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Ritter: "Revoluntionary shift in education"

By Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 10, 2008 at 8:35 p.m.

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Students will be required to demonstrate compentency in key skills to earn a high school diploma under a sweeping school reform proposal unveiled by Gov. Bill Ritter in his State-of-the-State speech.

“This will be the most revolutionary shift in education policy this state has seen in years,” Ritter said.

Ritter’s proposal, under discussion for weeks with school leaders, is equivalent to taking the education system apart and putting it back together.

Instead of passing a set number of courses to graduate, students would have to demonstrate competency in key areas, such as math or English.

And students might pick up those competencies in new ways — learning math, for example, as part of a career education course in computers.

“What’s in Algebra II that’s so important?” said Matt Gianneschi, Ritter’s education advisor. “How can it be delivered in high school? Does it need to be in a course called ‘Algebra II?’”

“This is a systematic reorientation of our education system,” said Rep. Rob Witwer, R-Genessee. He will be a sponsor of the bill that enacts the proposal.

Just which skills will be required for graduation and how they will be assessed are still to be determined in discussions among educators, the state Board of Education and Ritter’s staff.

But Ritter and lawmakers emphasized that the skills will be ones students need for college or to enter the workforce.

A legislative bill may not be ready for six to eight weeks — or even longer, said Rep. Michael Merrifield, D-Colorado Springs, the chairman of the House Education Committee.

“It’s going to take a lot of time and discussion,” Merrifield said.

The bill could either specify details of the system or delegate the job to the Colorado Board of Education.

Ritter, a Democrat, said the reform effort will be bi-partisan. The bill will have Democratic and Republican sponsors.

“They actually reached out to us,” Witwer, the GOP lawmaker, said of Democrats.

That happened because members of both parties realize schools must improve, Witwer said.

The Democratic House sponsor will be Rep. Christine Scanlan of Summit County. In the Senate, Sponsors will be Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, and Sen. Josh Penry, R-Fruita.

Among questions still to be answered is whether the new tests will replace exams administered under the Colorado Student Achievement Program. CSAP stops at 10th grade and covers only reading, writing, math and science.

Implementing a new program will take years, said Education Commissioner Dwight Jones.

“It won’t be overnight. It might be difficult to do,” Jones said.

The state education department was already preparing to review its model content standards, which forms the basis for the CSAP tests and suggests curriculum in subjects that are not now tested.

Jones said the department will go forward with that review, with the expectation that the new content standards will become the basis for the program Ritter is proposing.

Jones said it’s still unknown which high school graduating class will be the first to fall under the new program.

State Board of Education Chairwoman Pamela-Jo Suckla said students nearing graduation when the new program goes operational would probably be allowed to continue under the rules that were in place when they started high school. The new rules would probably apply to entering students.

The new system will give students far more options in how they pick up the skills they need to graduate, almost to the point of offering custom-tailored programs, said Jane Urschel, the associate director of the Colorado Association of School Boards.

That will be a challenge for the school districts, but could make school more interesting for students and reduce the number of drop-outs, Urschel said.

Comments

  • January 12, 2008

    8:28 a.m.

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    jane writes:

    Nothing will change until students are held accountable for actually doing the work and discipline improves in school systems. If students don't believe their education is important and teachers can't hold them accountable for their work ethic and behavior, there will never be a change. Any child can succeed in almost any school...depending on whether they pay attention and do the work, or not.

  • January 13, 2008

    8:44 a.m.

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    PostPaganBaby writes:

    Every time I hear reform I reach for a copy of Plato's Republic. Is the goal of education simply being "college ready"? No. Education ought to be an introduction to the whole of reality, but we systematically ignore meaningful questions throughout the curriculum. Questions that actually take into account the needs of the human heart: Why am I here? Where am I going? How can I satisfy my need for truth, beauty, goodness, etc?

    Yes, taking into account the human heart would be the beginning of a true reform. It would mark a departure from the shallowness that characterizes so many public schools. Until we begin seriously looking at what education is and what needs it ought to serve, we are stuck being protagonists (or antagonists!) in the Reform-Of-The-Month Club (a dreary little club made up of the professionals who have helped tank the system in the first place).

    Is anyone else concerned with the lack of parental involvement in all these efforts at pseudo-reform or how the State arrogates to itself a superior knowledge of what the People want? Despite their growing pains, charters seem to part of the answer, though I don't suspect a champion of charters in the governor (I'd be happy to be proved wrong!).

  • January 13, 2008

    10:40 a.m.

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    clharmer writes:

    Ritter's proposal is laudable but a "revolutionary shift"? Reducing class size. Now that would be revolutionary.

  • January 14, 2008

    2:26 p.m.

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    vudumom writes:

    I'll put Ritter's Revolutionary Shift, ( though it does sound quite creative) under the category of SAME *HIT,DIFFERENT DAY.