Blog posts are the opinions of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of A+ Colorado.
Outlier School Visits Last spring, A+ Colorado released our report Outliers that dived into district data across Colorado to see where districts are succeeding and thriving with students of all backgrounds. Coming out of the report, A+ was curious about the next set of questions: What is making these districts do better than their peers?…
Denver Public Schools (DPS) kept the promise made last winter to repair the mistakes made on the 2017 School Performance Framework (SPF) and to raise the bar for what makes a high quality school. We thank DPS for its leadership and willingness to make corrections to better reflect student learning across the district. DPS remedied…
By Guest Blogger: Jasmine Kabiri Good morning, my name is Jasmine Kabiri, and I’m a junior at Silver Creek High School in Longmont. I am also a member of the Colorado Youth Congress, which is an organization of young people taking action on issues we care about. Today I’d like to talk with you about…
My summer vacation took me to Berlin, Germany for several weeks to better understand the culture, art and history of this remarkable city in late August. While I was focused on taking a break from education, I couldn’t help but reflect on how Berlin has been shaped by education while I enjoyed the art, music…
Colorado school districts are feeling the heat at the beginning of this school year. We’ve got updates on the Denver Public Schools superintendent search, community asks in Aurora, and big decisions coming up for Adams 14. Community engagement is key in all of these districts as we highlight below. A+ Updates Del dicho al hecho…
What does it mean to be counted? Gathering and analyzing data on people and the number of things we want to know about people (demographics, performance, health, etc.) is not an out-of-touch, elitist exercise, but rather a way to meaningfully include people, and work to improve their everyday lives. Theory, data, or (worse) both, seem…
Many districts and universities started school yesterday, signaling the end of summer and the beginning of a new year of learning and opportunity for Colorado students. A+ Colorado has been busy this summer on multiple fronts and firmly believes this year will be one one of the more interesting years in our education history (New…
Many on the right and left believe that the Janus Supreme Court decision will have a significant impact on reducing the teacher union role in public education and union political power in general. The decision overrules a former Supreme Court decision, Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, in 1977 that held that (primarily blue states) public…
The Denver Classroom Teachers Association and A+ Colorado join together to support respectful and open processes for choosing the next Denver Superintendent This week, the Denver Public Schools Board of Education began its discussion around how the Board chooses the next superintendent. The opportunity to select a new superintendent should be a moment in our…
“Choice, first and foremost, should be about having a great school in your neighborhood and making sure all of our schools serve all of our kids.” — Tom Boasberg NPR Ed, 2017 I’ve been an active observer of Denver Public Schools (DPS) for 20 years, through the vantage point of consultant, funder, researcher, charter school…