To best train and support school leaders in their evolving roles, they require high-quality preparation and in-service pipelines that both address the changing demands on their positions and acknowledge the cascading effects that well-prepared leaders have on both student outcomes and in school culture and retention. Including school leaders in…

This policy study traces the history of school finance in Colorado over four and a half decades and describes how the available levers of direct democracy in the state have led to a seemingly insurmountable political logjam that is restricting budgets for all essential government services. Precollegiate education is particularly affected as…

Students, teachers, and school leaders are seeking flexibility and supports to enable powerful, personalized learning experiences both inside and outside of the traditional classroom. In personalized learning, instruction is tailored to each student's strengths, needs, and interests--including enabling student voice and choice in what, how, when,…

Caught between extraordinary public expectations and relatively modest constitutional authority, U.S. presidents historically have fashioned all sorts of mechanisms--executive orders, proclamations, memoranda--by which to move their objectives forward. William Howell asserts that under President Barack Obama's administration, presidential…

This report provides six mini-case studies of higher education policy reforms enacted in other states, exploring the important role that state policy leadership played in developing, promoting, and implementing these policies aimed at improving higher education outcomes, and discussing the relevance of each reform effort for California. This…

This case history of the Colorado Study of Learning Disabilities illustrates a variety of functions an evaluation study may serve for policy shapers at the state level. The impact of the initial evaluation is followed over two years, focusing on its use by influential participants in Colorado's special education policy-shaping community. (BW)

This article analyzes the process and effects of changing Colorado's special education category of "significant identifiable emotional or behavior disorder" to "significant identifiable emotional disorder." The article reviews environmental forces precipitating definitional change, various opinions, the legislative decision,…

Colorado's Public School Finance Act of 1988 directed all public school districts to implement state goals for improving achievement, graduation, and attendance rates. Districts and individual schools were required to develop accountability committees involving parents, staff, students, and community members in planning and evaluating school and…

When Colorado's Tenure Reform Bill, House Bill 1159, was signed into law, the work of teachers was not significantly changed. However, the law did make some significant inroads in the work of administrators and streamlined the due process accorded to teachers in the event that dismissal becomes necessary. This paper addresses whether the…

Colorado's voucher law was declared unconstitutional by the Colorado Supreme Court on June 28, 2004. Voucher supporters have begun drafting revised legislation designed to address the legal problem. This article calls into question the key financial claim of revenue neutrality--a claim that was central to the promotion and passage of the departing…

Educators from five states describe how state department initiatives and state legislation have affected staff development, noting how staff developers have influenced and responded to those efforts. (Author/SM)

While Colorado politics is in a state of flux, education has consistently maintained a position of prime importance and concern in the State. Public elementary and second education in Colorado is the most expensive governmental service provided by State and local government. This report examines Colorado's socioeconomic and political conditions…

A bill was introduced in the Colorado House of Representatives dealing with provisions for a written employment performance evaluation requirement in conjunction with a teacher dismissal provision based on performance evaluation. This paper reviews the major evaluation concepts introduced into the legislative process (which were based on the…

Examines outcomes associated with enactment of Colorado's Second Chance Pilot Program for high school dropouts. The satisfaction reported by 396 Second Chance students and the waiting lists for program enrollment demonstrate the potential for recovering students who have dropped out of school. Limitations of the program are discussed. (SLD)