Math and Science Leadership Academy

Channel 9 Story

I am so excited that the DPS staff has recommended our school for approval by the Board of Ed. next week. Our team of teachers has worked hard for the last 9 months to develop a school that reflects the needs of our students today, and in the future. I cannot say enough about Lori Nazaremo as a teacher leader, and the rest of our teachers that contributed and helped to design the model.

Our school will be teacher-led, and focus on math and science with a technology infusion housed at Rishel. We will operate in collaboration with parents and students- allowing all members of our school community to serve as leaders.

We wanted to develop a traditional public school that accepts ALL students, and gives them the tools that they will need to succeed in a 21st century global economy.

DCTA is willing and anxious to take on the challenge of putting our beliefs into practice for kids. We hope that the business community and foundations will embrace us, and be willing to work together so that our students can succeed.

p.s. Thanks to CEA, NEA, and our TURN colleagues for their support, and guidance!

Palin as President

Think about it... Palin's wardrobe allowance would educate a classroom of 23 students for a year in Colorado. We need to "CHANGE" this!

For your enjoyment check out Sarah Palin as President by clicking here. Very amusing!

PSP Committee

No, it's not about video games...

I was appointed by President Van Roekel to the NEA's Professional Standards and Practice Committee, and am spending the weekend in DC at our national headquarters. Our charge is to look at authentic student/ school accountability systems, online education, and teacher evaluations. I'm joined by 14 educators from across the country.

We have spent the day looking at online education through public schools, charters, for profit and nonprofit companies, distance learning etc. As we were examining policy and practice across the country, we had many rich conversations. Some topics covered were the lack of access for students and teachers to technology, lack of training, and the need to change the ways schools "work" in order to adapt to the needs of the 21st century and beyond.

Also discussed were student and school accountability systems. We learned about the work being done in NJ, VA, AR, WY, and IA. I shared information regarding DPS's School Performance Framework, the P20 Council, and CDE Standards revisions.

An analogy on student assessment from Alan Young of the DesMoines Education Association, "Does a doctor have to take all of your blood to test it, or just a sample?"

DCTA Math and Science Leadership Academy

Tonight, DCTA had the opportunity to present our Math and Science Leadership Academy to the Board of Education. We have spent the last 8 months talking to students, parents, and community members to help inform the design of our school. Over 500 parents, community/business leaders, and elected officials have signed a petition of support of our DPS Innovation School.


Why does the teachers union want to start a school?
We want to put our words into action. We want to demonstrate that collaboration between parents and teachers makes the difference for kids. Most importantly, we want to push our students to become the next leaders of the global society.


Thanks to Lori Nazareno (our teacher leader!), Julie Variot, Elaine Giromini, Kathy Koralewski, Linda Barker, and our Advisory Board. A special thanks to our union colleages at CEA, NEA, and TURN.

TURN meeting

After attending the TURN meeting this weekend, I am back and reinvigorated. We spent a lot of time talking about successful innovation led by teachers unions across the country including Los Angeles, Boston, Westerly (RI), and Milwaukee to name a few. It is exciting to see districts that trust their teachers to allow them to implement "reform without permission." In Denver, we still have schools where teachers are judged by the posters on their walls... imagine if we allowed to focus more on actual instruction instead of the poster checklist!

Please click on the following link for a great article (Short on Power, Long on Responsibility) from Richard Ingersoll from UPenn, and has done extensive studies on teacher retention.

Politics in the classroom...

Many of you know that I try extra hard to keep my kids out of the political spotlight, but this story is too good to keep to myself...

One of my twins (6 yrs. old; first grade) was really sad when he came home from school today. It seems that another boy in his class told him he was "stupid." I asked why the boy would say something like that, and my son was so upset. He told me that the boy "was just mad 'cause I won't vote for McCain... I'm only voting for Obama!"

I KNOW my son is brilliant!
(too bad he's not old enough to vote)

Agreement is ratified.

Our Agreement was ratified this evening as follows:

There were 1877 total votes cast.
Accept: 1454 (77.5%)
Reject: 423 (22.5%)
Abstentions: 1


As I was answering press calls tonight, I was asked, "Aren't you relieved?"... Yes and No.

Yes, I do believe that this is the best agreement that we could get for our members, and know that our team worked really hard.

No, the hard work begins in its implementation. We still have a lot of work to do, and will begin training our leaders this Friday on the new provisions of the Agreement.

Our goal is simple; increase student achievement. Now, we have some meaningful vehicles to discuss and collaborate on strategies to make that happen through planning, professional development, and school culture. We have an opportunity to pave a new path in Colorado for teacher induction, mentoring, and support.

This round of negotiations was the most grueling I've ever been through. Hopefully, implementation will be a much smoother ride.