Blog posts are the opinions of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of A+ Colorado.

Press Release: Missing the Bus College Report

Colorado education groups call on K-12 system to prepare more low-income students for nation’s top colleges Report reveals dearth of low-income students matriculating to top-tier colleges Denver – Education groups released a report, Missing the Bus: Colorado’s Elite College Access Gap, today showing that low-income Colorado students are largely left behind when it comes to…

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November Newsletter: Keeping you informed about A+ Denver

Dear Members and Friends:  Election ad season is over. The mattress and car commercials are back. What did the elections mean for Denver schools? Compared to past elections, the stakes were lower this year in Denver. That said, we should all celebrate that the Denver Preschool Program was refunded. With the reelection of our governor…

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School Improvement Grants in Colorado

Originally Posted by EducationNext on December 23, 2013. Copyright © educationnext.org. Written by Andy Smarick. Read here. I’ve obviously made up my mind about School Improvement Grants (SIG) and other school turnaround efforts. But I suspect many others are still wondering if turnaround attempts are a sensible strategy for creating more high-quality seats for kids in need. And I’m…

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A+ Denver and Chalkbeat Colorado announce BoardWatch partnership

A+ Denver is excited to announce that BoardWatch Denver, a project steered by a team of committed A+ volunteers, will today become Chalkbeat Colorado’s School Board Tracker. Chalkbeat will be transforming BoardWatch from a rating system that graded the school board’s governance into a journalistic endeavor that will allow the public to easily access the voting history of school board members.…

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September Newsletter: Keeping you informed about A+ Denver

Dear Friends: Welcome back to school! Denver schools got off to great starts even with the various changes at the school and district level. The weather cooperated so we avoided overheated classrooms. This seemed to be one of the smoothest starts in years. District Updates New year, New plan We were thrilled to see the…

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Colorado students show slight decline in state TCAP results

Originally Posted by The Denver Post on August 14, 2014. Copyright © denverpost.com. Written by Eric Gorski and Yesenia Robles. Read here.   Colorado students in 2014 took slight steps backward on the small academic gains made on standardized tests in recent years, part of a long-term trend of flat scores, results released Thursday show. The…

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Colo. school test scores dip slightly; achievement gap grows

Originally Posted by Colorado Public Radio on August 13, 2014. Copyright © cpr.org. Written by Jenny Brundin. Read here.   Despite aggressive efforts to help struggling students, scores on the tests public school children sweat over every spring continue their stagnant trend. TCAPs, which is short for Transitional Colorado Assessment Program, are the tests half a…

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New Oakland Schools chief not afraid to make tough decisions

Originally Posted by San Jose Mercury News on June 30, 2014. Copyright © mercurynews.com/insidebayarea.com. Written by Doug Oakley. Read here. OAKLAND — Like a large number of the 37,000 public school students here who are now under his care, Antwan Wilson grew up poor with just a single teenage mom to guide him. Oakland’s new…

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Observers: political realities more than ed issues led to Flores’ State Board win

Originally Posted by Chalkbeat Colorado on June 25, 2014. Copyright © co.chalkbeat.org. Written by Todd Engdahl. Read here. Voter turnout, ballot position and hurried, low-visibility campaigns likely were more important than education issues in Val Flores’ victory over Taggart Hansen in the Democratic primary for the 1st District seat on the State Board of Education.…

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Judge’s ruling a win for Colorado students

Originally Posted by The Denver Post on June 18, 2014. Copyright © denverpost.com. Written by Bob Deibel and Terrance Carroll. Read here. Colorado’s students (and our state) won a major victory in the Denver District Court earlier this month when Judge Michael A. Martinez dismissed a lawsuit brought by five former teachers, the Denver Classroom…

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