This week's teaching & learning tidbits

What to do after high school?

The annual “Diplomas Count” report has joined the growing discussion about the value of a college degree.

The 2011 version of the yearly graduation study from Education Week is titled “Beyond High School, Before Baccalaureate: Meaningful Alternatives to a Four-Year Degree” and is the latest in a spate of studies examining the value of college degrees.

“With the nation’s economic recovery seemingly stuck in low gear, the need to better understand the link between learning and a career seems more critical than ever for high school students preparing to graduate and enter the next phase of their lives,” according to the report summary. Read more in Education News Colorado.

Preschool’s benefits linger into adulthood, study finds

Children enrolled in a full-time preschool program that sees them through elementary school have a better life 25 years later than children who were not in preschool do, University of Minnesota researchers report. Read more in US News & World Report.

Teacher tenure on the table, changes likely

DENVER – Colorado teachers and principals are one step closer to a new evaluation system that would change the way they earn and keep tenure. The plan was presented to the state board of education Wednesday. Check out the KWGN Ch. 2 News story.

Douglas County schools revamp teacher pay, may ask for tax hike

The Douglas County School District is overhauling its performance-pay plan for teachers and might ask voters in November to approve a tax increase to fund it. The new system would be implemented in the 2012-13 school year. Read more in the Denver Post.

Seeking state-local balance on evaluations

A central issue in Colorado’s year-old educator effectiveness law – the amount of flexibility school districts should have in evaluating teachers – was at the forefront Wednesday as the State Board of Education discussed rules for implementing the law. Read more in Education News Colorado.

State ed board proposing four-tier teacher grades

DENVER – Colorado teachers could see a new four-tier ranking system under new performance guidelines up for discussion by the state Board of Education. Watch the 7NEWS report.

Teachers work to infuse more arts in the classroom

ENGLEWOOD – With budget cuts looming, teachers like Brenda Bartel worry that music, drama and other creative programs might be scaled back or eliminated. So, she is attending the REACH conference with dozens of other teachers to learn how keep these areas alive. Watch the 9NEWS report.

Local speller returns home to cheers

AURORA – She’s one of the top spellers in the nation and she got a hero’s welcome home on Monday.

Dhivya Sinthill-Murugan placed in the top 10 at the Scripps National Spelling Bee last week. The fifth grader got a rousing welcome from her friends at Expo Park in Aurora on Monday afternoon. Watch the 9NEWS report.

Urban districts studying teacher applicants

Click on the link to the listing for “Ms. O,” and up pops a video with the 1st grade teacher leading a lesson on units of measurement using yellow strings of yarn: It takes one student in the video six steps to walk to the end of one strand, eight steps to the end of the second. Read more in Education Week.

DENVER SCHOOL NEWS

State board clears innovation status for three more DPS schools

The state board of education today approved innovation status for three more Denver Public Schools — two of them are future schools that are part of the turnaround plans in far northeast. Read more in the Denver Post.

Denver’s school turnaround plans on fast track for August

Less than three months until the Aug. 10 launch of Denver Public Schools’ turnaround plans in far northeast with the opening of multiple new schools, plans are ahead of schedule, Allen Smith, the district deputy director, said of the ambitious overhaul. Read more in the Denver Post.

Denver community groups recommend phase out of West H.S.

More than a year of community meetings culminated Monday with recommendations to phase out Denver’s West High School and to stop introducing new schools in another area.

“The work’s just starting,” said Denver Public Schools Superintendent Tom Boasberg. “We have an intensive 14 months ahead of us to work out some of these things.” Read more in the Denver Post.

 

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