A bill introduced last week would end state testing for fourth and seventh graders, and save the state more than $1 million per year
Colorado Department of Education
Posted inEducation
How can Colorado attract more teachers of color? New report doubles down on need for better pay, mentorship.
The report, authored by a workgroup that lawmakers tasked with exploring teacher diversity, doesn’t unveil any new ideas but hits on strategies long known to be effective.
Posted inEducation
Rural Colorado school administrators investigated sexting between students. Now they’re charged in a child porn case.
After a Safe2Tell tip came in, two administrators saved images on a secure school server in Brush. Cops and the DA say it violated porn possession laws.
Posted inColoradans, Education, News
Colorado teacher prep programs saw an “exodus” when COVID hit — another test for school districts facing shortages
While teaching English to Greeley elementary school students who were just starting to learn the language, Ricardo Lopez would often hear his father’s struggles in their voices. “You don’t want to see them struggle like you see someone so close to you struggle trying to communicate,” said Lopez, whose dad immigrated to the United States […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Education, News
Declining birth rates, coupled with COVID disruptions, are driving down enrollment in Colorado public schools
Student enrollment has continued declining across Colorado public schools, with the state counting about 1,200 fewer students in kindergarten through 12th grade this fall than last year, when enrollment in preschool through high school plunged by about 30,000 students. State officials largely attributed last year’s enrollment slump — which was the first of its kind […]
Posted inColoradans, Education, News
Colorado is lowering teacher qualifications amid staff shortage a year before expanding preschool access
Tens of thousands of Colorado children will be eligible to enroll in the state’s expanded preschool program come fall of 2023, but as an educator shortage has swelled to “crisis” levels, pressure is mounting to find enough teachers to staff classrooms. One solution the state implemented in December: lowering the bar on credentials to become […]
Posted inNews
Colorado’s graduation rates fell last year. The drop was worse among students of color.
Colorado’s high school graduation rate fell for the first time in more than a decade in 2021, according to the Colorado Department of Education. A total of 81.7% of the class of 2021 graduated last spring, down from 81.9% of the class of 2020. The data shows wide graduation rate discrepancies between races and economic […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Education, News
Down 12 teachers, an Alamosa school drafted everyone they could to teach — including the principal
With 12 Ortega Middle School teachers scheduled to be out Friday, administrators of the Alamosa School District suddenly had to weigh their last-resort option: closing school. Assistant Superintendent Luis Murillo and his team “briefly” considered the idea, but instead scrambled to find staff to help cover classrooms, drafting Alamosa Online School employees — including the […]
Posted inColoradans, Crime and Courts, Education, Equity, News, Politics and Government
Rural Colorado students sue to block law demanding 26 schools shed their Native American mascots
A lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court challenges the constitutionality of a new Colorado law requiring public schools to get rid of Native American mascots, logos and imagery by next summer or face massive fines. In its opening salvo, the lawsuit suggests that a law that similarly forbade the use of the name […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Education, News
Colorado kids are floundering in math, a “crisis” that may add up to trouble for tomorrow’s workforce
Colorado students tumbled further behind in math as the pandemic closed schools and learning went largely virtual, according to a new analysis of this year’s state assessments results. A new report from the Keystone Policy Center, a nonprofit research group, found that math test scores plummeted for many students across the state, falling at an […]