Policy Guide Supporting Student-centered Learning

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1 Policy Guide 2015 The Colorado Education Association s commitment to quality public schools requires that we advocate for issues vital to children and public education. It is our responsibility to work with the members of the Colorado General Assembly and other elected and appointed public officials to support studentcentered learning, ensure professional excellence and make economic investments in public education. For more than 135 years, our mission has been to promote quality public education and to advocate for the professional interests of public education employees teachers, support professionals and special service providers. Our commitment is that we will work collectively with all education stakeholders to provide the best public education for every student. Supporting Student-centered Learning Only a multi-dimensional public education system will meet the diverse needs of all Colorado students and their families and communities. Advancing this system requires a student-centered environment which educates the whole child and allows for individual experiences and interest to drive students learning opportunities. To address our commitment to student-centered learning, CEA supports: working collectively with all education stakeholders to provide the best education for every student; working to ensure that research, high quality student assessments, and training are in place to allow educators to use data-driven decision making in classroom instruction; working with teachers to replicate evidence-based, innovative instructional practice with documented outcomes across schools and districts; working with teachers to integrate formative assessment data into classroom instruction and advocate for the effective training for teachers in the use of formative assessment data; integrating the Colorado Growth Model into a systems approach to accountability and improvement that will help educators determine if students are on track to meet academic standards and achieve college and career readiness; ensuring that educators get training in implementing academic and postsecondary workforce readiness standards, using new state assessments, and implementing supports for student learning that engage students and ensure their success in school; creating programs demonstrated to provide students and public school employees access to technology resources and learning environments that support the delivery of 21 st Century skills necessary to successfully compete in the global economy; combining various types of data to create rich analyses of student learning; eliminating negative consequences associated with student results of statewide and district assessments, including PARCC and CMAS, until districts have the resources and the time to effectively implement the Colorado Academic standards, until the assessments have been

2 proven to be valid, reliable, and in the best interests of children, and until the appropriate technology is in place to prepare students and execute the assessments; allowing parents to opt their children out of taking the statewide assessment without resulting in a negative score to the student, educator, school and district; increasing student instructional time and reducing the time educators spend preparing for and administering student assessments; reducing class sizes in all grades, with priority attention to grades K-3, as well as reducing the ratios of students assigned to the following school employees: counselors, nurses, social workers, psychologists and other public school employees who are assigned a specific case load of students; expanding distance learning partnerships that provide students with comprehensive educational opportunities while remaining in their current schools; providing intervention specialists to augment the work of the classroom teacher for students who demonstrate a learning deficiency; requiring and fully funding full-day kindergarten programs; expanding early childhood education programs taught by licensed teachers; deepening students learning opportunities through programs such as after-school programs, summer school, and online learning programs that complement the school day and provide enrichment that enhances student learning; increasing opportunities for students to participate in career and technical education programs; making college more affordable and reining in student lenders through stronger regulations; and strengthening local school district s abilities to be the sole authorizer for the approval, denial and renewal of charter school contracts. ranking public school employees in public documents or sources; and ranking schools, and the use of labels that brand a school with a letter grade or as failing or unsatisfactory. Professional Excellence Colorado teachers and education support professionals are deeply committed to every student s success. They provide the stable, nurturing, inspiring environment that makes it possible to teach each student and provide individual attention to each student s learning needs. We must change the way educators are recruited, trained, evaluated, supported and held accountable. To address our commitment to professional excellence, CEA supports: preparing teaching candidates in a meaningful way, including requiring every candidate to pass a rigorous, classroom-based performance assessment before being licensed to teach; ensuring that quality teachers are trained to be cooperating teachers and mentors and all candidates have the clinical preparation they need to teach; assisting local associations and districts in developing programs in which teachers mentor and evaluate their peers in order to help teachers succeed, increase teacher retention, assist teachers in improving their skills, and create career opportunities for teachers; working with higher education institutions to prepare candidates to teach in hard-to-staff schools through structured practice prior to full-time placement; recruiting a diverse teaching force to teach an increasingly more diverse student population, which will lead to increased graduation rates and greater postsecondary college and career readiness; using high quality evaluation systems that provide the tools educators need to tailor instruction, enhance their practice, and advance student learning; Increasing the emphasis professional practice has on a teacher s evaluation;

3 providing proven professional development, induction, and mentoring programs for public school employees; using peer assistance and review to provide more rigorous and comprehensive performance feedback; using student assessments as one of multiple measures for teacher evaluations, but only when statewide standards and assessments align; requiring all schools receiving public school finance funding, including charter schools and online programs, to hire teachers that have completed a high quality teacher preparation program; creating enhanced compensation structures that relate to a school district s educational objectives, are developed collaboratively with educators at the local level, and have a sustainable funding source; and expanding the eligibility criteria for the state s teacher loan forgiveness program; and creating state college/university tuition waivers for high school students entering teacher preparation programs. linking educator licensure and evaluations for the sole purpose of obtaining or renewing a teaching license; and new and existing state requirements that negatively impact teachers time and ability to instruct students. Economic Investment in Public Education Strategies All Students must get a quality education to prosper as adults and because today s students will be tomorrow s citizens and leaders in our communities, every Coloradan shares both the problem of Colorado s low economic investment in our public schools and the challenge of achieving sustainable funding for a quality, 21 st Century public education system. To address our commitment to investing in public education, CEA supports: engaging Coloradans in conversations about the need for sustainable education funding and forging community partnerships to attain sustainable funding; working for an adequate, equitable school finance system that will provide stable and sufficient revenue for districts to meet state standards, assessment, accountability, and evaluation expectations and educate all students including English learners, students living in poverty, and special needs students; adopting a modernized state tax system that meets education s needs and supports economic development, and modifications to TABOR and other revenue growth and spending restrictions which artificially limit education s financial resources; protecting the long-term solvency of the State Education Fund and the Constitutional spending requirements for public education; providing affordable access to higher education for all Colorado high school graduates, including undocumented students who attend Colorado high schools; continuing and expanding concurrent enrollment, early college, and fifth year programs that ease the transition from high school to higher education through the opportunity to take college courses in high school; optimizing the income generated by the lands and properties in the School Land Trust for the benefit of current and future Colorado public school students; providing funding for public pre K-12 capital construction to meet state and federal requirements and ensure all students have access to safe, modern school facilities; increasing state funding for school districts to offer preschool programs to all eligible at-risk children;

4 maintaining and increasing state funding for school breakfast and lunch programs and other programs that assist families in raising healthy children; requiring consistent financial transparency and accountability standards for all public schools, including charter schools and online schools; and using money on vetted researched-based programs to increase student achievement and educator quality. weakening public education funding through vouchers, private school tax credits, and privatization of any public education services; and funding essential ongoing public education programs with gifts, grants and donations. Safe Learning and Teaching Environments The Colorado Education Association believes that a safe and effective school climate is necessary for promoting educational excellence in our public schools. All students and education employees must be allowed to learn and work in an environment free of unauthorized guns and other deadly weapons. Further, ensuring a safe school environment requires a multi-level approach that includes developing and implementing routine assessments and review; maintaining communication with local first responders; training for staff on issues such as bullying and harassment prevention; ensuring availability of qualified school personnel to recognize and identity warning signs of potentially problematic or violent behavior; and observing gun safety policies. CEA supports: including suicide prevention, alertness, intervention, and postvention programs in options for educator preparation programs, licensure, and renewal as well as professional development for all employees. strengthening programs and policies that support and promote student and school safety; banning all weapons from school property, facilities, vehicles, and school activities regardless of where they are conducted, except when carried by law enforcement or trained School Resource Officers; advocating for severe penalties for criminal actions involving guns and other deadly weapons in school settings, including excluding individuals from school who bring guns or deadly weapons to school and school grounds until undergoing mandatory prescribed interventions; advocating for state resources and training to assist in the development and implementation of school safety crisis prevention/awareness plans; assisting school districts in utilizing trained School Resource Officers when deemed appropriate; training for educators and school staff in bullying prevention, school safety, cultural competence, positive behavioral supports, and appropriate classroom management; expanding and implementing peer mediation programs where appropriate to minimized conflict and harmful behavior; meeting the developmental needs of all students by increasing the presence of comprehensive elementary and secondary school counseling and other pupil services, including school psychologists, counselors and social workers and school-based student services; advocating for gun safety policies including requiring background checks for every gun purchase in Colorado, including private sales and gun shows; and increasing availability and access to community-based mental health services that benefit students and their families. preventing tragedies through unproven and ineffective methods such as deputizing staff or volunteers.

5 Respecting School Employees Strategies The Colorado Education Association advocates for increased salaries, benefits, and working conditions for all education employees. We advocate for basic rights in collective bargaining and due process for all education employees. To address our commitment to school employees, CEA supports: maintaining and improving due process for K-12 teachers and obtaining due process all other licensed school personnel; obtaining due process for pre K-12 public education support professionals; strengthening the ability of education employees to bargain collectively through a statewide collective bargaining law with binding arbitration; developing attractive compensation plans, which include adequate salary and benefits, to attract and retain well-qualified employees to deliver high quality educational services; providing adequate and affordable health insurance for teachers and education support professionals; and maintaining the financial stability of school district employees retirement funds through PERA. restricting or eliminating employees use of payroll deduction for Association dues or political contributions; and privatizing public school jobs.