U.S. education, why does America want to abandon it? Furthermore, why does America want to adopt practices that China and many other countries have been so eager to give up? But most vexing is why Americans, who hold individual rights and liberty in the highest regard, would allow the government to dictate what their children should learn, when they should learn it, and how they are evaluated?"

Catching Up or Leading the Way; American Education in the Age of Globalization, ASCD, 2009.  Available in your nearby bookstore


Important Events:

Race to Nowhere, film showing
December 2nd, 6:30 pm - 9 pm, panel to follow
Oriental Theatre
4335 West 44th Ave.
Denver, CO 80212
Tickets: $10 in advance, $15 at the door:  http://www.rtnorientalco.eventbrite.com.

Evite: http://www.racetonowhere.com/postcard/december-2nd-denver-co

VIEW OUR NEW TRAILER

NEW* WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE (10/7/10)

WATCH US ON CNN (9/4/10)

____________
Douglas County Board Meeting - Voucher Proposal
December 7, 7pm
Location TBA check this website for updated location: http://eboard.dcsdk12.org/

As many of you know, I support local control. While still messy, it is the best way to direct the policies and practices that affect our lives and shape our communities. The DC school board elected to serve public school children will be voting on a voucher initiative that directs public dollars to private schools without public accountability. Please take this opportunity to call, write, or speak at the school board meeting. Too many of our neighborhood schools are closing. We must protect the public education trust and we must protect our children. You can help ensure that public dollars are spent in public schools with public oversight.

________________
Governor-Elect Hickenlooper's transition planning is already quickly under way, with regional transition meetings scheduled for around the state.  The transition team is encouraging anyone who would like to have input to these meetings (and by extension, to the future of Colorado) to attend.  These are not "chat" sessions, but are intended to address economic development and other related issues.  Interested citizens are encouraged to bring a "white paper" to present their ideas for how to move the state forward. The papers will be forwarded to the appropriate planning team(s).

Please check the website for locations (www.partnersforcolorado.com)
If you cannot attend a meeting, you can submit your "white paper" to the transition website, or use it to volunteer -- or even to apply for a job in the new administration.

November, 2010

In this newsletter:

- A note to citizens
- Vote Yes on 3A
- No on 60, 61, and 101
- Upcoming events

Voting is merely a good beginning

So it's election time again. My phone keeps ringing and my inbox is full of candidate plugs and reminders. I have to admit this cycle has been tough for me. I think the campaign process has become too complicated, money too important, citizens too removed, fear too predominant, and a country too divided. On some level I want no part of this and yet disengagement concedes to the chaos and corruption of it all.
Our country is faced with some very serious problems: war, recession, environmental assaults, children in peril, an exponentially growing population. In this election cycle, let us not repeat the past mistakes of looking to someone else to solve our problems. In times of struggle, it is hard to hold on to hope. Yet these are the moments where generations are defined. There is potential here for innovative solutions to rise to the top. What is needed for our country, our planet, and our children, is for all good people to step forward.
My wish for all of us is that voting represents only the beginning of our civic engagement. I believe in humanity and I believe that collectively we can overcome adversity if only we will:
Meet scarcity with generosity
Meet fear with courage
Meet competition with cooperation
Meet the noise with silence--contemplative reflection requires quiet and stillness
I'm voting and I'm also nominating you for the position of leader. After all, that was the design our forefathers had in mind when they imagined this democracy--courageous souls, generous hearts, working collaboratively in search of the humble truths.

Angela Engel

"The difficult takes time.  The impossible just takes a little longer."

Read my article in support of 3A and help our kids:
http://www.angelaengel.com/blog/?p=143

Say No to Proposition 101 and amendments 60 and 61
Read more from Great Education:
http://www.greateducation.org/2010/07/2010-colorado-ballot-measures-proposition-101-amendments-60-61/
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Upcoming Events:

The Family Leadership Training Institute is taking applications now. Classes will begin soon.
Learn more and submit your applications at: http://www.coloradomedicalhome.com/FamilyLeadership/
The Family Leadership Training Institute teaches interested participants who wish to improve lifelong health, safety and learning of children, how to become practices change agents for the next generation.  Local communities form FLTI design teams to establish the initiative that offers a stimulating 20-week course designed to boost participants’ leadership skills to address issues of concern such as neighborhood safety, community economic development, quality child health care, educational development and improving the quality of their lives through self-empowerment.
This non-partisan initiative invites parents and family members cross class, race and geography, to engage in a journey toward full participation in democracy.  It helps parents see themselves as decision-makers and gives then a “democracy tool kit” for effective citizenship. The cornerstones of FLTI are:  respect, validation, and a belief that when the tools of democracy are understood, the public will actively engage in civic life.
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New website for Colorado school parents! I would like to alert you to a new website/e-mail newsletter providing a recap of the week's hottest news, tip sheets and background information on healthy schools, safe schools and teaching and learning called EdNews Parent. The site - created in partnership with Education News Colorado and funded by the Colorado Health Foundation – is a free resource for parents interested in education. Parents can sign up for an e-mail newsletter they’ll receive every other week, pose questions to a panel of experts in the three topic areas and interact with other parents. The site promises to be a lively forum for people interested in educational issues beyond the scope of their child’s own school or district. At the same time, the content can be personalized through the Ask an Expert feature. You can also follow EdNews Parent on Facebook and Twitter.
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We hope you can join the Colorado Coalition for Girls for our Fourth Annual Colorado Conference for Girls on December 2, 2010. The conference will be a daylong event of workshops, guest speakers, and networking opportunities. This year's theme is "Girls Matter, Relationships Matter."

The White House Project is not only a proud member of the Colorado Coalition for Girls but we also sit on the steering committee.

Below is the flyer for more information. To register or view more details, please visit:

http://www.cocoalitionforgirls.org/guest/conference/.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Brian Hawkins at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or Katie Groke Ellis at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

We look forward to seeing you there!
_______________________________________________________

TO:    Educators, After-school Program Providers, Nonprofit youth
organizations, Parents and Community Members

FROM:        Dwight Jones, Commissioner of Education
Elaine Gantz Berman, Chair, Expanded Learning Opportunities Commission

SUBJECT:     Community Input Meetings on expanded learning
opportunities, after-school and out-of-school programs

DATE:        October 27, 2010

Please join us for an important community meeting to be held in your area!

The Colorado Department of Education's Expanded Learning Opportunities
(ELO) Commission is examining the state-level policies needed to most effectively use the school day and to foster collaboration and partnerships among teachers, schools and community partners that go beyond core subjects to fully engage and enrich all students. The outcome of the Commission will be a report to policymakers that outlines a vision of student-centered learning that transcends the school day and location, and encourages education systems to use time, partners and technology in new ways to achieve greater long-term outcomes for students, including increased academic achievement and better preparation for college and the workforce.

The first step in the Commission's work is a statewide tour of Colorado to listen to educators, program providers, parents and others about the challenges and successes of expanded learning time and discuss ideas for improving programs and strengthening community partnerships. The ELO Commission will hold a community input meeting in five regions of the state in November, as follows:


November 8, Monday
Limon
East Central BOCES office
820 Second Street
Limon, CO 80828
4:00-6:00 p.m.