2024-05-21T02:52:15+00:00https://www.chalkbeat.org/arc/outboundfeeds/rss/author/XUN6SPATYBGO5FOYP4VLEJEHJQ/2024-05-16T23:29:27+00:002024-05-16T23:29:27+00:00<p><i>Sign up for&nbsp;</i><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/subscribe"><i>Chalkbeat Colorado’s free daily newsletter</i></a><i>&nbsp;to get the latest reporting from us, plus curated news from other Colorado outlets, delivered to your inbox.</i></p><p>A Jeffco school will dramatically scale back a program for older students with dyslexia next year, upsetting parents who say the unique offering has made a profound difference for their children.</p><p>Bright MINDS <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2022/5/11/23067136/jeffco-bright-minds-colorado-dyslexia-middle-high-school-students/">launched at Alameda International Junior/Senior High School</a> in Lakewood three years ago. It’s on the chopping block now because of “inadequate funding and staffing shortages” and will “be dissolved” after this school year, according to a letter sent to participating families last week.</p><p>For participating families, including some who commute from outside the district, the news means the end of what’s been a golden needle in a haystack: a comprehensive public school program for students in middle and high school who have dyslexia.</p><p>Bright MINDS students will still get some reading intervention next year though much less than most get now. The letter said seventh- and eighth-graders will get only one period of intervention every other day next year, down from two periods daily this year. Other components of Bright MINDS, including sessions to help students with planning and time management, will be discontinued.</p><p>Multiple parents said a tense meeting with school administrators on Tuesday left them confused about the rationale for the cuts. They also expressed frustration that the decision has come so close to the end of the school year at a time when school choice decisions are hard to reverse.</p><p>In response to Chalkbeat’s questions about the Bright MINDS cut Thursday, a district spokesperson said she’d left a message for the school’s principal, Susie Van Scoyk, to understand the school’s “budgeting choice.”</p><p>“Schools have the autonomy through their budgets to determine the staffing and services that are needed to serve their school community,” the spokesperson said by email.</p><p>Van Scoyk told Chalkbeat by email Thursday that her team was working on a statement that would not be ready until early next week, citing the school’s graduation ceremony on Friday.</p><p>This year, Bright MINDS — the second part of which stands for Multisensory Intensive Dyslexia Support — serves about 20 students in seventh, eighth, and ninth grades. Most receive intensive daily reading instruction plus help with skills like planning and organization, since conditions such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder often co-occur with dyslexia. In addition, Bright MINDS teachers join their students in core classes to ensure they’re getting the help they need to absorb the content.</p><p>The demise of Bright MINDS, just three years after it began, comes amid <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/8/24/23844851/jeffco-secondary-school-closure-recommendations-arvada-coal-creek-declining-enrollment/" target="_blank">ongoing budget woes</a> in Jeffco as enrollment declines. School officials originally envisioned expanding the program from grades 7-8 to students in grades 7-12. They also hoped Bright MINDS could serve as a model for other schools across Colorado. Former Jeffco Superintendent Jason Glass, who helped spearhead the program, left the district in 2020.</p><p>While the state has made <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2022/11/2/23435686/colorado-science-of-reading-curriculum-changes-literacy-denver-adams12-eagle/">several policy changes in recent years</a> focused on better serving elementary students with reading struggles, older students have limited options unless their families can afford pricey private schools or specialized tutors. Students who can’t read proficiently are at greater risk of dropping out, earning less as adults, and becoming involved in the criminal justice system.</p><p>Brett Gallegos said Bright MINDS changed his son’s life.</p><p>Before the ninth grader began attending three years ago, “He was literally in a ball crying when he would come home from school because he felt so worthless,” Gallegos said.</p><p>But Bright MINDS teachers stuck with his son “through thick and thin,” he said.</p><p>Recently, his son won an award for making the honor roll, said Gallegos: “It’s a night and day difference.”</p><p>It’s unclear how much Bright MINDS costs annually, but it’s primarily run by two teachers and a school psychologist. The 76,000-student district’s proposed annual budget next year is nearly $1 billion. Maintaining mental health staffing levels, increasing substitute teacher pay, and ensuring that elementary schools with certain special education programs have assistant principals are among the district’s budget priorities.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/bPyK067ui9fdOdLLKzMD1a-J5ks=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/DYPT6BS4FNAR5K7IS22TWVFKMM.jpg" alt="Bright MINDS students, along with reading Interventionist Sarah Richards, right, and Alameda assistant principal Andrea Arguello take a brain break during a session held in 2022. " height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Bright MINDS students, along with reading Interventionist Sarah Richards, right, and Alameda assistant principal Andrea Arguello take a brain break during a session held in 2022. </figcaption></figure><p>Stephanie Bobian said her daughter called her from school crying when she learned what would happen to Bright MINDS. Bobian said the news was devastating, both because of her daughter’s reaction and because she felt defeated after ”how hard I worked as a parent to find something like this for my child.”</p><p>After her daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia in fourth grade, Bobian began a long and desperate search for help. She didn’t have money for $80-an-hour tutoring sessions, but she eventually heard about Bright MINDS through an advocacy group for children with dyslexia.</p><p>“To be able to find something like that in a public school … it’s amazing,” she said. “It’s all in one place and free.”</p><p>The Bobians’ home high school is Green Mountain, about five miles away from Alameda International. But the commute is worth it because Bright MINDS has helped her daughter, Bobian said. The girl, who also has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, was getting Cs and Ds before she started in the program last year.</p><p>“She probably could barely read at a third grade level in eighth grade,” said Bobian.</p><p>Today, she’s reading almost at grade level and — like Gallegos’ son — making the honor roll.</p><p>“She never thought she could be a good student,” said Bobian. “She’s confident now, too.”</p><p>Bobian’s younger daughter is in second grade and also has dyslexia. Bobian had hoped to send her to Bright MINDS when the time came. Now, that possibility appears to be off the table.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/05/16/jeffco-school-district-will-cut-dyslexia-program-for-older-students/Ann SchimkeRJ Sangosti / The Denver Post2024-04-26T15:08:45+00:002024-05-16T22:00:33+00:00<p><i>Sign up for </i><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/subscribe"><i>Chalkbeat Colorado’s free daily newsletter</i></a><i> to get the latest reporting from us, plus curated news from other Colorado outlets, delivered to your inbox.</i></p><p>Yajaira Fuentes-Tauber majored in biology at college and planned to go to medical school. But a stop-gap job teaching science in Texas changed the course of her career.</p><p>“I realized that while I liked medicine, I loved teaching,” she said.</p><p>Today, Fuentes-Tauber teaches biology at Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins, Colorado, and is passionate about increasing access to STEM education and empowering students to become change agents.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/SBEdHmRYzfFMJ5-UK9LBfWlOgAs=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/ZSMKYFVU6BAEDB3DX5QO6UCRJI.jpg" alt="Yajaira Fuentes-Tauber is a science teacher at Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Yajaira Fuentes-Tauber is a science teacher at Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins.</figcaption></figure><p>Her students have published books about river otters and created “bee hotels” out of reclaimed wood.</p><p>Fuentes-Tauber was named 2023 Earth Science Teacher of the Year by the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists Foundation and was also one of three Colorado science teachers named state finalists in the 2022-23 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.</p><p>Fuentes-Tauber talked to Chalkbeat about her initial misconceptions about teaching, how her students are improving watershed health, and what she does to make ocean health relevant to students in a land-locked state.</p><p><i>This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.</i></p><h3>Was there a moment when you decided to become a teacher?</h3><p>I graduated from college early and needed something to do while my husband, who had served in the Coast Guard, finished his bachelor’s degree.</p><p>My first job was at Rivera High School in Brownsville, Texas, an area with high levels of poverty and teacher shortages. With a week before students were back in the classroom, the principal had to take a leap of faith in offering me a full-time science teaching position, which included a concurrent alternative teaching certification program.</p><p>I planned to pursue a medical degree, but after teaching for one semester, I decided to change careers and pursue a master’s degree in science education and then a doctorate of education.</p><h3>How did your own experience in school influence your approach to teaching?</h3><p>As a Hispanic, Latina, English learner, and first in my family to graduate from high school, I didn’t truly experience representation in the classroom. Many teachers didn’t look like me or have the same socioeconomic status or immigration background as I did. A number of teachers in our district were part of Teach for America and they were not representative of our school ethnic groups, nor did they speak Spanish.</p><p>The factors that shape my identity have been key in bringing a different perspective to my own teaching practices. I am passionate about advancing access to STEM education because I believe that through equity, diversity, and inclusion, students can pursue their interests regardless of their identity. Much like our school motto I believe that the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.</p><h3>Tell us about a favorite lesson to teach. Where did the idea come from?</h3><p>One of my favorite lessons is where students explore the impact of environmental changes through the lens of ocean acidification.</p><p>Students use different color beads to represent chemicals involved in the process that causes oceans to become acidic. The activity incorporates the chemistry behind ocean acidification to help students see how this process reduces the chemical compound needed to form shells and skeletons.</p><p>Ocean acidification and sea levels is something that I had background on, having taught for eight out of 17 years in South Texas, but to my current students exploring these topics when they live in a landlocked state felt irrelevant. I wanted to raise awareness about the interconnectedness of our ecosystems. As future leaders, they need to understand how our actions impact others miles away and how changes occurring miles away have the potential to impact our community.</p><p>With the loss of coral reefs, which provide coastal protection during storms, ecotourism, and habitat for diverse species, people may migrate to inland communities. This can impact the housing market, jobs, greenhouse emissions, and the transmission rates of communicable diseases. As future voters, they are most struck by considering how a shift in population could impact the electoral college, as the number of votes is dependent on a state’s population.</p><h3>What is the Caring for Our Watershed contest?</h3><p><a href="https://caringforourwatersheds.com/">Caring for Our Watershed</a> is an international program that empowers students to take action to improve the health of their local watershed. One of the regional contests takes place in Northern Colorado, where a panel of judges selects proposals for funding by organization’s sponsors</p><p>Our students focus on The Big Thompson and the Cache la Poudre River Watershed in developing their proposals. Most recently, we had a team that <a href="https://bit.ly/491pCTQ" target="_blank">wrote and illustrated</a> a book about river otters that was printed and read at local elementary schools.</p><p>Another project selected for funding included a student making “bee hotels” using reclaimed wood to increase habitats for bees as they are crucial in maintaining a healthy watershed.</p><p>I love that this program allows students to become agents of change while still in high school. Over seven years, students have received over $13,000 in awards and we’ve received matching funds.</p><h3>Tell us about a memorable time — good or bad — when contact with a student’s family changed your perspective or approach.</h3><p>It has been bittersweet to learn about issues impacting students and their families in ways that are not visible or even recorded by schools. On the one hand, it is amazing that they see me as a trusted adult, and on the other hand, I’m struck by the weight of their burdens.</p><p>Learning about issues such as immigration status and languages spoken at home has prompted me to take a more inclusive approach to teaching. I integrate opportunities for “windows and mirrors” to ensure that I create a supportive environment where all students feel valued.</p><p>For example, when students explore the expansion of businesses in undeveloped areas with native species, they take into consideration the many perspectives that stakeholders bring to the table. Some may see themselves in the “mirror” if they have family members who work in construction, while providing a “window” for students who do not share the same perspective.</p><h3>What was the biggest misconception that you initially brought to teaching?</h3><p>When I intended to go to medical school, teaching was initially seen as a brief detour to fill a time gap in my plans. In our community, becoming a teacher was often perceived as an easy career path, in which you have an 8-hour-a-day job with paid holidays and paid summers off.</p><p>Once in the classroom, I quickly realized that teaching is far from an easy task and our commitment goes beyond contract times, not to mention summers are not really paid time off. Yet despite this initial misconception, I loved the challenge. I loved being part of the students’ journey to self-discovery and educational empowerment. My immediate family has always valued education and they were supportive.</p><h3>What are you reading for enjoyment?</h3><p>The last book I read for a parent book club was “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bright-Side-Going-Dark-ebook/dp/B07WNHLD4Q">The Bright Side of Going Dark</a>” by Kelly Harms, and I’m waiting to get the next book for our club: “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Survivors-Guide-Family-Happiness/dp/1503939103">The Survivor’s Guide to Family Happiness</a>” by Maddie Dawson. I’m also waiting for “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Imperiled-Earth-Archaeology-History-ebook/dp/B0C76VCJ46">Understanding Imperiled Earth</a>” by Todd J. Braje.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/04/26/colorado-science-teacher-pushes-access-to-stem-education/Ann SchimkeIndie Studios LLC2024-05-13T22:54:32+00:002024-05-15T20:02:33+00:00<p><i>Sign up for </i><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/subscribe"><i>Chalkbeat Colorado’s free daily newsletter</i></a><i> to get the latest reporting from us, plus curated news from other Colorado outlets, delivered to your inbox.</i></p><p>Fourteen preschoolers sang “Eggs, larva, pupa, adults,” on a recent morning, curling up on the grass, wriggling around like caterpillars, lying still, and then flapping their arms in search of wildflowers.</p><p>The song, along with redwing blackbird calls and a bit of traffic noise, was the soundtrack of their morning circle, which kicked off near a wetland in southeast Denver.</p><p>The children weren’t on a field trip. They were attending preschool outside like they always do, under the supervision of teachers from Nature School Cooperative. It was early May and, although the 3- and 4-year-olds didn’t know it, a momentous week for schools like theirs.</p><p>Colorado lawmakers were <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb24-078">about to pass a bill</a> that would allow outdoor preschools — sometimes called forest schools — to be recognized with state child care licenses adapted to their format.</p><p>Advocates say the <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2018/6/5/21105156/no-walls-forest-preschools-let-kids-run-free-but-can-they-change-to-reach-diverse-families/">great outdoors is an ideal classroom</a>, giving young children the chance to move freely, learn about the natural world, and assess risks and solve problems in a way indoor classrooms don’t allow. They say licensing will open the programs to a wider swath of families by unlocking public dollars available through Colorado’s universal preschool and child care subsidy programs.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/UedwG_j_9V34476qifBHr0dH8HU=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/FD36GH5BNBFAFFTRSZGPRCIQVQ.jpg" alt="A child at Nature School Cooperative explores in southeast Denver. " height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>A child at Nature School Cooperative explores in southeast Denver. </figcaption></figure><p>Candace Johnson, whose two children attend Nature School Cooperative five days a week, said the school is a big expense, but worth it because her kids get so much out of it, even on cold, snowy days</p><p>She said it would be “invaluable” if the schools could be licensed and access funds to cut costs for parents.</p><p>Gov. Jared Polis is expected to sign the bill, which received support from some Republicans, into law in the next few weeks. Colorado will then become the second state after Washington to license outdoor preschools. State officials still have to hammer out detailed rules, so it will be a year or two before Colorado begins handing out licenses.</p><p>In the meantime, advocates are celebrating the creation of a clear, state-approved pathway for outdoor preschools.</p><p>“We are just very excited and thankful,” said Jennifer Kollerup, who heads the Colorado Collective for Nature-Based Early Education.</p><p>Ryan Pleune, who co-owns Nature School Cooperative, said he was thrilled when lawmakers passed the bill. He hopes someday his program can be tuition-free for every family.</p><h2>State rules aren’t tailored to outdoor preschools</h2><p>Matt Hebard cried when he was testifying in support of the outdoor preschool bill in February.</p><p>He began pushing for state recognition for outdoor preschools more than a decade ago, when he worked for what was then Colorado’s Office of Early Childhood and is now the Department of Early Childhood.</p><p>“It just didn’t really get a whole lot of traction,” said Hebard, who now lives in Alaska.</p><p>In 2020 Hebard founded Denver Forest School, an outdoor school that serves more than two-dozen children ages 2 to 7 at Bluff Lake Nature Center on the city’s eastern edge.</p><p>It’s one of about 45 outdoor early childhood programs in Colorado, according to Kollerup. Some, called hybrid programs, operate in a building part of the time and outdoors part of the time and have a traditional child care license.</p><p>Others operate entirely outdoors and follow rules that make them “license exempt” — for example, by having only four children in the group, requiring parents stay for the session, or focusing on a single skill the way a gymnastics class does.</p><p>But these arrangements are more or less workarounds since the highly regulated child care licensing system was never designed for outdoor preschools. And since license-exempt programs aren’t generally eligible for public funding, most families have to pay full tuition.</p><p>In Washington, which began licensing outdoor preschools in 2019, 17 such programs are licensed. Together, they have space for about 330 children, and 57 children enrolled in them receive state child care subsidies, according to a spokesman for the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/3PVJAW5rIi9BpcC2frrGii3HW88=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/UJFALMOM3VHCLKSBCL267FSBDE.jpg" alt="A child holds an insect in their palm at Nature School Cooperative." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>A child holds an insect in their palm at Nature School Cooperative.</figcaption></figure><p>Colorado officials say new rules for hybrid programs and part-day outdoor programs will be finalized by the end of 2024, with licenses available in early 2025. Licenses for full-day outdoor programs will take until 2026, in part because rules will be customized based on each program’s geographic location and features. The outdoor preschool bill includes $260,000 for 2024-25 for new licensing specialists who will focus on full-day outdoor preschool programs.</p><p>“This legislation actually gives us that staffing and ability to do those site-specific risk-benefit analysis and risk mitigation plans,” said Carin Rosa, director of the licensing division at the Colorado Department of Early Childhood.</p><p>The ability to get licensed could bring a variety of benefits to outdoor preschools, including allowing them to enroll more children, extend their hours, and serve more low-income and working families. Licenses may also grant more flexibility in what children can do, potentially allowing activities like tree-climbing, using sharp tools, or gathering around a fire pit.</p><p>Although some parents worry their kids will end up miserable in bad weather — with cold hands or wet feet — outdoor educators say with the right gear and planning, that rarely happens.</p><h2>Parents see the benefits of outdoor schools</h2><p>Johnson grew up in Houston, a city she remembers as full of concrete. Even when her family moved to Minnesota, aside from fishing once in a while, they didn’t do outdoorsy things. Her parents spent most of their time working.</p><p>“We never did vacations, we never went to cabins — that just wasn’t something that we did,” she said.</p><p>Johnson, who is Black, wanted to make sure her children felt at home in the outdoors in a way she never did growing up. Nature School Cooperative provides that, giving her 4-year-old and almost-3-year-old the chance to play in streams, jump off rocks, and develop resilience to whatever the day throws at them.</p><p>“This school goes above and beyond to make it an inclusive space and make people feel it’s for them,” she said.</p><p>The school’s ethos has rubbed off on Johnson. She’ll sometimes use the “deers ears” hand gesture to get her children’s attention when an argument is brewing. She’s also let go of her need for control in every situation, taking “a leap of faith that they can handle things that are challenging.”</p><p>Zac Sigl’s 3-year-old son Leonardo attends Nature School Cooperative one half-day a week and a traditional preschool run by the Denver school district the other four days.</p><p>Outdoor preschool is his favorite — he likes pulling on his yellow rain boots, digging in the dirt, and climbing anything he can. Sigl said they tried gymnastics, but Leonardo couldn’t focus on it and made a game of running away from the class.</p><p>That doesn’t happen when he’s at outdoor school. In fact, teachers there told Sigl that Leonardo is a natural leader, staying with the group and helping other children.</p><p>“Every single time after picking him up he’s on cloud nine,” Sigl said.</p><p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/authors/ann-schimke/"><i>Ann Schimke</i></a><i> is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/05/13/outdoor-preschool-license-bill-unlocks-public-money/Ann SchimkeImage courtesy of Nature School Cooperative2024-05-10T01:05:43+00:002024-05-10T18:34:13+00:00<p><i>Sign up for our </i><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/beyond-high-school"><i>free monthly newsletter Beyond High School</i></a><i> to get the latest news about college and career paths for Colorado’s high school grads.</i></p><p>On a windy afternoon this week, students on Denver’s Auraria Campus snapped pre-graduation pictures and walked to finals. Most seemed to pay little attention to the quiet encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters that has taken over the quad.</p><p>Over the last two weeks, the encampment has grown into the largest of any of its kind on a Colorado university campus, with dozens of tents and <a href="https://www.westword.com/news/timeline-auraria-campus-pro-palestine-encampment-protests-20585024">at times holding up to a thousand protesters</a>. But the setting differs from the recent protests at private colleges that have attracted the most attention nationally.</p><p>The public campus that houses Metropolitan State University of Denver, the University of Colorado Denver, and the Community College of Denver is largely composed of commuter students who are from low-income backgrounds, which stands in contrast to private campuses with the most high-profile protests, such as Columbia University in New York City.</p><p>The campus protesters against the Israel-Hamas war and U.S. involvement in it are part of a nationwide movement of students who have called for universities to divest from any corporations operating in Israel, among other demands. But as at other colleges, some Jewish students say the encampment should be taken down and that the protest has disturbed the climate on campus and made them feel less safe.</p><p>The protests have put university administrators in the uncomfortable position of attempting to balance student safety and free speech.</p><p>While the Auraria encampment has been mostly quiet, demonstrators have participated in various disruptions such as taking over the student union. The protests even resulted in arrests when the camp first started. Students have also <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/protestors-denvers-auraria-campus-threaten-disrupt-commencement-ceremonies/">considered disrupting this week’s graduation ceremonies</a>.</p><p>It’s caused discord on one of Colorado’s most diverse public campuses. And not all who are involved in the encampment are students.</p><p>Here are five stories from students, some who attend the colleges and some who go to college online, about what they think about the protests.</p><h2>Encampment gives pro-Palestinian student organizer hope</h2><p>Tom Chaney, 23, sat at the edge of the MSU Denver quad keeping a watchful eye over the encampment, which is a mix of students and community members. He’s been there since the encampment began about two weeks ago, and he keeps busy with camp logistics.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/Po1T-WIM9i6G9BYfY2DX4nuNy4c=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/47J6TY26HZATZAWR2EHERUJQ64.jpg" alt="Tom Chaney, a communications major at Metropolitan State University of Denver, says students' response to the pro-Palestinian encampment has given the protest strength. " height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Tom Chaney, a communications major at Metropolitan State University of Denver, says students' response to the pro-Palestinian encampment has given the protest strength. </figcaption></figure><p>A few people have come by and yelled at the participants or even vandalized the camp, including tipping over portable toilets. Other protesters say people have come into the encampment and taken down tents or yelled at them.</p><p>But Chaney said the majority of students and community members have shown support. While he keeps watch, some even take time to draw or write statements in chalk.</p><p>The encampment has grown from a handful of tents to taking over most of the quad, said Chaney, a communications major at MSU Denver.</p><p>Chaney has been a pro-Palestinian organizer for over two years. The encampment is a way to raise awareness about what people there have faced before the war and since it began, he said.</p><p>He knows that as a commuter campus where many students also work, any support they can show is meaningful.</p><p>“It’s really kept us strong,” Chaney said.</p><h2>Jewish student is on high alert amid protest</h2><p>Morgan Shepherd, a junior at MSU Denver, has become more cautious over the last few weeks. He’s avoided protesters and given their encampment a wide berth when he visits the nearby Tivoli Student Union.</p><p>“I very much keep my head on a swivel,” he said. “It’s not the greatest situation.”</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/hJQZz6uMM8vdY5uCllRqu663oZg=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/2V42A7XAPBCCFCCOR7BRJWXF24.jpg" alt="Morgan Shepherd, a junior at MSU Denver who is Jewish, has tried to steer clear of the pro-Palestinian encampment. " height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Morgan Shepherd, a junior at MSU Denver who is Jewish, has tried to steer clear of the pro-Palestinian encampment. </figcaption></figure><p>Shepherd, who is Jewish, doesn’t want to get caught in the middle of a confrontation between police and protesters, or stuck in a building that has been locked down. Reminders of the protest are everywhere — in sidewalk chalk messages around campus, on posters, and in the constant stream of text alerts on his phone.</p><p>Shepherd, a 20-year-old economics major from Aurora, views some of the protest slogans and imagery as antisemitic, including posters calling for intifada, an Arabic word for uprising. He said a previous intifada entailed years of suicide bombings that killed Israeli civilians. To him, the word is a battle cry for revolution against Israel.</p><p>“It’s just the scale of what they’re calling for that is more astonishing than anything,” he said.</p><p>Shepherd has never been to Israel, but has family there. One of his aunt’s relatives, an Israeli soldier, was captured during the fighting in Gaza after Oct. 7.</p><p>“They think he’s dead,” said Shepherd.</p><h2>One student stresses privilege of ability to protest</h2><p>Lucia Feast, 20, took a mid-morning final on Wednesday and then was back in the encampment about an hour later.</p><p>A Gender, Women and Sexualities studies major at MSU Denver, Feast felt drawn to the protest because not everyone has the privilege to participate, she said. She feels a responsibility to speak out about the human rights issues in Gaza that stem from the war. She said she couldn’t idly standby as tens of thousands were killed and millions more were displaced.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/gulKrv8LsDAm6ChA8woj96wbdm0=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/EZK3SCGGGBF7JOZI4S5GTROBOE.jpg" alt="Lucia Feast outside the Auraria Campus encampment. Feast says she wants to use the privilege that she has to protest to advocate on behalf of others. " height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Lucia Feast outside the Auraria Campus encampment. Feast says she wants to use the privilege that she has to protest to advocate on behalf of others. </figcaption></figure><p>“I have more space for personal risks than most people and I want to use that when I can,” Feast said.</p><p>The Auraria campus is also a place where oppression has happened in the past, she said, <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2024/03/06/auraria-campus-master-plan-/">including the displacement of the area’s residents</a>. That connection makes the Israel-Hamas war real for students, many who come from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds, said Feast, who is white like many of the protesters.</p><p>And the protesters’ call for financial transparency from the university is important because tax money and student tuition go directly to the institution, she said.</p><p>She said the politics of the war are long and complicated, but she wanted to help lend a voice for those who couldn’t speak out against the war.</p><p>“It became pretty clear what I’ve had to do and put on the line to support those people,” she said.</p><h2>‘People have absolutely no clue what Israel’s like’</h2><p>Sam, a senior at the University of Colorado Denver who asked that his last name not be used in order to protect his privacy, first interacted with pro-Palestinian protesters on the Auraria campus last fall. That’s when a group of them gathered in front of the Golda Meir House Museum, where Israel’s first prime minister lived for a time.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/FkjAu22cTtdAJRbfYvXnDvzvERA=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/JTH7X4TPLNDY7AI45DD25C2XTI.jpg" alt="Sam" height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Sam</figcaption></figure><p>When Sam and his friend held up an Israeli flag, some of the protesters yelled, “You’re going to burn in hell” and called them names, he said.</p><p>“This is a hate mob right here,” he recalled thinking. “I was just like, ‘What is going on?’”</p><p>Sam has not generally worried about his safety amid campus protests. But he does think the encampment he’s passed this spring on the way to and from his computer science classes should be cleared.</p><p>“Our school has a no-camping policy so it should be shut down,” he said.</p><p>Sam, who’s originally from Miami, transferred to the University of Colorado Denver from the University of Florida two years ago. He’ll graduate after he takes one class during the summer term.</p><p>Sam said protesters’ narrative about Israel doesn’t match with what he saw there during a high school trip and later during an internship in the country on airport navigation.</p><p>“It’s not some crazy country that’s oppressing people,” he said. “It made me realize that people have absolutely no clue what Israel’s like.”</p><h2>Pro-Palestinian camp influences student’s college plans</h2><p>Sky Childress, 18, moved to Denver less than a month ago. She saw a TikTok about the encampment and decided she needed to act.</p><p>She’s been a constant at the protest ever since. MSU Denver is a public campus where Childress felt she could participate. Childress attends Arizona State University online.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/mXLUcV3prvSSZfRBqsAVntHrRX4=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/XX7WTE4UBJGWBIUPMFJY3MIAQE.jpg" alt="Sky Childress on the Auraria Campus. Childress said the deaths of children during the Israel-Hamas war are what concern her the most. " height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Sky Childress on the Auraria Campus. Childress said the deaths of children during the Israel-Hamas war are what concern her the most. </figcaption></figure><p>Remote students don’t have many options to voice their opinions at campuses, she said.</p><p>“There’s people all across the country that are sympathetic to our cause, and I really liked that,” she said. “And I wasn’t even at my own school.”</p><p>She said protesters have tried to be thoughtful, such as donating uneaten food to homeless shelters. She also said even if the protesters plan disruptions, they’re mindful that some students are studying for finals at this time.</p><p>Childress said the encampment has resonated with her. But she also said that what she cares about most is that children are dying in large numbers in the war. Behind the encampment are over 10,000 white flags that signify the kids who have died in the conflict — symbols of the war’s toll that have fueled her commitment to the encampment.</p><p>With all she’s learned, she plans to enroll at one of the Auraria campus colleges in the future. And she’s watching closely how university presidents react to their demands before she makes a decision.</p><p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/authors/jason-gonzales"><i>Jason Gonzales</i></a><i> is a reporter covering higher education and the Colorado legislature. Chalkbeat Colorado partners with </i><a href="https://www.opencampusmedia.org/"><i>Open Campus</i></a><i> on higher education coverage. Contact Jason at </i><a href="mailto:jgonzales@chalkbeat.org"><i>jgonzales@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p><p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/authors/ann-schimke/"><i>Ann Schimke</i></a><i> is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/05/10/denver-community-college-campus-pro-palestinian-protest-splits-students/Jason Gonzales, Ann SchimkeJason Gonzales,Jason Gonzales2024-05-03T18:21:14+00:002024-05-07T16:35:19+00:00<p><i>Sign up for </i><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/subscribe"><i>Chalkbeat Colorado’s free daily newsletter</i></a><i> to get the latest reporting from us, plus curated news from other Colorado outlets, delivered to your inbox.</i></p><p>Two best friends sat at a small wooden table planning a party on the phone. Would they have cake or cupcakes? Both, they decided.</p><p>But the dessert, like the party, was pretend. The girls were 4 years old, the table was knee-high, and the phones were red plastic. The girls sometimes held them up to their ears and other times gleefully spun them like tops on picture books in front of them.</p><p>The girls are part of the inaugural class of preschoolers at High Plains Elementary School in the Cherry Creek school district southeast of Denver. Their classroom, tucked inside a portable building, is one of dozens added over the past year as part of the district’s dramatic preschool expansion.</p><p>Last school year, the 52,000-student district offered preschool classes at about half of its 44 elementary school campuses. Today, all but one offer preschool.</p><p>The district’s growing early childhood footprint has been pushed along by Colorado’s <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/8/23/23843133/colorado-universal-preschool-launch-first-day-auraria-early-learning/" target="_blank">new universal preschool program</a> and the availability of vacant space as elementary enrollment declines. It also fits with broader trends as public schools nationwide increasingly jump into the preschool game — particularly for 4-year-olds.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/uVaAxelVOLRwH3v6UHDNa3wTIJg=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/HXXOWBGO75DRTFSLCJUZ5BHJPY.JPG" alt="Two preschoolers at High Plains Elementary School spin their plastic phones while they plan a pretend party. " height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Two preschoolers at High Plains Elementary School spin their plastic phones while they plan a pretend party. </figcaption></figure><p>If the trend persists, “We’ll see what we kind of saw happen with kindergarten over the past 40 years, where kindergarten [became] institutionalized as a fixed part of elementary schools,” said Michael Little, assistant professor of educational evaluation and policy analysis at North Carolina State University.</p><p>Generally, experts say adding preschool in public schools is a good thing, expanding options for families, aligning preschool learning to what’s taught in higher grades, and easing the transition for incoming kindergartners. At the same time, they note that administrators and educators must ensure their preschool classrooms are developmentally appropriate, with lots of time for play.</p><p>“I don’t want to see preschool become this mini boot camp for third grade reading scores,” said Cathrine Aasen Floyd, director of ideal learning initiatives at the Trust For Learning. “Play isn’t a distraction from learning. Play is the vehicle for learning.”</p><p>Cherry Creek is one of four districts among the state’s 15 largest that offer preschool at more than 90% of elementary and K-8 buildings. The others are Aurora, Colorado Springs 11, and the Brighton-based District 27J. Two-thirds of the 15 largest districts also have at least one standalone early childhood center with preschool. Greeley-Evans, a growing district in northern Colorado, offers preschool at the smallest share of schools — 35%.</p><p>Cherry Creek spent $6 million to create or retrofit classrooms at 23 campuses for preschool this year. It will add preschool at the last elementary school by August. The district currently enrolls about 1,500 4-year-olds in preschool, and officials say most schools have room for more.</p><p>District leaders said expanding preschool districtwide was “the right thing to do” because district families strongly prefer schools near their homes.</p><p>“They want to go to their neighborhood school where they’re going to go to kindergarten, where they see their siblings go, where the other kids in the neighborhood are going,” said Scott Smith, the district’s chief financial and operating officer.</p><p>While the state’s universal preschool program influenced Cherry Creek to expand its preschool offerings, the district has not been entirely happy with the program. Cherry Creek is among <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/04/30/universal-preschool-school-district-lawsuit-dismissal-hearing/">six school districts suing the state</a>, alleging that the officials have broken funding promises and that the program’s administration has harmed special education students.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/zQIydNZIHqqEcHWkX9GiaG5gOw8=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/GHMGKSHYJBGJ7B4CYVP76Z5UVU.JPG" alt="Preschool students at High Plains Elementary School on Thurs., April 4, 2024 in Greenwood Village, Colorado." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Preschool students at High Plains Elementary School on Thurs., April 4, 2024 in Greenwood Village, Colorado.</figcaption></figure><h2>Families want easy access to preschool</h2><p>Dana Polun and her family live around the corner from High Plains Elementary. She can hear children on the playground from her backyard.</p><p>Her youngest son, 5-year-old Dexter, attends morning preschool classes at High Plains four days a week. That part of the day is free because of Colorado’s new universal preschool program, which covers the cost of part-day preschool for 4-year-olds statewide.</p><p>The Poluns, who also have a son in third grade at High Plains, pay for Dexter to stay at school for lunch and afternoon “enrichment.” He could have continued at the child care center he attended last year, but convenience was a key factor in the family’s decision.</p><p>“Why do two picks-up and two drop-offs, one of them walking, one of them driving?” she said.</p><p>She is pleased with Dexter’s experience this year. He’s recognizing letters and numbers, and can write his name. He’s met children from the neighborhood and sometimes her boys hug when they come across each other in the school hallway.</p><p>The only downside this year is that Dexter has no school on Fridays. That’s when Polun, who works for an interior designer, tries to arrange playdates with her son’s preschool friends. If that doesn’t pan out, her work on the computer is often accompanied by a constant refrain: “Mom, mom, mom, mom.”</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/FZsefRgYBohR_a4oC5mf55iK7Qs=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/UCUJSPCL6RFE7FZOMMCYSZGU4Q.jpg" alt="Rachel Rosen, who co-teaches preschool at High Plains Elementary School, reads a book about a mouse who travels into outer space. " height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Rachel Rosen, who co-teaches preschool at High Plains Elementary School, reads a book about a mouse who travels into outer space. </figcaption></figure><h2>Colorado tracks national trends</h2><p>In the mid-1980s, about 10% of the nation’s elementary schools offered preschool, according to a 2021 <a href="https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/105025/the-new-american-elementary-school_2.pdf">Urban Institute report</a>. By 2019-20, that number was close to 60%.</p><p>Some early childhood advocates worry the push for preschool in public schools could hurt private child care programs by siphoning off 4-year-olds, leaving them with younger children who are more expensive to serve.</p><p>Dawn Alexander, who heads the Early Childhood Education Association, a trade group for private child care providers, said putting preschools in public schools is one of several public policies “undermining the economics of the child care industry.”</p><p>While there’s certainly some competition for preschoolers, there are also many thousands of children who don’t attend preschool at all. Only about 40% of 3-year-olds and 60% of 4-year-olds attended in 2022, according to <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2022/demo/school-enrollment/2022-cps.html">U.S. Census data</a>.</p><p>The proliferation of government funded preschool programs has contributed to the growth of preschool in public schools. That’s true in Denver, said Priscilla Hopkins, the district’s director of early education.</p><p>Preschool offerings in the district ramped up after voters passed a sales tax hike in 2006 to fund the Denver Preschool Program, a citywide preschool tuition assistance program, she said. At the time, 53 district schools offered preschool.</p><p>Today, 77 of 90 district-run elementary and K-8 schools offer preschool. The district also has four stand-alone preschool centers and seven charter schools with preschool.</p><p>“One of the things that is really striking to me is how kind of first-on-the-scene Denver was seeing this is something our families want,” Hopkins said.</p><p>Falling birthrates have also led public schools to embrace preschool.</p><p>“A school begins to be financially impractical” as enrollment declines, said W. Steven Barnett, senior co-director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University. “Nobody in that neighborhood wants you to close that school … Preschool is certainly another way of making the finances work.”</p><p>That’s part of the calculus in the Cherry Creek district, which has lost about 3,400 students in the last five years, dropping from nearly 56,000 in 2018-19.</p><p>If there’s a benefit to such losses, said Smith, the district’s chief financial and operating officer, it’s that “we can look at space differently and not have a deficit mindset of just saying, ‘Oh, we have to close schools because we’ve got declining enrollment in certain areas.”</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/OLf8-uwVVtgXBDveuXP3u5rfb9c=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/3VAZFFJBFJACLND2QILE6DPJCU.JPG" alt="There are 18 children in the preschool class at High Plains Elementary School in the Cherry Creek district southeast of Denver. " height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>There are 18 children in the preschool class at High Plains Elementary School in the Cherry Creek district southeast of Denver. </figcaption></figure><p>In the Adams 12 district northwest of Denver, only 17 of 35 elementary and K-8 schools currently offer preschool, but leaders there say they plan to bring preschool to every elementary eventually.</p><p>“I don’t think it’s going to happen overnight, but I do know that there are four to six schools on the docket as we think about the next year or so,” said Kim Walsh, the district’s interim preschool director.</p><p>All have lost enrollment in recent years, she said. So has Adams 12 as a whole, shrinking by 4,300 students — or nearly 11% — over five years, dropping from 39,000 in 2018-19.</p><h2>Even growing districts try to provide preschool</h2><p>Preschool expansion can be a trickier scenario in growing school districts.</p><p>The 27J district, just north of Denver, has been one of the fastest-growing districts in the state in recent years. But officials gradually added preschool classrooms at older schools and incorporated them into the floor plan at new schools. By 2018, every elementary and K-8 school had preschool, said Bethany Ager, the district’s early childhood education coordinator.</p><p>The streak ended in 2023, when the district opened Discovery Magnet School, a new science-focused school. District officials tried to find a way to shoehorn one preschool classroom into the floor plan, but couldn’t make it work. There simply wasn’t enough space.</p><p>While the district has preschool classrooms in nearly every school, plus a stand-alone early childhood center, Ager said demand for preschool seats is outpacing supply, especially in the rapidly developing southern part of the district.</p><p>District officials will add five new classrooms across three elementary schools by August. Even so, Ager said, “We’ll make it by the skin of our teeth next year.”</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/WHqHrX05W2w1-Vi9qWKln7P2VWI=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/7SRHF5XEK5BTXGC5BD43VXDR6U.JPG" alt="Preschoolers at High Plains Elementary attend class in a spacious portable building just behind the school four mornings a week. " height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Preschoolers at High Plains Elementary attend class in a spacious portable building just behind the school four mornings a week. </figcaption></figure><h2>Public school programs can benefit preschoolers</h2><p>Experts say top-notch preschools exist in both public schools and private centers, and that each setting can meet the needs of families depending on work schedules, location, and the age of other kids in the family.</p><p>But public schools have the potential to provide unique benefits in terms of a child’s educational continuity, they say.</p><p>Potential is the operative word.</p><p>Little, the North Carolina State University professor, said research is generally inconclusive about the benefits of attending preschool in a public school versus a private setting, likely because public schools don’t take full advantage of the opportunities that come with on-site preschool.</p><p>For example, they may not include preschool teachers in training and planning sessions, share preschool data with teachers in higher grades, and ensure that preschoolers have chances to visit kindergarten classrooms as part of “moving-up” days.</p><p>“We hear often that pre-K programs might just sit down at the end of the hall and there’s no integration and alignment happening,” Little said. “That might be part of why we don’t necessarily see really, really clear advantages in terms of student outcomes.”</p><p>Barnett, of the National Institute for Early Education Research, said his research indicates that preschools in public schools offer more developmentally appropriate instruction than private preschools do.</p><p>A <a href="https://nieer.org/sites/default/files/2024-05/national_teacher_survey_working_paper.pdf" target="_blank">working paper he co-authored</a> — but has not yet published — found that preschool teachers in both public schools and Head Start programs reported more play-based and child-centered activities and less frequent use of flashcards and math worksheets than did teachers in private preschool programs.</p><p>The popular conception that preschool in public schools is more “skill and drill,” he said, “is completely opposite of reality.”</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/05/03/colorado-public-schools-cherry-creek-increasingly-add-preschool/Ann SchimkeJimena Peck for Chalkbeat2024-04-30T23:23:00+00:002024-05-02T12:49:10+00:00<p><i>Sign up for </i><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/subscribe"><i>Chalkbeat Colorado’s free daily newsletter</i></a><i> to get the latest reporting from us, plus curated news from other Colorado outlets, delivered to your inbox.</i></p><p>A lawyer for the state of Colorado argued in court Tuesday that a lawsuit filed by six school districts and other education groups over the state’s new universal preschool program should be dismissed because the plaintiffs don’t have legal grounds to sue.</p><p>The six districts, which <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/8/17/23835969/colorado-universal-preschool-lawsuit-case-school-districts-students-disabilities/">allege in their lawsuit</a> that the state’s new program broke funding promises and harmed preschoolers with disabilities, argued that they do have grounds to sue.</p><p>The lawsuit is one of three the state is facing over its new $322 million universal preschool program, which launched in August and offers free preschool to 4-year-olds statewide. A dismissal in the school district case would be a win for Gov. Jared Polis, who’s championed universal preschool since he hit the campaign trail in 2018.</p><p>The other two lawsuits were brought against the state last year by faith-based preschools and have not yet been decided. In one of them, a <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2023/07/14/christian-pre-school-sues-colorado-hiring-practices-lgbtq-rights-religious-freedom/">Christian preschool in Chaffee County</a> alleged that a non-discrimination agreement that the state requires preschool providers to accept would prevent it from operating in accordance with its religious beliefs. Two <a href="https://becketnewsite.s3.amazonaws.com/20230816151801/St.-Mary-Complaint.pdf">Catholic parishes that operate preschools filed</a> a similar suit.</p><p>This year, about 39,000 4-year-olds receive 10 to 30 hours of tuition-free preschool through the universal preschool program — representing 62% of children in that age group in the state. Enrollment is expected to hit 65% next year.</p><p>While much of Tuesday morning’s hearing was technical, filled with legal language about how previous court decisions, the state constitution, and federal and state laws apply to the complex case, lawyers for both sides had very different takes on how the new universal preschool is going.</p><p>Joe Peters, a lawyer for the state, described the new preschool program as an “extraordinary success” that serves far more Colorado preschoolers than the old state-funded preschool program did.</p><p>He said school districts are upset about changes that have come with the new program, including how the state distributes funding and how families apply to and get matched with preschools. He said state officials have already remedied some of the early problems that emerged and are willing to work with school districts to smooth out other issues.</p><p>Jonathan Fero, a lawyer for the districts, said, “This isn’t just folks who are upset about change.”</p><p>He described the preschool program as failing to serve preschool children and their families, particularly students with disabilities. He also said the program has exposed school districts to legal liability related to special education laws and diverted funding previously earmarked for students with disabilities to private preschools that don’t serve such students.</p><p>One of the plaintiff’s key arguments is that the state’s centralized universal preschool application system, which is used to match students with preschools, has created confusion for families and made it harder for school districts to properly place preschoolers with disabilities.</p><p>The plaintiffs in the case include the Colorado Association of School Executives, the Consortium of Directors of Special Education, Centennial Board of Cooperative Educational Services, two families, and the six school districts: Brighton-based 27J, Cherry Creek, Harrison, Mapleton, Platte Valley, and Westminster.</p><p>The defendants include Gov. Jared Polis, the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, and the Colorado Department of Education.</p><p>A ruling on the state’s dismissal motion could come in the next few weeks.</p><p>Denver district Judge Jon Jay Olafson, told the courtroom after the briefing, “I do want to move on this. I don’t want to take too long.”</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/04/30/universal-preschool-school-district-lawsuit-dismissal-hearing/Ann SchimkeDouglas Sacha / Getty Images2024-04-19T21:53:35+00:002024-04-23T18:58:10+00:00<p>Denver airport leaders are considering building a child care center — maybe more than one — to help recruit and retain employees at the growing airport campus.</p><p>To further study the concept, the airport hopes to win City Council approval Monday for a 3-year, $800,000 contract with a Denver advocacy group that will assist with research and planning. A council committee already approved the proposal on April 10.</p><p>The airport’s plan reflects the reality that child care — or the lack thereof — can have big economic consequences for employers that rely on working parents to fill their ranks. More than 40,000 employees, ranging from aviation officials to janitorial staff, work at the airport, which is the country’s third busiest. There are so few state-licensed child care options near the airport in far northeast Denver, it’s considered a child care desert.</p><p>Airport officials say they have many questions to answer before committing to a child care center or some other form of employee child care support, but suggested their eventual decision could be momentous.</p><p>“We’re on a global stage and we have the ability to do something really special,” said Andrea Albo, deputy chief of staff for Denver International Airport, which is owned and operated by the city.</p><p>She said project leaders will carefully consider the needs of the airport’s lowest wage earners and historically marginalized communities in deciding how to proceed. A final decision is likely by spring of 2026.</p><p>Nicole Riehl, president and CEO of Executives Partnering to Invest in Children, the group being considered for the $800,000 contract, said employers aren’t a panacea for child care challenges but can help build up child care supply.</p><p>“Employers can’t just sit around and wait for the federal government to fix it or the states to fix it,” she said.</p><h2>Other U.S. airports offer child care</h2><p>If the Denver airport moves forward with a child care center, it will join a handful of other American airports that already offer on-campus child care, or soon will, including Los Angeles International Airport, Pittsburgh International Airport, and, starting in 2025, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.</p><p>Sky Harbor’s child care efforts were born during the pandemic, said Matt Heil, the airport’s deputy aviation director for strategy, policy, and administration.</p><p>“We had nowhere near the traffic, but we still had to have all the operations up and running,” he said. “It was a priority to make sure we could continue to do what we could to support workers.”</p><p>The Phoenix City Council agreed to use $5 million in federal COVID relief money to help fund a two-pronged approach to child care help.</p><p>Starting in 2022, Sky Harbor launched sliding scale child care scholarships for employees who earn up to 400% of the federal poverty guidelines — $124,800 for a family of four. About 40 households currently receive the scholarships, which can be used at child care facilities across Maricopa County, Heil said.</p><p>The other half of the plan is a soon-to-be-built child care center for up to 100 children on the airport campus. It’s slated to open in 2025.</p><p>Placing a child care center at an airport is complicated, Heil said. It needs to be accessible and convenient for employees, while having enough separation from the terminal that long lines, tight security, and abandoned-suitcase incidents won’t jeopardize its operations.</p><p>In addition, space is limited on Sky Harbor’s campus in southeast Phoenix. Officials there settled on a site in a courtyard under a Sky Train station near an employee parking lot.</p><p>Heil said helping parents with small children secure child care can incentivize them to work at the airport.</p><p>“If you talk to other airports, this is definitely an ongoing conversation in the industry,” he said.</p><h2>How big a role should employers play in child care?</h2><p>When Stephanie Burke moved to Denver two years ago to start as director of the airport’s Center of Equity and Excellence in Aviation, she struggled to find child care for her two boys, then 11 months old and 3 years old.</p><p>She found a spot for her 3-year-old son, but nothing for the baby, so her husband stopped working for 11 months and stayed home with him. At that point, they found a neighbor who was willing to watch him until they found a permanent spot.</p><p>“My story is not unique,” said Burke, who is helping lead the airport’s child care effort. “It’s something that we hear from other employees … the wait lists are really long, you have to get on before you even think about having a child or when you’re in your early pregnancy.”</p><p>Burke said there are plenty of anecdotal stories, but the airport still needs to collect concrete data on employee needs. About 19,000 of the more than 40,000 employees at the airport fall into the 20- to 39-year-old age group, but it’s not clear how many have young children and need child care. That’s part of what the work with Executives Partnering to Invest in Children, or EPIC, will reveal.</p><p>Elliot Haspel, senior fellow at Capita, a child and family policy think tank, said the airport’s plan to study the issue makes sense and praised EPIC as a thought leader on <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2022/2/1/22913443/colorado-employer-provided-child-care/">employer-based child care</a>.</p><p>But he also sounded a note of caution about the trend of employers launching child care programs — and the growing use of public dollars in the form of tax incentives or grants to help fund such projects. He worries that using those dollars on child care linked to a parent’s job may take away from broader public investment in a child care system that serves everyone.</p><p>“For employers writ large, we need to ask them to pay into a universal system via taxation,” he said.</p><p>In recent years, there has been a flurry of legislation to encourage employer-based child care, including a<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/27/us/politics/child-care-chip-makers-biden.html"> 2022 federal law that will allow semiconductor manufacturers</a> who receive federal subsidies to use some of those dollars for child care programs.</p><p>“Employers can start to feel like a solution to child care problems, and they are not,” he said. They are “one piece of a larger puzzle.”</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/04/19/denver-airport-considers-child-care-center-for-employees/Ann SchimkeAnn Schimke2024-04-17T22:10:02+00:002024-04-18T13:22:26+00:00<p>A $2.5 million gift from billionaire MacKenzie Scott will jump-start a new grant program that aims to improve outcomes for Colorado’s youngest children.</p><p>Early Milestones Colorado, a statewide policy and research group, received the donation from Scott last year after what leaders there describe as an exciting and mysterious process. They used the gift to create the Impact on Equity Fund, which will begin awarding $100,000 grants this fall to Colorado organizations that work on prenatal and birth-to-3 issues.</p><p>The new grant program comes during a challenging moment for Colorado’s youngest children: Federal COVID relief funds for early childhood are drying up, and, in recent years, much of the state’s energy has gone toward 4-year-olds served by the state’s <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/04/12/universal-preschool-local-groups-that-help-parents-face-budget-cuts/">new tuition-free preschool</a> program.</p><p>Jennifer Merva Stedron, executive director of Early Milestones Colorado, said the youngest Coloradans and their families need more help. She cited the state’s rising <a href="https://earlymilestones.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Maternal-Mortality-Brief_FINAL.pdf">maternal mortality rate</a>, mediocre <a href="https://www.immunizecolorado.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/2023-VPD-report-09.28.23.pdf">toddler vaccination rates</a>, and <a href="https://www.strongnation.org/articles/2352-2-7-billion-the-growing-annual-cost-of-the-infant-toddler-child-care-crisis-in-colorado">billions in economic losses</a> because working parents can’t find care for babies and toddlers.</p><p>“It’s just not good enough,” she said. “We’re a better state than that.”</p><p>Merva Stedron said the new Impact on Equity grants — up to 10 this year — will be given to groups that propose innovative local early childhood efforts.</p><p>“We feel very, very firmly that those that are closest to the problem really have the solutions,” she said.</p><p>Early Milestones was one of at least three Colorado organizations that received gifts last year from Scott, a philanthropist who received a 4% stake in Amazon as part of her divorce settlement with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.</p><p>Valley Settlement, which provides a mobile preschool program and other services to Latino and immigrant families in the Roaring Fork Valley, <a href="https://valleysettlement.org/about/blog/mackenzie-scott-gift-announcement/">received $2 million</a> from Scott. Parent Possible, which provides home visiting and early learning programs to families with young children statewide, <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/6/9/23755492/mackenzie-scott-parent-possible-colorado-non-profit-1-million-early-childhood-education/">received $1 million</a>.</p><p>Merva Stedron said she learned about the prospect for a major donation — though Scott was not initially named — when Early Milestones received an “out-of-the-blue” email in January 2023. The firm that sent the email, which she later learned vets potential recipients of Scott’s fortune, requested “loads and loads” of documents and an interview.</p><p>In the interview that month, staff from the firm told Merva Stedron, “If you don’t hear anything by the end of the year, you didn’t get a grant,” she said.</p><p>Even then, the Early Milestones team didn’t know who was giving out the money, how much was being awarded, or how much competition there was for the funds. Several months later, they learned the organization had been selected.</p><p>Merva Stedron, who hopes Scott’s donation will help attract another $7.5 million in donations for the Impact on Equity Fund, calls the money “a dream come true.”</p><p>Applications for the Impact on Equity grants are slated to open in June. Organizations can <a href="https://zfrmz.com/vTBHjn4p7QrxSTAFPMFl">sign up here</a> for notifications about the program.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/04/17/billionaire-mackenzie-scott-donation-benefits-young-colorado-children/Ann SchimkeFatCamera2024-04-10T21:04:21+00:002024-04-16T14:39:07+00:00<p>When Heather Martin was a senior in high school, she survived the Columbine High School shooting that killed 12 students and one teacher in Littleton, Colorado. Even as she tried to move on with her life, she carried the trauma of that day inside her — often in ways that surprised her.</p><p>The following year, during a community college class, she burst into tears during a routine fire drill, confused and embarrassed by her emotional reaction.</p><p>“I hadn’t remembered, until that very moment, that the fire alarm had been going off while I was barricaded for three hours before the SWAT team came,” she said.</p><p>She also struggled with panic attacks, an eating disorder, and insensitive comments from instructors. Eventually, Martin dropped out of college.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/PndPem4eKsBfjvys6t1V01zFt5g=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/QD7O3F6G6VCZBCSOB7YBN7UCHA.jpg" alt="Heather Martin teaches English at Aurora Central High School." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Heather Martin teaches English at Aurora Central High School.</figcaption></figure><p>Today, Martin is a high school English teacher who prioritizes making her students feel safe and giving them the tools to understand and cope with trauma. She’s also the executive director of The Rebels Project, a nonprofit that supports survivors of mass tragedy. In March, she attended the State of the Union address as a guest of U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, a Democrat who represents the southeastern Denver suburbs.</p><p>Martin, who teaches at Aurora Central High School, talked to Chalkbeat about how she rediscovered her desire to teach after leaving college, what calming techniques she teaches students, and why she loves home visits.</p><h3>Was there a moment when you decided to become a teacher?</h3><p>When I was in elementary school, my friends and I used to “play school” when we would study for tests. We alternated being the teacher, and I think that really laid the foundation for me wanting to teach in some way.</p><p>After the shooting at Columbine in 1999, I struggled a lot with trauma while attending community college and ended up dropping out. One day, while filming some B roll for a documentary called <a href="https://vimeo.com/242293220">”Grieving in a Fishbowl,”</a> I was asked to flip through my high school yearbook. I found where my English teacher had signed: “I hope you major in English and become a teacher - your students would love you!” it read.</p><p>It seems I had forgotten for a while where I wanted to go, but I eventually found my way back. After 10 years and a long road of healing, I went back to school, finished my degree, and earned my teaching license.</p><h3>How did your trauma manifest during your initial college experience?</h3><p>I had extreme anxiety and unpredictable panic attacks — or at the time I thought they were unpredictable. I developed an eating disorder, started ditching and failing classes, and even tried recreational drugs. I attributed many of these things to “normal” college behavior and refused to acknowledge that it had anything to do with the shooting. I told myself, “It’s been ___ months, I should be fine.”</p><p>I had an English teacher assign a final essay that had a prompt related to school safety or guns in schools. When I finally worked up the courage to tell her why I couldn’t do the essay, she said it was required and if I didn’t do it, I would fail the class. I never went back to that class and, ultimately, ended up failing. I was already questioning my “right” to be traumatized, and her dismissal was extremely harmful.</p><p>When I took English again, I was assigned to write a 2-3 page personal narrative about an event that impacted me. This was about a year after the shooting, so I decided to actually tackle writing about it. I wrote upwards of 10 pages. On the due date, I printed my essay and brought it to the instructor. I told her how long it was, but I did not tell her the content. I wanted reassurance that the length was okay.</p><p>She said she would probably just grade me on the first few pages. Again, I felt dismissed and that my experience didn’t matter, and again, this amplified my questions about whether I had any right to feel and be traumatized. Again, I failed English class because I stopped attending.</p><p>My students love to hear that I failed English class twice in college!</p><h3>What was it like to attend the State of the Union address?</h3><p>The invite from Congressman Crow came as a surprise and I was very excited, and even a bit nervous, to attend. Every person I met was very interested and compassionate regarding long-term recovery from trauma. Congressman Crow and his staff were wonderful and did an excellent job of helping get the message out about the need for long-term support.</p><h3>How did your own experience in school influence your approach to teaching?</h3><p>I was a student who often felt like I wasn’t seen or noticed in school. I did just enough to stay off everyone’s radar — never a super-high or a super-low performer. As a teacher now, I look for students who may feel like I felt and am sure to connect with them as best I can. Also, obviously, the shooting and my subsequent healing journey help to drive my mission to make my classroom (and school community) as safe as I can — both in the physical sense and the emotional sense.</p><h3>Tell us about a favorite lesson you teach.</h3><p>I call it a “Mirror Poem.” We begin by comparing Shakespeare’s <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45108/sonnet-130-my-mistress-eyes-are-nothing-like-the-sun">Sonnet 130</a>, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” to <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45087/sonnet-18-shall-i-compare-thee-to-a-summers-day">Sonnet 18</a>, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” We focus on which is the “truer” love poem.</p><p>After many discussions, we decide which one represents a mirror. The answer always depends on what students view as a mirror’s purpose, so the responses are excellent. My favorite part is that after we read and analyze, students write their own poem using a mirror as a metaphor to describe how they see themselves and/or how others see them. The poems are INCREDIBLE and reading them never ceases to amaze me at how brilliant they are.</p><h3>Tell us about The Rebels Project.</h3><p>I co-founded <a href="https://www.therebelsproject.org/">the organization</a> in 2012 with three other classmates from Columbine in the aftermath of the Aurora theater shooting. It’s named for the Columbine High School mascot. We wanted to provide support that we didn’t have access to after the shooting at our school — a space to share, connect, and heal alongside others who understand what it’s like to experience a similar event. Everybody on our leadership team has experienced a mass trauma themselves, which drives our decisions in every project we develop.</p><p>We connect survivors from all across the world. We hold support meetings, travel to impacted communities, educate the public on ways to support trauma survivors, and host an annual survivor retreat. We do this all as volunteers.</p><h3>How do you incorporate trauma-informed practices into your classes?</h3><p>Recently, we read <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Kite-Runner-Khaled-Hosseini/dp/159463193X">”The Kite Runner,”</a> which has some disturbing content that may provoke some anxiety or trauma responses. We practice grounding techniques before reading, then I offer opportunities to use some of the techniques as we read. These can include coloring, folding origami, deep breathing exercises, and bilateral movements that use both sides of the body together, such as tapping, pacing, or walking.</p><p>Another way I practice this is through good old-fashioned modeling. I point out when I’m feeling activated, how I notice it, what it feels like, and how I ground myself. I’m also very open about my healing journey. I teach seniors, so it’s age-appropriate that I share my story about surviving a school shooting and how I struggled in the aftermath. I am honest about some of the struggles I still have, even 25 years later. I think it’s so important that they know that healing doesn’t always mean you “get over it,” it’s more about working through it. Experiencing trauma changes us, and I feel that acknowledging that change is important.</p><h3>Tell us about a memorable time — good or bad — when contact with a student’s family changed your perspective or approach.</h3><p>At our school, we conduct home visits to help connect with the parents and guardians. These are always positive — basically pumping up the kiddo and sharing how amazing they are. I’ve had such wonderful visits with parents who come from various countries around the world, including Afghanistan, Republic of the Congo, Mexico, and Burma. I absolutely love connecting with them and learning more about the lives of the students.</p><h3>What are you reading for enjoyment?</h3><p>Currently, I’m reading a few books. (Yes, I’m one of those weirdos that can read multiple books at a time!) They include <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Heaven-Earth-Grocery-Store-Novel/dp/0593422945">”The Heaven &amp; Earth Grocery Store”</a> by James McBride, the <a href="https://www.brandonsanderson.com/skyward-series/">”Skyward Series”</a> by Brandon Sanderson, and Bruce Springsteen’s memoir, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Bruce-Springsteen/dp/1501141511">”Born to Run”</a> because he is MY FAVORITE!</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/04/10/colorado-teacher-columbine-high-school-survivor-trauma/Ann SchimkeHelen H. Richardson / Denver Post via Getty Images2024-04-12T00:20:23+00:002024-04-12T01:20:56+00:00<p><i>Sign up for Chalkbeat’s free monthly </i><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/"><i>Starting Line newsletter</i></a><i> to get the latest news on early childhood issues.</i></p><p>Colorado relies on 32 local organizations to help parents and providers navigate its popular new universal preschool program. Now some of them worry that proposed state funding cuts could “cripple” their operations.</p><p>More than a dozen of these groups, including those based in Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs and Grand Junction, sent a letter this week to Gov. Jared Polis, the state’s powerful Joint Budget Committee, and other officials expressing concern about potential cuts in each of the next two years.</p><p>In the <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24542401-lcoletterjbc04-05-24-1docx?responsive=1&title=1" target="_blank">Wednesday letter</a>, the groups said a proposed cut of $1.7 million for next year and an additional cut of $700,000 the following year “will deplete up to 68% of funding for some of us who serve the largest child populations in the state.”</p><p>The group’s comments echo concerns raised since universal preschool’s inception about whether there’s enough money to run the program as state leaders envisioned. Some preschool providers and early childhood advocates have worried the state is compromising on its pledge to provide <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/02/23/colorado-universal-preschool-class-size-debate/">high quality preschool</a> and <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/10/26/23932722/colorado-universal-preschool-full-day-rule-change-poverty/">extra class time</a> for children with the greatest needs as it tries to serve the flood of interested families.</p><p>Not all of the local groups involved in the preschool program are concerned about the possible cuts. And if the cuts do occur, the groups would likely be able to recoup some funding through accounting maneuvers at the Colorado Department of Early Childhood. But that backup plan is a promise of future aid, not guaranteed funding.</p><p>The $322 million universal preschool program launched in August, and despite <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/8/23/23843133/colorado-universal-preschool-launch-first-day-auraria-early-learning/">a rocky rollout</a>, attracted more families than state leaders expected. This year, 62% of Colorado’s 4-year-olds get 10 to 30 hours a week of tuition-free preschool through the program. Enrollment is expected to hit 65% next year.</p><p>The program is funded partly with a voter-approved nicotine tax, and partly with funding from Colorado’s previous smaller state-funded preschool program.</p><p>This year, the 32 local groups — which typically have one to four staff members dedicated to universal preschool — received about $5.2 million for their work, which includes helping preschools sign up for the universal program and helping families troubleshoot application and placement problems. That amount is slated to go down to $3.5 million for the 2024-25 school year and, because of expiring federal COVID relief funding, to $2.8 million the year after.</p><p>In response, the groups are asking state early childhood leaders to revise the budgeting process that funds them and provide another year of full funding, which would be a total of $5.2 million.</p><p>Ian McKenzie, a spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, said department officials are meeting this week and want to respond to the local groups that sent the letter as soon as possible.</p><p>“We’re taking it very seriously and want to collaborate with the [local groups] on this,” McKenzie said.</p><p>He said the state will be able to partially mitigate next year’s cut through a budget mechanism called a “footnote” that will allow the department to move $1 million to the local groups from another line item if needed.</p><p>Mackenzie also said that, collectively, the local groups significantly underspent their state funding allocation last school year, and are on track to do so this year, albeit to a lesser extent.</p><p>But leaders of some of the groups, officially called Local Coordinating Organizations or LCOs, say the state’s underspending argument obscures key facts, including that many of the larger groups spent most or all of their state allocations last year and are on track to do the same this year.</p><p>They also note that the early childhood department and the 32 local groups were brand new in the 2022-23 school year, and so underspending that year was sometimes because of state administrative lags or the challenge of ramping up a new program.</p><p>McKenzie said 28 of 32 local groups underspent their allocations in 2022-23, but said he couldn’t provide numbers showing how many are on track to do so this year.</p><p>Christina Taylor, CEO of the Early Childhood Council of Larimer County, one of the 13 local groups that signed the letter, said the budget footnote that would restore some of the lost funding next year will help, but not enough.</p><p>Taylor said her group’s state allocation in part funds two employees who are “working their butts off” to help parents and preschool providers figure out how universal preschool works.</p><p>If their hours are eventually reduced due to funding cuts, she worries that families would face longer wait times and missed deadlines, and that providers might “throw up their hands” and opt out of the program because they can’t get the necessary support.</p><p>Kathleen Merritt, executive director Bright Futures, a local group in western Colorado that didn’t sign the letter, said she is grateful for the early childhood department’s “footnote” money next year, but said, “I do worry that’s not sustainable.”</p><p>She said the universal preschool manager she pays with her state allotment works with preschools in a five-county area the size of New Jersey. “They all have her on speed dial,” said Merritt.</p><p>Merritt said she’s pleased that state officials recently agreed to start monthly meetings with local groups to look more closely at their costs.</p><p>Diane Smith, executive director of the Douglas County Early Childhood Council, another group that signed the letter, said with federal COVID relief now expiring after years in which state coffers were flush with cash, many in the early childhood field feel generally anxious about funding.</p><p>When the announcement about cuts to the 32 local groups came down from the state in recent weeks, she said, the feeling was, “Oh here’s another one.”</p><p><iframe src="https://embed.documentcloud.org/documents/24542401-lcoletterjbc04-05-24-1docx/?embed=1&amp;responsive=1&amp;title=1" title="LCOLetter.JBC.04 05 24 (1).docx (Hosted by DocumentCloud)" width="700" height="905" style="border: 1px solid #aaa; width: 100%; height: 800px; height: calc(100vh - 100px);" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-forms allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox" ></iframe> </p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/04/12/universal-preschool-local-groups-that-help-parents-face-budget-cuts/Ann SchimkeCarl G Payne II2024-04-09T17:51:47+00:002024-04-10T14:53:39+00:00<p><i>Sign up for </i><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/subscribe"><i>Chalkbeat Colorado’s free daily newsletter</i></a><i> to get the latest reporting from us, plus curated news from other Colorado outlets, delivered to your inbox.</i></p><p>A bill supporters say could cut Colorado’s child poverty rate in half by providing new tax credits to low-income families narrowly passed its first legislative hurdle on Monday</p><p><a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb24-1311">House Bill 24-1311</a> would create the “Family Affordability Tax Credit,” which would be available only in years when the state has enough surplus tax revenue. The idea is that the new credit could be layered on top of the state’s existing child tax credit to provide a larger sum to the lowest-income families and reach a wider swath of Colorado families with children. The new credit would become available next year when Coloradans file their 2024 income taxes.</p><p>The lowest income families with children under 6 would be eligible for a $3,200 tax credit under the bill. Families with children ages 6 to 16 and those with incomes up to $95,000 could get smaller credits.</p><p>Many Democratic lawmakers and advocates see the bill as a chance to address Colorado’s high cost of living by sending extra money to up to hundreds of thousands of cash-strapped families. They also say it would pick up where the <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2021/11/15/22783579/child-tax-credit-schools-biden-reconciliation-plan-education-poverty-families-research/">federal government left off</a> when its expanded child tax credit expired in 2021. With action on another child tax credit expansion stalled in Congress, <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/180355/child-tax-credit-minnesota-oregon">several states</a> have recently expanded or created their own child tax credits.</p><p>During Monday’s hearing in the House Finance Committee, some Republicans expressed concerns about the bill’s price tag and the fact that the tax credit would be available only in good economic times, not bad ones.</p><p>The new tax credit would cost around $700 million annually in years when state revenue exceeds caps put in place by Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR, a 1992 constitutional amendment that limits the growth of state spending according to population growth and inflation.</p><p>This year, the credit would use about 35% of the anticipated $2 billion surplus. In years when the state doesn’t collect surplus tax revenue, the family affordability credit would not be given and in years when the state has some surplus revenue but not enough to fully fund it, the credit would be reduced proportionally.</p><p>The tax credit bill passed the House Finance Committee in a 6-5 vote Monday evening, with State Rep. Bob Marshall, Democrat of Douglas County, joining four Republicans in voting no. The bill’s next stop is the House Appropriations Committee.</p><p>Marshall, in explaining his no vote, said the bill’s plan to use surplus tax money for the tax credit instead of refunding it to Coloradans shows a “deep contempt” for what voters put in place in 1992.</p><p>“We’re trying to find a way around it because we don’t like the fact that we have to give $2 billion back to the taxpayers and we want to direct it where we want,” he said.</p><p>A long list of supporters from health, education, and early childhood groups who urged lawmakers to pass the bill during public testimony described the bill as a game-changer that would benefit 45% of Colorado families, helping them cover basic needs and give young children a more stable foundation during a critical time of development.</p><p>Several said affording a one-bedroom apartment in Colorado on a minimum-wage job requires 77 hours of work per week.</p><p>Moriah Rodriguez, a single mother who grew up in Colorado, said it’s discouraging and stressful to see the cost of living in the state continually rise. She said the new tax credits would help families cover basics and by extension, help children succeed in school.</p><p>“I know firsthand that the economic stability in the home is reflected in how the child shows up in the classroom,” she told lawmakers.</p><p>When the federal government gave out a more generous child tax credit during the pandemic — a portion of it delivered in monthly allotments — <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/blog/9-in-10-families-with-low-incomes-are-using-child-tax-credits-to-pay-for-necessities-education">most low-income families</a> spent it on food, utilities, housing, clothing, and education costs, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.</p><p>Census numbers show that the expanded federal child tax credit cut <a href="https://itep.org/lapse-of-expanded-child-tax-credit-led-to-unprecedented-rise-in-child-poverty-2023/">child poverty nearly in half</a> nationwide — from 9.7% in 2020 to 5.2% in 2021. But once the expansion lapsed, the child poverty numbers quickly spiked to previous levels.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/04/09/coloradotax-credit-child-poverty-bill-advances/Ann SchimkeSolStock / Getty Images2024-04-05T18:53:14+00:002024-04-05T23:32:23+00:00<p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/04/03/colorado-summer-ebt-grocery-card-combats-hunger/" target="_blank"><i><b>Read in English.</b></i></a></p><p>A partir del mes de junio, cientos de miles de familias con bajos ingresos en Colorado recibirán $120 por niño para pagar por comida en el supermercado durante las vacaciones de verano.</p><p>El programa, llamado “EBT de verano”, busca ayudar a los padres de niños que asisten a escuelas públicas desde prescolar y hasta el 12º grado para que paguen por alimentos cuando las comidas escolares gratis no estén disponibles o sea más difícil conseguirlas. Los funcionarios estatales esperan que las familias de más de 300,000 niños se beneficien.</p><p>Una <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/11/15/colorado-special-session-summer-childhood-hunger/">ley que se aprobó en Colorado</a> en noviembre durante una sesión legislativa especial permitió que el estado se uniera al nuevo programa, el cual recibe la mayor parte de sus fondos a través del gobierno federal, con una pequeña contribución del estado. Casi <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2024/01/10/why-some-states-are-opting-out-of-new-summer-ebt-program/">tres docenas de estados</a> ofrecerán el programa este año.</p><p>En años recientes, Colorado ha dado varios pasos para reducir la cantidad de niños que enfrentan hambre en el estado. A partir de este año escolar, la gran mayoría de los estudiantes en Colorado <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2022/12/2/23490749/free-meals-colorado-school-lunch-proposition-ff-denver-jeffco-douglas-aurora/">pueden obtener comidas escolares gratis</a> sin importar el nivel de ingresos de su familia porque los votantes aprobaron un programa universal de comidas en 2022. Un programa similar de EBT de verano se implementó durante la pandemia, pero dejó de ofrecerse el verano pasado.</p><p>Familias en Colorado pueden obtener tarjetas del programa de EBT de verano si reciben beneficios públicos, como SNAP, Medicaid o Colorado Works, o si sus hijos cumplen con los requisitos para recibir comidas gratis o a precio reducido en la escuela.</p><p>La mayoría de las familias automáticamente recibirán una carta en mayo por cada niño que cumpla con los requisitos del programa de EBT de verano, y las tarjetas precargadas llegarán por correo al poco tiempo. Para tener acceso al dinero en la tarjeta, las familias deben establecer un número de identificación personal. Para hacer eso, pueden llamar al 888-328-2656, ingresar el número de la tarjeta, y seguir las instrucciones.</p><p>Aquellas familias que crean que su hijo cumple con los requisitos del EBT de verano, pero que no hayan recibido una carta de elegibilidad, pueden llamar al Centro de Apoyo para el EBT de Verano al 800-536-5298 (por mensaje de texto al 720-741-0550) o enviar un mensaje electrónico a <a href="mailto:cdhs_sebt_supportcenter@state.co.us" target="_blank">cdhs_sebt_supportcenter@state.co.us</a>.</p><p>El Departamento de Servicios Humanos de Colorado, el cual está administrando el programa de EBT de verano junto con el Departamento de Educación de Colorado, recomienda que las familias confirmen que la escuela de su hijo tenga un registro de su domicilio actual y la información de los padres/tutores. Las familias que estén recibiendo SNAP, Colorado Works o Medicaid también deben asegurarse de que el archivo de su caso tenga su domicilio actual.</p><p>Los niños con familias que reciban tarjetas del programa de EBT de verano igual pueden aprovechar las comidas gratis que se distribuyen en escuelas locales u otros sitios durante el verano.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke es reportera senior de Chalkbeat y cubre temas relacionados con la niñez temprana y la alfabetización temprana. Para comunicarte con Ann, envíale un email a </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p><p><i>Traducido por Alejandra X. Castañeda</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/04/05/tarjeta-de-ebt-de-verano-colorado-combate-el-hambre-ayuda-comida/Ann Schimkeeyecrave productions2024-04-03T16:32:56+00:002024-04-05T18:54:51+00:00<p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/04/05/tarjeta-de-ebt-de-verano-colorado-combate-el-hambre-ayuda-comida/" target="_blank"><i><b>Leer en español.</b></i></a></p><p>Starting in June, hundreds of thousands of low-income Colorado families will get $120 per child to pay for groceries during summer break.</p><p>The program, called Summer EBT, aims to help parents of children who attend preschool through 12th grade in public schools pay for food when free school meals are unavailable or harder to access. State officials expect families of more than 300,000 children to benefit.</p><p>A <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/11/15/colorado-special-session-summer-childhood-hunger/">Colorado law</a> passed during a special legislative session in November enabled the state to join the new program, which is mostly funded by the federal government with a small contribution from the state. Nearly <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2024/01/10/why-some-states-are-opting-out-of-new-summer-ebt-program/">three dozen states</a> are offering the program this year.</p><p>In recent years, Colorado has taken several steps to reduce the number of children who go hungry in the state. Starting this school year, the vast majority of Colorado students <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2022/12/2/23490749/free-meals-colorado-school-lunch-proposition-ff-denver-jeffco-douglas-aurora/">can get free school meals</a> regardless of family income because of a universal meal program approved by voters in 2022. A program similar to Summer EBT was in place during the pandemic, but it expired last summer.</p><p>Colorado families are eligible for Summer EBT cards if they receive public benefits such as SNAP, Medicaid, or Colorado Works, or if their children qualify for free or reduced-price school meals.</p><p>Most families will automatically receive a letter in May for each child eligible for Summer EBT, with preloaded cards arriving in the mail shortly after. To access the money on the card, families must set up a personal identification number. They can do this by calling 888-328-2656, entering the card number, and following the prompts.</p><p>Families who believe their child is eligible for Summer EBT, but who didn’t receive an eligibility letter can contact the Summer EBT Support Center at 800-536-5298 (text 720-741-0550) or email <a href="mailto:cdhs_sebt_supportcenter@state.co.us" target="_blank">cdhs_sebt_supportcenter@state.co.us</a>.</p><p>The Colorado Department of Human Services, which is administering the Summer EBT program jointly with the Colorado Department of Education, recommends that families ensure their child’s school has current address and parent/guardian information on file. For families receiving SNAP, Colorado Works, or Medicaid, their case should also have a current address on file.</p><p>Children in families that receive Summer EBT cards can still take advantage of free summer meals at local schools or other sites during the summer.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/04/03/colorado-summer-ebt-grocery-card-combats-hunger/Ann Schimkeeyecrave productions2024-03-28T21:48:11+00:002024-03-28T21:48:11+00:00<p>New rules governing Colorado’s popular universal preschool program could cut class sizes at some preschools, put modest guardrails on curriculum, and require teacher training on trauma-informed care and preschool suspension and expulsion.</p><p>But these and most other <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1s3yXGXbb1LwfninG4AwE0o_N6ubZgAQG">preschool quality rules adopted by the state</a> Thursday won’t take effect until the third year of universal preschool, which starts in the fall of 2025. In other words, the state’s more than 2,000 universal preschool providers won’t have to make many immediate changes.</p><p>The new rules are the culmination of months of debate about how to ensure quality in the state’s new $322 million preschool program without heaping new regulations on already strained providers. Coming <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/4/7/23674706/colorado-free-preschool-quality-standards-delay/">a year later than originally planned</a>, the rules are also symptomatic of the program’s rushed and sometimes chaotic rollout.</p><p>Despite these stumbling blocks, families have flocked to join. This year, about 39,000 4-year-olds receive 10 to 30 hours of tuition-free preschool through the universal preschool program — 62% of that age group in the state. Next year, enrollment is expected to rise.</p><p>Universal preschool is funded with money from Colorado’s previous smaller state-funded preschool program along with proceeds from a voter-approved nicotine tax.</p><p>Here are some key takeaways from the new rules:</p><h2>Class sizes capped at 20, with exceptions</h2><p>After months of <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/02/23/colorado-universal-preschool-class-size-debate/">debate about preschool class size</a>, including pushback from private preschools that warned they’d lose money if they had to cut class sizes, Colorado will phase in a 20-student class size cap for most universal preschool providers over the next two years. These limits match recommendations from national early childhood groups.</p><p>The current 24-student class size maximum and staff-student ratio of 1:12 will stay in place for the 2024-25 school year, drop to 22 students and 1 to 11 for the 2025-26 school year, and finally settle at 20 students and 1 to 10 for the 2026-27 school year.</p><p>There is one major exception to these eventual limits. Universal preschool providers that have earned one of the highest two ratings — Level 4 or 5 — on the state’s <a href="https://decl.my.salesforce-sites.com/search">Colorado Shines quality rating system</a>, will be allowed to have classes of 24 4-year-olds and staff-student ratios of 1 to 12. Currently, about 40% of Colorado’s more than 1,900 universal preschool providers have ratings of Level 4 or 5.</p><p>However, many of these highly rated providers voluntarily keep 4-year-old class sizes lower than 24. For example, Denver Public Schools caps class sizes at 20 at its more than 70 preschool locations, all of which have Level 4 ratings.</p><p>In addition to the exception for highly rated preschools, exemptions from class size rules will be available — as they are now — through hardship waivers granted to preschools where larger classes are a key part of the educational model, for example, in Montessori preschools.</p><h2>Curriculum rules fuzzy, more clarity coming in 2025</h2><p>When school starts in the fall of 2025, preschools in Colorado’s universal program will have to use curriculums from a state-approved list, according to the new rules adopted Thursday. But that list, which will be housed in an online “resource bank” with lots of other preschool-related material, has not been created yet. In addition, the criteria that will be used to select acceptable curriculum has not yet been established.</p><p>The approved curriculum list is the state’s chance to put guardrails on what is now ungoverned territory. Currently — and for 2024-25 school year — universal preschool providers can use any curriculum they want or none at all.</p><h2>Training on social-emotional health, trauma, and school removal</h2><p>Starting in July 2025, new universal preschool teachers must have five hours of training above what’s required for their counterparts at preschools that aren’t in the state’s universal program. Those five extra hours must touch on trauma-informed care and the prevention of suspension and expulsion among other things.</p><p>“We know those are issues a lot of families are facing right now,” Ian McKenzie, a spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, said of the training topics. “To make those things the requirement feels correct for Colorado.”</p><p>Existing universal preschool teachers must also take five hours of training each year covering trauma-informed care, preschool suspension and expulsion, and other topics. While those hours must touch on the topics spelled out by the state, they count toward the 15 hours of training all early childhood teachers are already required to take annually.</p><h2>New rules don’t come with state funding</h2><p>With no state money specifically earmarked for preschool quality improvements, it will be up to preschool providers to figure out how to comply with the new rules over the next few years. McKenzie said the early childhood department may have some one-time dollars available for quality improvement efforts, but the amount and timing is not yet clear.</p><p>Large or veteran preschool providers may have an easier time complying with new quality rules, but others will have to find money to buy new state-approved curriculum or lower class sizes.</p><p>Such costs spotlight the ongoing tension between the lofty ambitions of universal preschool leaders and the reality that there’s a limited pot of funding for the program. Last summer, just weeks before the program launched, thousands of families who had expected the state to cover full-day preschool found out the program would only pay for half-day classes because there <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/2/23815102/colorado-universal-full-day-preschool-extra-hours-risk-factors-backtrack">wasn’t enough money</a>.</p><p>While the state has proposed a <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/10/26/23932722/colorado-universal-preschool-full-day-rule-change-poverty/">partial fix to this problem</a> for the coming school year, some preschool providers and advocates continue to worry there’s not enough funding to provide the caliber of program state leaders, including Gov. Jared Polis, envisioned.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/03/28/colorado-universal-preschool-quality-rules-adopted/Ann SchimkeAnn Schimke2024-03-28T21:31:41+00:002024-03-28T21:35:39+00:00<p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/03/22/denver-rocky-mountain-prep-charter-schools-cancel-science/" target="_blank"><i><b>Read in English.</b></i></a></p><p>Savannah Perkins, maestra de ciencias de sexto grado, describió una reunión sorpresa con el director de su escuela a principios de enero. Él le dijo que no iba a dar más clases de ciencias porque demasiados estudiantes estaban leyendo a un nivel más bajo que su grado, nos contó. Su trabajo “iba a cambiar de dirección” para hacer una intervención en lectura durante el segundo semestre.</p><p>La decisión significaba que aproximadamente la mitad de los estudiantes de sexto grado de la escuela chárter de Denver – la Rocky Mountain Prep-Federal – terminarían el año sin asistir a la clase de ciencias ya programada para el segundo semestre. La otra mitad de los estudiantes de sexto grado ya habían tomado la clase de ciencias con Perkins durante el primer semestre.</p><p>El campus Federal, con 380 estudiantes, no es la única de las cinco escuelas intermedias de Rocky Mountain Prep en la que los estudiantes han experimentado cambios en la instrucción. Perkins dijo que el director Robert Barrett le dijo que las otras cuatro escuelas intermedias de la red también estaban eliminando las clases de ciencias o estudios sociales del segundo semestre para los estudiantes de sexto grado, dijo ella. Barrett no respondió a los mensajes de Chalkbeat.</p><p>La medida, tomada por una red que se enorgullece en ofrecerles una rigurosa preparación para la universidad a sus estudiantes, en su mayoría latinos y de bajos ingresos, es una decisión equivocada, dicen algunos expertos, pero no es nada nuevo en educación. Particularmente desde que la ley federal de 2001 “Que ningún niño se quede atrás” puso mayor énfasis en los exámenes, muchas escuelas han reducido tiempo de clases que aparecen muy poco o no son parte de los exámenes, desde ciencias y estudios sociales hasta arte, música y educación física.</p><p>Estas políticas no sólo convierten la lectura en un castigo, sino que hacen de las asignaturas pendientes un privilegio y no un derecho, dijo Daniel Morales-Doyle, profesor asociado de enseñanza de las ciencias en la Universidad de Illinois Chicago.</p><p>“Cancelar la clase de ciencias por lo que normalmente equivale a más ejercicios de lectura convierte la ciencia en algo exclusivo para los niños que tienen la suerte de asistir a escuelas con altas puntuaciones en los exámenes”, dijo. “Esto no ocurriría en un entorno más rico y blanco”.</p><p>Cuando se le pidió una respuesta a la sugerencia de Morales-Doyle de que tales medidas se aplican de manera desigual, Indrina Kanth, directora de crecimiento de Rocky Mountain Prep, le escribió en un email a Chalkbeat que la sociedad estadounidense históricamente ha trabajado para asegurar que los niños negros y de otras minorías raciales no aprendieran a leer.</p><p>“Es una injusticia educativa que estamos trabajando para corregir”, escribió.</p><p>La decisión de eliminar las clases de ciencias de sexto grado es uno de los muchos cambios en la red Rocky Mountain Prep en el último año, y se ha dado después de una <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/6/28/23775757/denver-charter-schools-strive-prep-rocky-mountain-prep-merger-tricia-noyola/">tumultuosa fusión el verano pasado</a> entre la Rocky Mountain Prep y otra importante red de escuelas chárter de Denver, la STRIVE Prep. Esa fusión, dirigida por la CEO Tricia Noyola, tenía la intención de <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2022/8/3/23291341/strive-prep-rocky-mountain-denver-charter-merger/">reducir los costos administrativos y fortalecer el desempeño académico</a>, pero también resultó en mucha rotación de personal y en lo que algunos empleados dijeron ser un enfoque mayor en las puntuaciones de los exámenes.</p><p>Kanth dijo en su email que la red de escuelas tiene derecho a hacer “ajustes en sus programas” y una “obligación moral de asegurar que nuestros estudiantes estén leyendo al nivel de su grado para que puedan tener un desempeño excelente en el contenido académico y más”.</p><p>No quiso dar detalles sobre cuáles escuelas intermedias recortaron la clase de ciencias y cuáles recortaron las de estudios sociales, cómo el material perdido se iba a recuperar, y si el año próximo los estudiantes de sexto grado tomarán clases de ciencias y estudios sociales. Noyola no respondió a la petición de Chalkbeat de contestar las demás preguntas.</p><p>El presidente de la Junta de la Rocky Mountain Prep, Patrick Donovan, envió el viernes una declaración firmada por los ocho miembros diciendo que la junta apoya el liderazgo de la red de escuelas chárter y confía en que sus escuelas están “proporcionando una experiencia educativa que va mucho más allá de los requisitos”.</p><h2>Líderes de escuelas chárter ven una crisis de lectura</h2><p>El pasado otoño, los líderes de Rocky Mountain Prep dieron la voz de alarma por las bajas puntuaciones en lectura de las cinco escuelas intermedias y dos escuelas secundarias de la red. La mitad de los estudiantes de intermedia estaban leyendo por debajo del nivel de tercer grado y el 90% de los de secundaria por debajo del nivel de secundaria, según las actas de una <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1scVsV-PfeXdkD3FuOU2pCOcXpAUSfNrK">reunión de la junta de la red el 3 de noviembre</a>.</p><p>Dos meses después, los líderes de la red de escuelas chárter instituyeron nuevas clases de intervención en lectura para los estudiantes de sexto grado. A los padres del campus Federal se les notificó que sus hijos recibirían ayuda adicional para leer y que sus horarios cambiarían, pero no que las clases de ciencias se habían eliminado, dijo Perkins, que dejó su trabajo hace dos semanas.</p><p>Por email, Kanth describió a los padres como “entusiasmados por el tiempo adicional de lectura para sus hijos”, pero se negó a responder a una pregunta de si a los padres se les dijo explícitamente que sus hijos estaban perdiendo la clase de ciencias o estudios sociales.</p><p>La gran mayoría de los estudiantes en Rocky Mountain Prep - Federal son latinos y califican para comidas escolares gratis o a precio reducido. Casi dos tercios están clasificados como estudiantes de inglés.</p><p>Morales-Doyle dijo que el dominio del inglés se utiliza a menudo como una barrera que impide que los estudiantes de inglés tengan acceso a todas las asignaturas.</p><p>“Esto parece un caso clásico de una visión de déficit que hace que una escuela tome malas decisiones sobre lo que merecen sus estudiantes”, dijo.</p><p>Los funcionarios del Departamento de Educación de Colorado dicen que a las escuelas se les requiere enseñar un conjunto amplio de estándares estatales de ciencias y estudios sociales durante la escuela intermedia y que esos estándares usualmente se cubren durante tres años. Pero no hay reglas específicas sobre qué tiene que cubrirse y cuándo.</p><p>“El distrito es quien decide cómo será ese programa y cómo lo van a estructurar durante el día escolar”, dijo Joanna Bruno, directora ejecutiva de enseñanza y aprendizaje del departamento.</p><p>En Colorado, los estudiantes toman exámenes estatales de matemáticas, lectura y redacción todos los años de intermedia, pero los exámenes de ciencias solamente los toman en octavo grado.</p><p>Un portavoz del distrito escolar de Denver, que autoriza la docena de escuelas chárter de Rocky Mountain Prep, dijo que las escuelas chárter están obligadas por contrato a cumplir o superar los estándares académicos de Colorado. Él dijo que los funcionarios del distrito investigarían si se les notifica una posible violación del contrato de una escuela chárter.</p><h2>Los estudiantes reaccionan a perder la clase de ciencias</h2><p>Perkins dijo que se sorprendió cuando se enteró de que su clase diaria de ciencias, de 75 minutos, se convertiría en una clase de lectura. La noticia le llegó a principios del segundo semestre, después de haber terminado unas cuantas lecciones de introducción sobre seguridad en las ciencias.</p><p>La decisión significó que unos 65 estudiantes se perderían las lecciones que ella había planificado sobre tectónica de placas, energía térmica, geología y el cambio climático. Estaban tristes.</p><p>“Muchos niños se echaron a llorar... porque yo realmente los entusiasmaba con las ciencias”, dijo.</p><p>Después de la decisión de eliminar las ciencias, Perkins les asignó a sus estudiantes de sexto grado que hicieran carteles sobre la importancia de esa asignatura. Sus estudiantes los decoraron con filamentos de ADN, tubos de ensayo burbujeantes y electrones orbitando átomos. Un estudiante de sexto escribió con rotulador mágico negro: “¿Cómo es justo que la mitad de sexto tomen la clase de ciencias y nosotros tengamos solo dos semanas para aprender las reglas de la CIENCIA y nunca lleguemos a practicar CIENCIA?”</p><p>Perkins dijo que ella y otros maestros de su escuela recibieron un día de capacitación sobre el currículo de lectura de primaria que iban a usar para la intervención en secundaria — Core Knowledge Language Arts.</p><p>Las clases de intervención en lectura empezaron la semana siguiente, cuando Perkins les enseñó a un grupo de estudiantes de sexto grado a leer a nivel de segundo grado y a dos grupos de estudiantes de sexto grado a leer a nivel de cuarto grado. Al menos 20 estudiantes que tenían programado tomar el segundo semestre de ciencias con Perkins fueron devueltos a la clase de estudios sociales — que ya habían tomado en el primer semestre — porque no necesitaban ayuda adicional para leer. Perkins dijo que su maestro de estudios sociales trabajó para cambiar las lecciones de historia mundial y que no todo fuera una repetición para ellos.</p><p>Perkins se sentía frustrada porque las clases de lectura que estaba dando eran para estudiantes mucho más pequeños.</p><p>“No está diseñado para niños de 12 años”, dijo, y señaló que algunos de sus estudiantes tuvieron que leer cuentos de antes de dormir, entre ellos uno sobre un erizo que corría en una carrera y otro sobre un pancake que salía a saltos de una sartén.</p><h2>Los expertos dicen que las clases de ciencias y estudios sociales fomentan la lectura</h2><p>Las escuelas intermedias de Rocky Mountain Prep no son las únicas con puntuaciones deficientes en lectura, especialmente en el caso de los estudiantes de sexto grado que estaban en segundo cuando la pandemia cerró las escuelas hace cuatro años.</p><p>Autumn Rivera, maestra de ciencias de sexto grado en el distrito de Roaring Fork y presidenta electa de la Asociación de Maestros de Ciencias de Colorado, dice que entiende la urgencia de atender las deficiencias en lectura porque ella también tiene en su salón estudiantes que batallan para leer.</p><p>“La escuela es más fácil y la vida es más fácil cuando sabes leer bien, por lo que entiendo el sentimiento de emergencia en torno a tratar de ayudar para que las puntuaciones de lectura de los estudiantes mejoren”, dijo.</p><p>Pero quitar las ciencias o los estudios sociales no es la solución, dijo ella. Una de las mejores formas de mejorar las destrezas de lectura es incorporar la lectura en las áreas de contenido en las que los estudiantes aprenden sobre el mundo y los temas que les interesan, dijo ella.</p><p>“La ciencia es un lugar estupendo — y estudios sociales también — para que los estudiantes se entusiasmen tanto con lo que están aprendiendo que ni siquiera se den cuenta de que están leyendo”, afirmó.</p><p>Rivera, que ganó el premio de Maestra del Año 2022 en Colorado, recientemente vio esto ocurrir con un estudiante durante una unidad sobre el impacto del aceite de palma en el hábitat de los orangutanes en Indonesia. Después de que la clase leyó un artículo sobre la producción de aceite de palma, el estudiante que normalmente no habla mucho, “por primera vez levantó la mano y dio la respuesta a una pregunta con mucha seguridad porque sabía que la había encontrado”, dijo.</p><p>Perkins esperaba ser maestra en el campus Federal de Rocky Mountain Prep hasta el final del grado escolar, aunque había empezado a dudar cuando las dos redes de escuelas chárter se unieron el verano pasado.</p><p>“Pensaba quedarme por mi amor a la ciencia y mi amor por este grupo de estudiantes”. Después de lo que ocurrió en el segundo semestre, dijo, “perdí las dos razones por las que me estaba quedando”.</p><p>Perkins ahora es maestra de ciencias en séptimo grado en un distrito escolar cercano.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke es reportera senior de Chalkbeat y cubre temas relacionados con la niñez temprana y la alfabetización temprana. Para comunicarte con Ann, envíale un email a </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p><p><i>Traducido por Milly Suazo-Martinez</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/03/28/escuela-charter-denver-elimina-clase-ciencias-para-todos/Ann SchimkeIllustration Elaine Cromie / Chalkbeat | Photos courtesy of of Savannah Perkins2024-03-22T21:40:56+00:002024-03-28T21:34:14+00:00<p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/03/28/escuela-charter-denver-elimina-clase-ciencias-para-todos/" target="_blank"><i><b>Leer en español.</b></i></a></p><p>Sixth grade science teacher Savannah Perkins described a surprise meeting with her school principal in early January. He told her that she would no longer be teaching science because too many students were reading below grade level, she said. Her job would “pivot” to reading intervention for second semester.</p><p>The decision meant that about half of the sixth graders at the Denver charter school — Rocky Mountain Prep-Federal — would finish the year without taking their scheduled semester-long science class. The other half had taken science with Perkins first semester.</p><p>The 380-student Federal campus is not the only one of Rocky Mountain Prep’s five middle schools where students have experienced instructional changes. Perkins said Principal Robert Barrett told her the network’s other four middle schools were also cutting either second-semester science or social studies classes for sixth graders. Barrett didn’t respond to messages from Chalkbeat.</p><p>The move, by a network that prides itself on providing its mostly low-income and Latino students with a rigorous college prep education, is misguided, some experts say, but nothing new in education. Particularly since the federal 2001 “No Child Left Behind” law put increased emphasis on testing, many schools have shaved minutes off less-tested or non-tested subjects ranging from science and social studies to art, music, and physical education.</p><p>Not only do such policies turn reading into a punishment, they cast the missing subjects as a privilege not a right, said Daniel Morales-Doyle, an associate professor of science education at the University of Illinois Chicago.</p><p>“Canceling science class for what usually amounts to more reading drills turns science into something that’s only for kids who are fortunate enough to attend schools with high test scores,” he said. “We wouldn’t see it in a wealthier, whiter setting.”</p><p>Asked for a response to Morales-Doyle’s suggestion that such measures are applied inequitably, Indrina Kanth, Rocky Mountain Prep’s chief growth officer, wrote in an email to Chalkbeat that American society historically has worked to ensure that Black and Brown children did not learn to read.</p><p>“That is an educational injustice that we are working to correct,” she wrote.</p><p>The decision to scrap sixth grade science classes is among a host of changes at Rocky Mountain Prep over the last year, and comes after a <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/6/28/23775757/denver-charter-schools-strive-prep-rocky-mountain-prep-merger-tricia-noyola/">tumultuous merger last summer</a> between Rocky Mountain Prep and another prominent Denver charter network, STRIVE Prep. That merger, spearheaded by CEO Tricia Noyola, was intended to <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2022/8/3/23291341/strive-prep-rocky-mountain-denver-charter-merger/">cut administrative costs and strengthen academics</a>, but it also led to significant staff turnover and what some employees said was a singleminded focus on test scores.</p><p>Kanth said by email that the network has a right to make “programmatic adjustments” and a “moral obligation to ensure our students are reading on grade level so they can excel in academic content and beyond.”</p><p>She declined to detail which middle schools cut science class and which cut social studies class, how the missed material would be made up, and whether next year’s sixth graders will get science and social studies classes. Noyola didn’t respond to Chalkbeat’s request for answers to outstanding questions.</p><p>Rocky Mountain Prep’s Board Chair Patrick Donovan sent a statement signed by all eight board members Friday saying the board supports the charter network’s leadership and is confident that its schools are “providing an educational experience that goes far beyond the requirements.”</p><h2>Charter school leaders see a reading crisis</h2><p>Leaders at Rocky Mountain Prep raised alarm about low reading scores at the networks’ five middle schools and two high schools last fall. Half of middle schoolers were reading below a third grade level and 90% of high schoolers were reading below a high school level, according to minutes from a <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1scVsV-PfeXdkD3FuOU2pCOcXpAUSfNrK">network board meeting on November 3</a>.</p><p>Two months later, charter network officials instituted new reading intervention classes for sixth graders. Parents at the Federal campus were notified that their children would receive additional reading help and that their schedules would change, but not that science had gone by the wayside, said Perkins, who left her job two weeks ago.</p><p>Kanth, by email, described parents as “nothing but enthusiastic about additional time for their students in reading,” but declined to respond to a question about whether parents were explicitly told their children were missing science or social studies class.</p><p>The vast majority of students at Rocky Mountain Prep - Federal are Latino and qualify for free or reduced-price school meals. Nearly two-thirds are classified as English learners.</p><p>Morales-Doyle said English proficiency is often used as a gatekeeper that prevents English learners from accessing all subjects.</p><p>“This sounds like a classic case of a deficit view causing a school to make bad decisions about what their students deserve,” he said.</p><p>Officials from the Colorado Department of Education say schools are required to teach a broad set of state science and social studies standards during middle school and those standards are usually covered over three years. But there are no specific rules about what must be covered when.</p><p>“It’s entirely up to the district to decide what that program looks like and how they structure it in their school day,” said Joanna Bruno, the department’s executive director of teaching and learning.</p><p>In Colorado, students take state math and literacy tests every year of middle school but take science tests only in eighth grade.</p><p>A spokesman for the Denver school district, which authorizes Rocky Mountain Prep’s dozen charter schools, said charter schools are required under their contracts to meet or exceed Colorado’s academic standards. He said district officials would investigate if they were notified of a potential charter school contract violation.</p><h2>Students react to losing science</h2><p>Perkins said she was shocked when she found out her daily 75-minute science class would be converted to a reading class. The news came early in second semester after she’d finished a few introductory lessons on science safety.</p><p>The decision meant that around 65 students would miss her planned lessons on plate tectonics, thermal energy, geology, and climate change. They were upset.</p><p>“I had multiple kids that were in tears … because I really hyped up science,” she said.</p><p>After the decision to cut science, Perkins assigned her sixth graders to make posters about the importance of the subject. Her students decorated them with twisty DNA strands, bubbling test tubes, and electrons orbiting atoms. One sixth grader wrote in black magic marker, “How is it fair that half of sixth grade gets science and we got two weeks to learn the rules of SCIENCE and never got to do SCIENCE!!!”</p><p>Perkins said she and other teachers at her school received one day of training on the elementary reading curriculum they’d be using for middle school intervention — Core Knowledge Language Arts.</p><p>Reading intervention classes started the following week, with Perkins teaching one group of sixth graders reading at a second grade level and two groups of sixth graders reading at a fourth grade level. At least 20 students who’d been scheduled to take second semester science with Perkins were put back into social studies — a class they’d taken first semester — because they didn’t need extra reading help. Perkins said their social studies teacher worked to change world history lessons so it wouldn’t all be a repeat for them.</p><p>Perkins felt frustrated that the reading lessons she led were for much younger students.</p><p>“It’s just not designed to be used for 12-year-olds,” she said, noting that some of her students were relegated to reading bedtime stories, including one about a hedgehog running a race and another about a pancake that jumped out of a frying pan.</p><h2>Experts say science, social studies lessons boost reading</h2><p>Rocky Mountain Prep’s middle schools are hardly the only ones with lagging reading scores, especially for sixth graders who were second graders when the pandemic closed down school buildings four years ago.</p><p>Autumn Rivera, a sixth grade science teacher in the Roaring Fork district and president-elect of the Colorado Association of Science Teachers, said she understands the sense of urgency in addressing weak reading skills because she has struggling readers in her classroom, too.</p><p>“School is easier and life is easier when you can read well and so I understand the emergency feeling around trying to help students’ reading scores,” she said.</p><p>But taking away science or social studies is not the answer, she said. One of the best ways to boost reading skills is to incorporate reading practice into content areas where students are learning about the world and topics that interest them, she said.</p><p>“Science is such a great place — and social studies — for students to get so excited about what they’re learning, they don’t even realize they’re reading,” she said.</p><p>Rivera, who won Colorado’s 2022 Teacher of the Year award, recently saw this happen for one struggling reader during a unit on how palm oil impacts orangutan habitat in Indonesia. After the class read an article about palm oil production, the normally quiet boy, “for the first time, raised his hand and shared out an answer with confidence because he knew he had found it,” she said.</p><p>Perkins had hoped to teach at Rocky Mountain Prep’s Federal campus through the end of the school year despite misgivings that began when the two charter networks merged last summer.</p><p>“I was planning on staying for my love of science and my love for this group of kids,” After the second-semester shake-up, she said, “I lost both of the reasons I was staying.”</p><p>Perkins now teaches seventh grade science in a nearby school district.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/03/22/denver-rocky-mountain-prep-charter-schools-cancel-science/Ann SchimkeIllustration Elaine Cromie / Chalkbeat | Photos courtesy of of Savannah Perkins2024-03-12T21:15:29+00:002024-03-25T14:58:44+00:00<p>The price tag of a bill to <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/03/08/colorado-legislature-considers-child-care-subsidy-bill/">overhaul a Colorado program</a> that helps low-income families pay for child care shocked some lawmakers Tuesday, but that didn’t stop a legislative committee from giving it initial approval.</p><p><a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb24-1223">House Bill 24-1223</a> would simplify the application process for the $156 million subsidy program, called the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program or CCCAP. It would also boost subsidy amounts for some families, make the program more attractive to child care providers, and cover child care tuition for the children of some full-time child care employees regardless of family income. Some of the proposed changes wouldn’t take effect until 2026.</p><p>The House Health and Human Services Committee approved the bill in an 8-4 vote Tuesday, with the most vociferous opposition coming from Rep. Richard Holtorf, a Republican representing several northeastern Colorado counties. He expressed concerns about the bill’s cost — about $81 million in the first year — among other things.</p><p>“When I first saw this bill and the fiscal note, I was shocked,” he said.</p><p>Rep. Lorena Garcia, a Democratic co-sponsor of the bill, noted that some of the bill’s provisions are part of <a href="https://info.childcareaware.org/media/new-child-care-and-development-fund-policies-will-promote-access-affordability-and-stability">new federal regulations</a> and will come with federal money to pay for them.</p><p>“This is not the first time that the state has to preemptively pass policy in order to be able to draw down federal dollars,” she said. “In this case … we are extending the timeline out for two years. If something happens where these dollars then do not become available, we have time to correct.”</p><p>The bill’s next stop is the House Appropriations Committee.</p><p>Key provisions of the amended bill include:</p><ul><li>Limiting parent co-pays to no more than 7% of family income, down from the current cap of 14%. An amendment approved Tuesday would delay the effective date of this provision to July 1, 2026.</li><li>Creating a uniform statewide application that doesn’t ask for extraneous information, such as custody agreements or child immunization records.</li><li>Allowing families to get or continue receiving child care aid for 90 days while their application or renewal paperwork is being reviewed, a provision that will help parents start working immediately and keep children in care. An amendment approved Tuesday would delay the effective date of this provision to July 1, 2026.</li><li>Paying child care providers who accept subsidies based on the number of subsidized children enrolled, not on the number of days those children attend. Currently, providers can lose money for days the child is absent beyond the number allowed by their county.</li><li>Making child care employees eligible for full subsidies regardless of their family income. An amendment approved Tuesday would limit this benefit to full-time child care employees who work at a facility that accepts CCCAP subsidies.</li></ul><p>More than 20 people testified about the bill at Tuesday’s hearing, including single mothers who have used the subsidy program, providers who accept the subsidies, and advocates from groups such as Healthier Colorado, the Colorado Children’s Campaign, and the Women’s Foundation of Colorado.</p><p>Most expressed support for the bill, but a few, representing counties, voiced concerns.</p><p>Katie First, legislative director at Colorado Counties, Inc., a group that represents county commissioners, said allowing child care employees to access subsidies regardless of family income could take aid away from other families who need it.</p><p>“While we appreciate the need to support and recruit child care providers, we fear that prioritizing these providers will decrease the number of low-income families that we would be able to serve in our community,” she said.</p><p>Child care is a low-wage, high-turnover industry with many providers facing staff shortages in recent years.</p><p>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues. Contact Ann at <a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank">aschimke@chalkbeat.org</a>.</p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/03/12/colorado-child-care-subsidy-bill-clears-first-legislative-hurdle/Ann SchimkeAnn Schimke / Chalkbeat2024-03-22T22:45:36+00:002024-03-22T22:45:36+00:00<p>Denver school board members shouldn’t speak on behalf of the board or claim to exercise board authority when they post on social media according to a new policy the board unanimously adopted Thursday evening.</p><p>The social media policy — a single sentence added to a broader policy on board member conduct — aligns with a <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/22-611_ap6c.pdf">March 15 U.S. Supreme Court ruling</a> that could give public officials <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2024/03/20/supreme-court-ruling-on-social-media-accounts-affects-school-board-members/">more freedom to block critics</a> or delete their comments.</p><p>Originally, the board was <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/03/08/denver-school-board-considers-social-media-policy/">considering a longer social media policy</a> that prohibited board members from blocking people or deleting comments on board members’ official accounts based on the views expressed. While Colorado law already gives elected officials the authority to block or ban people from personal accounts, the constitutionality of that law hasn’t been tested in federal court.</p><p>The draft policy also said board members who want to discuss Denver Public Schools business on social media should do so on an official account.</p><p>But after the high court ruling, the board changed the policy language so it matched the language in the decision. The new policy doesn’t make the same distinctions between personal and official accounts as the original draft.</p><p>The board’s social media policy comes at a time when public officials often face personal attacks, and courts are trying to provide answers about what constitutes official business and how far the public’s right to free speech extends.</p><p>In September, <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2023/09/27/auontai-anderson-social-media-lawsuit-eve-chen-denver-school-board/">a Denver Public Schools parent sued former school board member Auon’tai Anderson</a> after he blocked her on Facebook but later settled the case. Anderson, a prolific social media user, spent four years on the board but did not run for re-election this past November.</p><p>The Denver board’s new social media policy says, “When posting on social media, Board Members shall not state they have actual authority to speak on behalf of the Board on a particular matter, and shall not purport to exercise any Board authority in their social media posts.”</p><p>Under the new Supreme Court standard, public officials who aren’t acting with government authority or in their official capacity are similar to private citizens posting about their jobs. That means they wouldn’t be violating anybody’s First Amendment rights if they deleted comments or blocked or banned users.</p><p>The March 15 Supreme Court ruling — in a case called Lindke v. Freed — cautioned that each case must be considered based on the relevant facts. If public officials are acting in their official capacity on personal social media accounts, it’s possible they can still be sued for blocking people.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/03/22/denver-school-board-adopts-social-media-policy/Ann Schimked3sign2023-12-11T23:49:26+00:002024-03-11T23:02:25+00:00<p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/11/28/potential-religious-education-ban-in-state-funded-preschools/" target="_blank"><i><b>Read in English.</b></i></a></p><p>Cuando la maestra Corrie Haynes les preguntó a los estudiantes de preescolar sentados sobre la alfombra verde frente a ella lo que era un pecado, un niño pequeño contestó muy seguro: “Todas las cosas malas que hacemos”.</p><p>“Muy bien”, Haynes contestó.</p><p>Luego, los 13 niños, la mayoría de ellos vestidos con una camisa tipo polo de color rojo granate o azul y faldas o pantalones oscuros, aprendieron que todos pecamos—hasta los maestros, las mamás y los papás y el pastor de la iglesia—y que aunque Dios odia el pecado, no odia a las personas que cometen pecados.</p><p>“Él nos sigue queriendo mucho, hasta cuando pecamos”, Haynes dijo.</p><p>Un minuto después, Haynes guio a los niños de 4 años para que cantaran una canción sobre los modales: “Siempre digan ‘gracias’, siempre digan ‘por favor’. Cuando no somos agradecidos, Dios no queda complacido”.</p><p>Este tipo de contenido religioso por mucho tiempo se ha integrado en las lecciones de Landmark Preschool, un programa de educación preescolar ubicado en la Iglesia Bautista Landmark en la ciudad de Grand Junction en el oeste de Colorado. Lo que es diferente este año es que las personas que pagan impuestos en el estado están cubriendo los costos—más de $100,000—para que 20 estudiantes en edad preescolar asistan a este programa.</p><p>Colorado invitó explícitamente a los preescolares religiosos para que participaran en su nuevo programa de preescolar universal valuado en $322 millones, el cual, a pesar de tener un lanzamiento dificultoso ha sido popular entre las familias. Pero los representantes estatales han enviado mensajes confusos sobre si los preescolares pueden ofrecer una enseñanza religiosa durante el horario de clases financiado por el estado. Antes del lanzamiento, dijeron que se prohibía. Ahora dicen que no, pero que el próximo año quizás se prohíba.</p><p>Debates sobre si usar o no fondos públicos para financiar la educación religiosa surgen en un entorno en el que hay presiones conservadoras para desarmar ideas históricas sobre la separación de la iglesia y el estado.</p><p>Para participar en el programa preescolar universal de Colorado, los centros preescolares, incluido Landmark, tuvieron que firmar un contrato aceptando cumplir varios requisitos, como que no discriminarían debido a la orientación sexual ni la identidad de género. Ese requisito ahora está sujeto a dos demandas legales—uno de una escuela preescolar cristiana en el Condado de Chaffee y el otro de dos parroquias católicas que administran programas preescolares cerca de Denver.</p><p>El contrato que los proveedores firmaron no mencionó la enseñanza religiosa.</p><p>Lauren Weber, la directora de Landmark Preschool, dijo que esa enseñanza se “incluye en casi todo lo que hacemos”.</p><p>Pero algunos expertos dicen que mezclar el dinero público y la educación religiosa va en contra de los cimientos históricos del país.</p><p>“Si el dinero de nuestros contribuyentes está financiando el ejercicio religioso … entonces nos estamos poniendo en una posición [en la que] el estado y la iglesia se enredan de tal forma que los fundadores estaban tratando de evitar”, dijo Kevin Welner, director del Centro Nacional de Políticas Educativas en la Universidad de Colorado en Boulder.</p><h2><b>El estado planea limitar las lecciones religiosas en el preescolar universal</b></h2><p>Los funcionarios dedicados a la infancia temprana en Colorado propusieron prohibir la enseñanza religiosa en una serie de reglas que planean aprobar la próxima primavera. No se sabe bien en qué situación eso deje a los programas como el de Landmark, en el cual los líderes esperan abrir dos salones más para la enseñanza preescolar universal el año que viene.</p><p>Históricamente, los jueces en Estados Unidos han mantenido una separación entre la iglesia y el estado, pero la actual Suprema Corte de EE. UU. emitió un fallo el año pasado diciendo que el estado de Maine no puede excluir a escuelas que ofrecen enseñanza religiosa de un programa estatal que paga por la educación privada.</p><p>Michael Bindas, un abogado principal con el Instituto para la Justicia, un despacho legal libertario de interés público, representó a los demandantes en el caso de Maine. Bindas dijo que ese fallo deja en claro que pedirles a las escuelas religiosas que eliminen la enseñanza religiosa durante el horario de clases financiado por el estado equivale a discriminación religiosa.</p><p>Si Colorado adopta las reglas propuestas que prohíben la enseñanza religiosa durante el horario de preescolar financiado por el estado, dijo, “sospecho que quedará atrapado en años de litigación”.</p><p>A Welner le preocupa que algunas enseñanzas religiosas en programas preescolares estén enviando mensajes dañinos a los niños, como por ejemplo si un niño que está cuestionando su identidad de género asiste a un preescolar religioso.</p><p>“Existe algo inquietante, por lo menos para mí, sobre el uso de dinero de los contribuyentes para subsidiar la educación de un niño en un entorno que esencialmente está atacando la identidad de ese niño”, dijo.</p><h2>Parte de la visión del preescolar universal era que los padres eligieran</h2><p>Desde el principio, los líderes estatales planearon ofrecer preescolar universal en todo tipo de entornos—en escuelas públicas, en centros religiosos y en hogares autorizados por el estado. La idea era darles a los padres muchas opciones, más de las que se ofrecían en programas estatales anteriores.</p><p>Casi 50,000 niños en Colorado, la mayoría de 4 años de edad, están obteniendo una educación preescolar gratis a través del programa de preescolar universal. De los más de 1,900 preescolares que se unieron al programa universal, 39 son religiosos, según datos del estado. En conjunto, atienden a alrededor de 930 niños.</p><p>Muchos programas preescolares financiados con fondos públicos permiten que los preescolares religiosos participen siempre y cuando la enseñanza religiosa ocurra durante el horario cubierto por mensualidades privadas.</p><p>Colorado también planeó tener ese requisito—pero nunca puso las reglas que limitan la enseñanza religiosa por escrito.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/aHp5FHCfwiNfCreLT4SWIuR0eqM=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/CSJ5KGAPD5HYXIVWDYL4VSMFPQ.jpg" alt="Landmark Preschool en Grand Junction, Colorado." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Landmark Preschool en Grand Junction, Colorado.</figcaption></figure><h2>¿Se usará este plan de estudios cristiano en preescolares el próximo año?</h2><p>Landmark Preschool abrió sus puertas en 2012 y atiende a niños desde bebés hasta en edad preescolar. Cerca de la mitad de ellos son niños con familias de bajos ingresos. Tiene la segunda calificación más alta por la calidad de sus cuidados infantiles según el sistema estatal de cinco niveles.</p><p>El programa cuenta con dos salones de preescolar universal, uno que se basa en el juego y otro que es más estructurado, donde enseñan habilidades como la escritura en letra cursiva. Ambos salones usan el plan de estudios Abeka, un plan popular entre las escuelas cristianas y familias que educan a sus hijos en el hogar y que describe a la Biblia como la base de todo aprendizaje.</p><p>Actualmente, no hay reglas estatales que rijan los planes de estudios en el preescolar universal, pero representantes estatales planean crear una lista de planes aceptables antes que empiece el segundo año del programa. No se sabe bien cuáles serán los parámetros o si los planes como el de Abeka cumplirán con los requisitos.</p><p>Weber, la directora del centro, y Christy Barrows, una administradora en la escuela de kindergarten a 12º grado adyacente a Landmark, dicen que recibieron confirmaciones repetidas de representantes locales del preescolar universal diciendo que su programa y el plan de estudios son aceptables.</p><p>“Somos muy abiertos sobre quiénes somos y lo que enseñamos”, Weber dijo. “Les digo a todos [los participantes] de visitas guiadas: ‘Encuentren lo que mejor se adapte a ustedes, y si no es [aquí], está bien‘”.</p><p>El centro preescolar acepta a todos los niños, incluidos aquellos con familias LGBTQ, dijo. Pero las decisiones de contratación no son igual de sencillas.</p><p>“Tenemos los valores cristianos y la moral y las creencias”, Weber dijo. “Esa [persona contratada] quizás no encaje bien en nuestro centro, porque estaremos enseñando estos valores y si no crees en estos valores, es muy difícil que te contratemos”.</p><h2><b>En Landmark Preschool, lecciones sobre la Biblia influyen en la hora de cuentacuentos</b></h2><p>Adentro del salón preescolar de Haynes, llegó la hora de contar una historia bíblica sobre la obediencia—específicamente, la obediencia a Dios. Entre pausas para que niños ansiosos se calmaran, Haynes contó la historia de una pequeña niña a quien la robaron de su familia y obligaron a trabajar para el poderoso general Naaman, quien tenía lepra.</p><p>“Había enormes llagas por toda la piel de Naaman, y todas estas llagas seguía empeorando y empeorando”, Haynes explicó. Pero la niña intervino para ayudar, sugiriéndole a Naaman que visitara a un profeta.</p><p>“La pequeña niña pudo haber dicho: ‘Naaman se merece tener lepra. A mí me robaron de mi hogar y me obligan a trabajar como sirvienta’”, Haynes dijo.</p><p>En lugar de eso, “la niña eligió hacer lo correcto y perdonar aunque nadie le dijera que lo hiciera”.</p><p>Weber, sentada observando la clase de cerca, está esperando ver qué nuevas reglas los líderes del preescolar universal impondrán y si Abeka formará parte de la lista de planes de estudios aprobados.</p><p>“En este momento, está funcionando bien, pero en el futuro, ¿cómo será?” dijo. “Vamos a proceder año con año y ver lo que hacemos”.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke es una reportera principal para Chalkbeat, cubriendo temas sobre la primera infancia y lectoescritura temprana. Comunícate con Ann por correo electrónico a </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p><p><i>Traducido por Alejandra X. Castañeda</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/12/11/preescolar-religioso-publico-podria-ser-prohibido-en-colorado/Ann SchimkeAnn Schimke2024-01-05T00:38:08+00:002024-03-11T16:49:50+00:00<p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/03/11/cambio-en-prohibir-ensenanza-religiosa-preescolar-universal-colorado/" target="_blank"><i><b>Leer en español</b></i></a></p><p>Colorado officials leading the state’s new universal preschool program originally planned to ban religious lessons and activities during state-funded class time. Not anymore.</p><p>In the <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1s3yXGXbb1LwfninG4AwE0o_N6ubZgAQG">latest round of proposed state rules</a> posted publicly on Wednesday, they have removed an explicit ban on religious instruction during universal preschool hours. The rules, which would take effect next summer, are set to be considered by a state advisory committee on Jan. 11 and adopted in February.</p><p>The new draft rules mark the latest in a series of flip-flops by state officials on the subject of religious education in its new $322 million preschool program. The state’s shifting approach stems partly from the program’s <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/3/24/23655621/colorado-universal-free-preschool-march-30-computer-match-concerns/">rushed rollout</a>, and partly from a new legal landscape shaped by <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2022/6/21/23176716/supreme-court-maine-carson-makin-religious-schools-vouchers/">recent U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions</a> permitting the use of public funds for religious education.</p><p>Practically speaking, the state’s decision to remove the ban on religious instruction could attract more faith-based preschools to the universal preschool program, which provides tuition-free classes to more than 60% of the state’s 4-year-olds this year. Currently, there are 40 faith-based preschools among more than 1,900 preschools in the program. Because of mixed messages about whether religious instruction was allowed, some faith-based preschools may have decided not to participate this year.</p><p>State officials declined to comment Thursday about why they eliminated the ban on religious instruction in the proposed preschool rules. Ian McKenzie, a spokesman for the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, said the department will comment following the conclusion of a trial in a federal lawsuit brought by two Catholic preschools <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/01/03/colorado-universal-preschool-catholic-lawsuit-trial/">challenging the universal preschool program’s nondiscrimination rules</a>.</p><p>“We’re just letting the trial finish before any comments on any of its content,” he said Thursday.</p><p>The trial centers not on religious instruction, but on whether religious preschools in the universal preschool program have to accept students from LGBTQ families. It began Tuesday and is expected to finish late this week or early next week.</p><p>Colorado always planned to offer universal preschool classes in a variety of settings, including public school classrooms, private child care centers, and faith-based preschools. They never planned to let faith-based preschools teach religion during state-funded classes.</p><p>But state officials at the early childhood department ran out of time to make rules on the topic before the program launched in August. There was a widely distributed fact sheet that talked about religious instruction being prohibited, but no official rules. That allowed faith-based preschools participating in the program to <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/11/28/potential-religious-education-ban-in-state-funded-preschools/">incorporate religious stories, songs, and prayers</a> however they wished this year.</p><p>In October, the state proposed rules that would do what officials had intended all along: ban religious instruction in universal preschool. But in December, the conservative group Advance Colorado <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vzoB7Vhw6pNMpqDFLY72nUBwnJCasLMX/view">threatened to sue</a> if the state followed through with the proposed ban. With the state’s latest draft rules, it appears the state has shelved its plan for now.</p><p>Faith-based preschools participating in the universal program differ widely in how much religion they incorporate into their preschool classes.</p><p>Leaders at Grand Junction’s Landmark Preschool, which is housed in a Baptist church, say religion is incorporated into everything they do, including math and reading. One morning last fall, a class of 4-year-old preschoolers recited Bible verses with their teacher.</p><p>“OK, here we go,” said teacher Corrie Haynes to the 13 children sitting in front of her on a green rug. “Philippians 4:19. My God shall supply all your needs,” they said together. Next, they sang songs about God and talked about sin and forgiveness.</p><p>At King Baptist Child Development Center and Preschool in Denver, preschool classes look much different. The school, which is owned by the adjacent church, uses a secular curriculum and doesn’t incorporate religious content during the school day.</p><p>Telaya Purchase, assistant director of the center, said during an interview with Chalkbeat earlier this school year that children can participate in what’s called a devotional before school starts at 9 a.m. That includes the Pledge of Allegiance, the Lord’s Prayer, and the song “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” She also said children say grace at meals, but can skip it if they choose.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/01/05/colorado-universal-preschool-religious-instruction-ban-reversal/Ann SchimkeAnn Schimke2023-11-28T23:24:42+00:002024-03-11T16:41:03+00:00<p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/12/11/preescolar-religioso-publico-podria-ser-prohibido-en-colorado/" target="_blank"><i><b>Leer en español</b></i></a></p><p>When teacher Corrie Haynes asked the preschoolers gathered on the green rug in front of her what sin is, a little boy answered confidently: “All the bad things we do.”</p><p>“Very good,” she said.</p><p>Next, the 13 children, most wearing maroon or blue polo shirts and dark skirts or pants, learned that everybody sins — even teachers, moms and dads, and the church pastor — and that although God hates sin, he doesn’t hate people who sin.</p><p>“He still loves us very much even when we sin,” Haynes said.</p><p>A minute later, Haynes led the 4-year-olds in a song about manners: “Always say thank you, always say please. When we’re ungrateful, God is not pleased.”</p><p>Such religious content has long been woven through the lessons at Landmark Preschool, which is nestled inside Landmark Baptist Church in the western Colorado city of Grand Junction. What’s different this year is that state taxpayers are covering the bill — more than $100,000 — for 20 preschoolers to attend classes there.</p><p>Colorado explicitly invited faith-based preschools to participate in its new $322 million universal preschool program, which despite <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/3/24/23655621/colorado-universal-free-preschool-march-30-computer-match-concerns/">a rocky rollout</a> has proven popular with families. But state officials have sent mixed messages about whether preschools can offer religious instruction during state-funded class time. Prior to the launch, they said it was forbidden. Now, they say it’s not, but that next year it could be.</p><p>Debates about public funding for religious education come amid an ongoing conservative push to break down long-held ideas about the separation of church and state, including in a lawsuit underway now over <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2023/6/6/23751623/religious-charter-schools-private-oklahoma-explainer-supreme-court/">a religious charter school</a> in Oklahoma. Colorado’s Constitution, like those in many other states, prohibits using public money for religious purposes. But a series of recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions has hollowed out such provisions.</p><p>In order to participate in Colorado’s universal preschool program, preschools, including Landmark, had to sign <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/12FBPE-kMvDAc_TMP4FweYDnrNFo13FeY/view">a contract</a> agreeing to a variety of conditions, including that they would <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1le9YYgoWo49-zf0X7NQQP-oHy_kSOQYQ/view">not discriminate</a> based on sexual orientation and gender identity. That requirement is now the subject of two lawsuits — one by <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2023/07/14/christian-pre-school-sues-colorado-hiring-practices-lgbtq-rights-religious-freedom/">a Christian preschool in Chaffee County</a> and the other by <a href="https://becketnewsite.s3.amazonaws.com/20230816151801/St.-Mary-Complaint.pdf">two Catholic parishes that run preschools near Denver</a>. The contract that providers signed did not mention religious instruction.</p><p>Lauren Weber, the director of Landmark Preschool, said such instruction is “built into pretty much everything we do.”</p><p>But some experts say mixing public dollars and religious education clashes with the nation’s historical underpinnings.</p><p>“If our taxpayer money is funding religious exercise … then we are putting ourselves in a position of the state and the church getting entangled in a way that the founders were trying to avoid,” said Kevin Welner, director of the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado Boulder.</p><h2>State plans to restrict religious lessons in universal preschool</h2><p>Colorado early childhood officials have proposed a ban on religious instruction in a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KtrZqkCdulWcwPyebYNfsHnTHo9lLosG/view">set of rules they plan to approve</a> next spring. It’s not clear where that would leave programs like Landmark, where leaders hope to open two additional universal preschool classrooms next year.</p><p>Such questions are playing out amid a rapidly changing legal landscape. The latest shift came in June 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in a Maine <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2022/6/21/23176716/supreme-court-maine-carson-makin-religious-schools-vouchers/">voucher case called Carson v. Makin</a>. The court ruled that Maine could not exclude schools that offer religious instruction from a state-funded program open to secular private schools. The ruling built on a series of decisions in which the high court has grown more sympathetic to the idea of using public money for religious purposes, including religious education.</p><p>Steven Green, a law professor at Willamette University who specializes in church and state issues, said the shift has come as the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/09/13/modeling-the-future-of-religion-in-america/">share of Christians in the United States</a> shrinks and the share of people without a religious affiliation grows.</p><p>Amid these demographic changes, “We’re seeing a kind of circling of the wagons and a feeling of being dispossessed of privilege, particularly white, conservative Christians,” he said.</p><p>That narrative has created growing support for measures that allow or inject religion into public life, he said.</p><p>Green said that five or six years ago, Colorado could have banned religious instruction during state-funded preschool classes fairly easily. But the U.S. Supreme Court has mostly invalidated state constitutional provisions that prohibit public funds for religious purposes. Now, such provisions — often referred to as Blaine amendments — are “pretty much unenforceable,” he said.</p><p>Michael Bindas, a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice, a libertarian public interest law firm, agreed. He also said the ruling in the Carson case, which he argued on behalf of the plaintiffs before the Supreme Court, makes clear that asking faith-based schools to eliminate religious instruction during state-funded class time amounts to religious discrimination.</p><p>If Colorado adopts the proposed rules banning religious instruction during state-funded preschool hours, he said, “I suspect it will be tied up in years of litigation.”</p><p>Welner worries that some preschools’ religious teachings could send damaging messages to children. He raised the possibility of a young transgender child attending universal preschool in a faith-based program that’s intolerant of transgender people.</p><p>“There is something disturbing, to me at least, about using taxpayer money to subsidize the education of a child in an environment that is essentially attacking the kid’s identity,” he said.</p><h2>Parent choice was part of the universal preschool vision</h2><p>Colorado’s Democratic governor, Jared Polis, has championed state-funded preschool for all since hitting the <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2017/11/15/21103745/polis-campaign-releases-education-plan-including-new-promise-about-teacher-raises/">gubernatorial campaign trail in 2017</a>. Two years later, during his first term, voters approved a nicotine tax to help pay for the program.</p><p>Parents began applying last winter, using an online form to choose up to five preschools they liked. The state matching system then assigned their child to a spot at one of them. Despite some confusion about the application process, families flocked to join, and enrollment quickly exceeded the state’s projections. Today, nearly 50,000 children are getting tuition-free preschool through the program, most of them 4-year-olds.</p><p>From the beginning, state leaders planned to offer universal preschool in all kinds of settings — in public schools, faith-based centers, and homes licensed by the state. The idea was to give parents lots of choices, more than were offered under <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2017/11/15/21103745/polis-campaign-releases-education-plan-including-new-promise-about-teacher-raises/">the state’s previous smaller preschool program</a> for children with risk factors. That was mostly offered in public school classrooms.</p><p>Of the more than 1,900 preschools that joined the universal program, 39 are faith-based, according to state data. Together, they serve about 930 children.</p><p>Allowing faith-based preschools to participate in publicly funded early childhood programs is nothing new. The federal Head Start preschool program, plus a number of states and cities, have done it for years. But unlike Colorado’s universal program, those programs — including Denver’s long-running taxpayer-funded preschool tuition assistance program — generally <a href="https://dpp.org/for-preschools/provider-handbook/faith-based-providers-policy/">prohibit religious instruction during the government-funded portion of the day</a>.</p><p>Such a restriction was on Colorado’s radar, too. An open records request found that in October 2022, the state’s universal preschool director <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24172814-upk-fact-sheet?responsive=1&title=1">sent a fact sheet</a> to more than 50 local universal preschool officials stating that faith-based preschools could participate, as long as they didn’t use state funds for religious programming. Some of those local officials posted that condition on their websites.</p><p>But somehow, amid the chaos leading up to the launch, the issue got lost. Last spring, the state ran out of time to create rules on things like class size, curriculum, and teacher training, so it told participating preschools to “<a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/4/7/23674706/colorado-free-preschool-quality-standards-delay/">keep doing what you’re doing</a>.” State leaders pledged to come up with rules by the start of the second year in August 2024 and <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/10/30/23939834/colorado-universal-preschool-class-size-cap-quality-rules/">are in that process now</a>.</p><p>In October, state officials told Chalkbeat by email that there’s nothing in writing prohibiting religious instruction in universal preschool. A spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Early Childhood declined to comment about why the department didn’t establish rules on the issue from the outset.</p><h2>Will this Christian curriculum be used in preschools next year?</h2><p>Landmark Preschool opened in 2012 and serves children from infancy through preschool, about half of them from low-income families. It has the <a href="https://decl.my.salesforce-sites.com/search?program=landmark%20preschool">second highest rating</a> on the state’s five-level scale for child care quality.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/aHp5FHCfwiNfCreLT4SWIuR0eqM=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/CSJ5KGAPD5HYXIVWDYL4VSMFPQ.jpg" alt="Landmark Preschool in Grand Junction, Colorado." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Landmark Preschool in Grand Junction, Colorado.</figcaption></figure><p>The school has two universal preschool classrooms, one that is play-based and one that is more structured, teaching skills like cursive writing. Both use the Abeka curriculum, a program popular with Christian schools and homeschooling families that <a href="https://www.abeka.com/SubjectDistinctives.aspx">describes the Bible</a> as the foundation for all learning.</p><p>Currently, there are no state rules governing curriculum in universal preschool, but state officials plan to create a list of acceptable curriculums before the second year of the program starts. It’s not clear what the criteria will be or whether programs like Abeka will pass muster.</p><p>Weber, the center’s director, and Christy Barrows, an administrator at Landmark’s adjoining K-12 school, say they received repeated reassurances from local universal preschool officials that their program and curriculum would be acceptable.</p><p>“We’re very open about who we are and what we teach,” said Weber. “I tell all my tours, ‘Find the right fit for you, and if it’s not (here), that’s OK.’”</p><p>The preschool welcomes all children, including those from LGBTQ families, she said. But hiring decisions are not as simple.</p><p>“We have the Christian values and morals and beliefs,” Weber said. “That hire may not be a good fit for our center, because we will be teaching these values, and if you don’t believe in these values, that’s really hard to be hired.”</p><h2>Bible lessons shape storytime at Landmark Preschool</h2><p>Inside Haynes’ preschool classroom, it was time for a Bible story on obedience — specifically obedience to God. Between pauses to settle antsy children, Haynes told about a young girl who was stolen from her family and forced to work for the powerful general Naaman, who had leprosy.</p><p>“There were huge sores all over Naaman’s skin, and all these sores would keep getting worse and worse,” Haynes explained. But the girl stepped in to help, suggesting Naaman should visit a prophet.</p><p>“The little girl could have said, ‘It serves Naaman right to have leprosy. I’ve been taken away from my home and made to work as a servant,’” Haynes said.</p><p>Instead, “the girl chose to do what was right and forgive even though no one had told her to do it.”</p><p>Weber, who sat nearby observing the class, is waiting to see what new rules universal preschool leaders put in place and whether Abeka will make the approved curriculum list.</p><p>“Right now, it’s working out just fine, but in the future what does it look like?” she said. “We’re just going to take it year by year and see what we do.”</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/11/28/potential-religious-education-ban-in-state-funded-preschools/Ann SchimkeAnn Schimke2024-03-11T13:39:40+00:002024-03-11T15:35:11+00:00<p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/01/05/colorado-universal-preschool-religious-instruction-ban-reversal/" target="_blank"><i><b>Read in English.</b></i></a></p><p>Los funcionarios de Colorado que lideran el nuevo programa de preescolar universal en el estado originalmente planeaban prohibir las lecciones y actividades religiosas durante el horario de clases financiado por el estado.</p><p>Pero ya no.</p><p>En la <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1s3yXGXbb1LwfninG4AwE0o_N6ubZgAQG">última ronda de reglas estatales propuestas</a> que se compartieron públicamente, eliminaron una prohibición explícita de la enseñanza religiosa durante el horario de preescolar universal. Se espera que las reglas, las cuales entrarían en vigor el próximo verano, se adopten a finales de marzo.</p><p>Las nuevas reglas borrador marcan las más recientes en una serie de decisiones cambiantes que los funcionarios estatales han tomado en relación con el tema de la educación religiosa en su nuevo programa de preescolar valuado en $322 millones. El método cambiante del estado se debe en parte a la <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/3/24/23655621/colorado-universal-free-preschool-march-30-computer-match-concerns/">implementación apresurada</a> del programa, y en parte también a un nuevo entorno legal influido por <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2022/6/21/23176716/supreme-court-maine-carson-makin-religious-schools-vouchers/">recientes decisiones de la Corte Suprema de EE. UU.</a> las cuales permiten el uso de fondos públicos para la educación religiosa.</p><p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/01/29/preescolar-gratis-para-ninos-de-3-4-anos-2024/">Solicitud para el preescolar gratis de Colorado en 2024: lo que los padres necesitan saber</a></p><p>Prácticamente hablando, la decisión del estado de eliminar la prohibición de la enseñanza religiosa quizás atraiga a más centros preescolares religiosos al programa de preescolar universal, el cual está proporcionando clases sin cobrar colegiatura a más del 60 por ciento de los niños de cuatro años de edad en el estado este año. Actualmente, hay 40 preescolares religiosos entre los más de 1,900 preescolares que participan en el programa. Debido a mensajes confusos sobre si la enseñanza religiosa se permitía o no, algunos preescolares religiosos quizás decidieron no participar este año.</p><p>Un vocero con el Departamento de Colorado de la Primera Infancia dijo que la prohibición de la enseñanza religiosa se eliminó de las reglas propuestas porque no disminuyó las inquietudes de “ciertos proveedores de que sus derechos legales estarían protegidos, ni reflejaba el entorno legal cambiante relacionado con estos temas”.</p><p>El estado está esperando una decisión de la Corte Suprema de Colorado en <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/01/03/colorado-universal-preschool-catholic-lawsuit-trial/">una demanda presentada por dos preescolares católicos</a>. El resultado de esa demanda no afectaría las reglas sobre lo que se puede enseñar en los preescolares financiados por el estado, pero abordaría las reglas antidiscriminación que afectan a las familias LGBTQ.</p><p>Colorado siempre tuvo planes de ofrecer clases de preescolar universal en una variedad de entornos, incluidos salones de escuelas públicas, centros de atención infantil privados y preescolares religiosos. Nunca planeó dejar que los preescolares religiosos enseñaran religión durante las clases financiadas por el estado.</p><p>Pero los funcionarios estatales en el departamento de la primera infancia no tuvieron suficiente tiempo para establecer reglas sobre el tema antes de lanzar el programa en agosto. Eso permitió que este año los preescolares religiosos que participan en el programa incorporaran historias, canciones y oraciones religiosas como quisieran.</p><p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/12/11/preescolar-religioso-publico-podria-ser-prohibido-en-colorado/">El programa de preescolar universal de Colorado podría prohibir la enseñanza religiosa el próximo año</a></p><p>En octubre, el estado propuso reglas que harían lo que los funcionarios tenían planeado hacer desde el principio: prohibir la enseñanza religiosa en el programa de preescolar universal. Pero en Diciembre, el grupo conservador Advance Colorado <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vzoB7Vhw6pNMpqDFLY72nUBwnJCasLMX/view">amenazó con demandar</a> si el estado implementaba la prohibición. Con las reglas borrador más recientes, parece ser que el estado ha decidido abandonar su plan por ahora.</p><p>Los preescolares religiosos que están participando en el programa universal varían mucho con respecto a <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/12/11/preescolar-religioso-publico-podria-ser-prohibido-en-colorado/" target="_blank">cuánta religión incorporan a sus clases de preescolar</a>.</p><p>Líderes en el programa de Landmark Preschool en Grand Junction, el cual funciona adentro de una iglesia bautista, dicen que la religión se incorpora a todo lo que hacen, incluyendo las matemáticas y la lectura. Una mañana el otoño pasado, los estudiantes de 4 años de edad en salón de preescolar recitaron versos bíblicos con su maestra.</p><p>“Muy bien, aquí vamos”, dijo la maestra Corrie Haynes a los 13 niños sentados frente a ella sobre una alfombra verde. “Filipenses 4:19. Mi Dios proveerá de todas tus necesidades”, dijeron juntos. A continuación, cantaron canciones sobre Dios y hablaron sobre el pecado y el perdón.</p><p>En el Centro Rey Bautista de Desarrollo Infantil y Preescolar en Denver, las clases de preescolar son muy diferentes. La escuela, propiedad de la iglesia adyacente, usa un plan de estudios laico y no incorpora contenido religioso durante el día escolar.</p><p>Telaya Purchase, subdirectora del centro, dijo durante una entrevista con Chalkbeat a principios de este año escolar que los niños pueden participar en lo que se llama un oficio breve (<i>devotional</i>, en inglés) antes que empiece el día escolar a las 9 de la mañana. Ese oficio incluye el juramento a la patria, el padrenuestro y la canción “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”. También dijo que los niños bendicen la mesa durante las comidas, pero pueden no hacerlo si eso eligen.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke es reportera senior de Chalkbeat y cubre temas relacionados con la educación en la niñez temprana y la alfabetización temprana. Para comunicarte con Ann, envíale un email a </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p><p><i>Traducido por Alejandra X. Castañeda</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/03/11/cambio-en-prohibir-ensenanza-religiosa-preescolar-universal-colorado/Ann SchimkeAnn Schimke2024-03-08T22:19:00+00:002024-03-08T22:19:59+00:00<p>Colorado helps about 17,000 lower-income families pay for child care each year through its child care subsidy program. That’s only a fraction of the families eligible for assistance, and yet there are millions of dollars left on the table every year.</p><p>Theresa Ramirez, a single mother in Fort Collins, can attest to one reason why. Although she submitted her annual renewal paperwork early, a lag in getting it processed forced her to quit working for weeks after her baby’s subsidy was canceled.</p><p>Now, lawmakers are considering a bill that would overhaul the program, making it easier for families to access, boosting aid for some families, and making it more attractive for providers who accept subsidies. The bill would also cover full tuition for child care employees with kids in child care regardless of family income — a major benefit given the industry’s chronically low wages.</p><p><a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb24-1223">House Bill 24-1223,</a> sponsored by three Denver area Democrats, will be heard in the House Health and Human Services Committee on <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/content/health-human-services-10" target="_blank">March 12.</a></p><p>The proposed improvements to Colorado’s subsidy program — officially called the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program or CCCAP — come at a time when many families are struggling with the cost of living and some child care providers are raising tuition to cover their expanding costs. While lawmakers and advocates say it’s high time for fixes that allow more families to get subsidies and entice more child care providers to accept them, one of the bill’s co-sponsors said the price tag could be large. State legislative staff have not yet released the bill’s fiscal note, a detailed analysis of how much it will cost.</p><p>Kyle Piccola, vice president of communications and advocacy at Healthier Colorado, said he’s pleased the state is taking a “big holistic approach” to the child care subsidy bill.</p><p>“It’s a program that definitely needs improvement,” he said.</p><p>Rep. Lorena Garcia, a co-sponsor of the bill, said she’s encountered no opposition to the spirit of the bill, but acknowledged the cost could be a stumbling block for some lawmakers.</p><p>“I’m confident we’ll get it to a place where we’ll get it done,” she said.</p><p>Colorado’s $156 million child care subsidy program is funded by the federal government, the state, and counties. It’s available to homeless families as well as lower-income families in which parents are working, looking for work, or going to school. Most families who qualify for subsidies still pay a portion of child care costs in the form of a co-pay.</p><p>Several advocates and providers interviewed said the subsidy application, which is different in every county, can be invasive and intimidating. That can lead parents to skip it even if they need the help.</p><p>Nearly two-thirds of the state’s 64 counties use less than 75% of their subsidy dollars annually and this year, the program is on track to have up to $7 million in leftover funding, according to the Colorado Department of Early Childhood.</p><p>“It’s underutilized,” Garcia said.</p><h2>More aid for families and incentives for child care providers</h2><p>The bill would make a number of changes required by <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2024/02/29/biden-harris-administration-announces-new-rule-reduce-costs-more-than-100000-families-receiving-child-care-subsidies.html">newly released federal rules</a> aimed at reducing the cost of child care and some changes that are Colorado specific. Key provisions of the bill include:</p><ul><li>Limiting parent co-pays to no more than 7% of family income, down from the current cap of 14%.</li><li>Creating a uniform statewide application that doesn’t ask for extraneous information, such as custody agreements or child immunization records.</li><li>Allowing families to get or continue receiving child care aid for 90 days while their application or renewal paperwork is being reviewed, a provision that will help parents start working immediately and keep children in care.</li><li>Paying child care providers who accept subsidies based on the number of subsidized children enrolled, not on the number of days those children attend. Currently, providers can lose money for days the child is absent above the number allowed by their county.</li><li>Making child care employees eligible for full subsidies regardless of their family income.</li></ul><p>Overall, the bill aims to better serve families that currently receive subsidies, attract new ones, and incentivize more child care providers to accept subsidies.</p><p>This year, nearly 26,000 Colorado children get subsidized care through the program, only about 11% of eligible children, according to estimates from Healthier Colorado. Just over 2,000 child care providers accept state subsidies, fewer than half of the state’s providers.</p><h2>What parents and providers are saying</h2><p>Ramirez, who lives with her four children in Fort Collins, described CCCAP subsidies as a lifeline that allowed her to work starting when her youngest child, 13-month-old Sarai, was six weeks old.</p><p>Ramirez brings home about $1,300 a month from her work cleaning houses. Her co-pay is $4 a month at The Family Center/La Familia, a family resource center that runs a highly rated child care program in the northern Colorado city. Her daughter loves it there, she said.</p><p>But when Ramirez lost her subsidy for a few weeks after her renewal application stalled, she had no choice but to bring Sarai home and decline all cleaning jobs. It’s the kind of wrinkle the subsidy bill could help fix.</p><p>Under the bill, such cancellations would be averted by giving families what’s called “presumptive eligibility,” essentially a 90-day grace period in which subsidies would start or continue while officials review applications or renewals.</p><p>Ramirez said anything in the bill that streamlines and strengthens the application and renewal process will make a difference for families like hers.</p><p>Corinne Bernhardt, executive director of Young Peoples Learning Center in Fort Collins, said the plan to give full subsidies to employees will help about a quarter of her 25 staff members. It will also make it easier to hire new employees amid industry-wide labor shortages.</p><p>The center’s current staff discount for child care isn’t always enough to get qualified candidates with young children in the door, she said.</p><p>“To have to say, ‘Well, we can give you a 50%-off discount, but it’s still going to cost you $1,500 a month to bring your kid here, but we’re only going to pay you $17 an hour,’ a lot of people are like, ‘OK, I guess I’m just going to stay home,’” she said.</p><p>Bernhardt said she also likes the provision requiring that providers be reimbursed based on enrollment instead of attendance because it will reduce administrative hassles for her staff.</p><p>Overall, she believes by making much needed improvements to the state’s subsidy program, the bill will help Colorado’s economy.</p><p>“Parents can’t go into the workforce, if they can’t find child care,” she said.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/03/08/colorado-legislature-considers-child-care-subsidy-bill/Ann SchimkeErin Kirkland for Chalkbeat2024-02-23T16:00:00+00:002024-02-29T20:36:54+00:00<p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/02/29/debate-sobre-el-tamano-de-las-clases-de-preescolar-universal/" target="_blank"><i><b>Leer en español</b></i></a></p><p>As Colorado leaders prepare for the second year of the state’s popular new universal preschool program, they’re grappling with a hotly debated question.</p><p>How many 4-year-olds in a classroom is too many?</p><p>Since the $322 million preschool program launched in August, the state has allowed classes of up to 24 children and required one staff member for every 12 students. But many experts and observers believe those numbers are <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/9/13/23871863/colorado-universal-free-preschool-quality-standards-nieer-benchmarks/">too high</a> and undermine the state’s promise to provide high-quality preschool. They want class sizes capped at 20 and staff-to-student ratios limited to 1 to 10.</p><p>Last fall, state leaders <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/10/30/23939834/colorado-universal-preschool-class-size-cap-quality-rules/">appeared ready</a> to phase in the 20-student class size and 1-to-10 ratio limits by 2025. But they’ve faced months of pushback, mostly from private preschool providers. A state advisory committee has also recommended the rules allowing higher class sizes and ratios stay in place.</p><p>The final decision rests with Lisa Roy, executive director of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood. She said in a statement she’s weighing research on the topic and feedback from the advisory committee, and will decide by March 28.</p><p>The class size debate highlights one of the key tensions in Colorado’s new preschool program: the need to balance what’s best for young children with cold financial realities. Not only is early childhood education a notoriously low-margin business, but there’s limited state funding for the program.</p><p>This year, about 39,000 4-year-olds receive 10 to 30 hours of tuition-free preschool through the program — 62% of that age group in the state. Next year, enrollment is expected to rise.</p><p>Because preschool is funded per student, many providers who’ve argued for keeping universal preschool classes of 24 students have warned they’ll lose tens of thousands of dollars annually if they have to drop down to 20 children per classroom and one staff member for every 10 students.</p><p>In addition, some say such rules would lead to tuition hikes for hours not covered by universal preschool, push providers to drop out of the universal program, or force them to close their doors permanently.</p><p>Dozens of preschool providers and early childhood groups have submitted <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Ll_3UzXH667b-ASfQyjs3gvTV1O-Tli-nB1ykBNg9z4/edit#gid=216716358">written comments</a> to the state in recent months about the proposed preschool quality rules. A few providers have endorsed smaller class sizes and lower staff-to-student ratios — but most have not, and several have sharply criticized them.</p><p>One private provider suggested that lower class sizes and ratios make sense for preschools run by public schools — which serve most young students with special needs — but not for private preschools. A few commenters noted that Montessori preschools often incorporate 24 or more children of varying ages because students work more independently in such programs.</p><p>Ron Montoya, who with his wife owns a Goddard School child care franchise in Westminster, said in an interview that class sizes of 20 would mean he’d have to cut eight universal preschool seats — four from each of his two 4-year-old classrooms.</p><p>Fewer spots for children, he said, run counter to “the mandate from the voters and from the governor.”</p><p>Universal preschool is one of Gov. Jared Polis’ signature initiatives and is funded partly with a voter-approved nicotine tax. Preschools get about $6,000 for every child enrolled for 15 hours a week. That funding is set to increase by only 2% — about $120 — next year.</p><p>Montoya also worries that lost revenue stemming from the proposed class size cap could make it harder to pay teachers a competitive wage.</p><h2>Class size data hard to pin down</h2><p>One of the biggest unanswered questions in the class size conflict is how many of the 1,932 preschools in Colorado’s universal program actually have classes of 24 students and staff-to-student ratios of 1 to 12. The state doesn’t track that number.</p><p>That makes it hard to know how many universal preschool seats would be lost by changing class size rules. Some preschool providers say thousands of seats would disappear statewide. At the same time, state officials say up to 150 new preschools are poised to join the universal program for the 2024-25 school year, adding new slots to the total.</p><p>While Colorado’s licensing rules have long allowed 24 4-year-olds in preschool classes and staff-to-student ratios of 1 to 12, many providers operate with lower numbers for logistical or historical reasons.</p><p>Some classrooms simply don’t have the square footage required by the state to accommodate that many kids. Plus, Colorado’s previous state-funded preschool program, which served children with risk factors mostly in public schools, capped class sizes at 16 and staff-student ratios at 1 to 8.</p><p>The Durango school district in southwest Colorado continues to run its 13 preschool classrooms with 16 children per class and one staff member for every eight students even though it’s no longer required.</p><p>“I think it’s best for kids,” said Jennifer Baufield, the district’s early childhood coordinator. “Our teachers are better able to meet their needs.”</p><p>Much is expected of early childhood teachers and smaller class sizes make it easier, she said: “Being a preschool teacher is a stressful job.”</p><p>The Denver district, Colorado’s largest, has taken a different tack than Durango. It bumped up class sizes from 16 to 20 when the state’s new universal preschool began last summer.</p><p>But Priscilla Hopkins, the district’s executive director of early education, said that’s as high as the district will go except for Montessori classroom settings.</p><p>“I like keeping class sizes as manageable as possible because you want strong supervision and high-quality programming and attention for students,” she said.</p><p>Denver’s move to a maximum 20 students per class will lead to around 20 preschool classroom closures across the district next year because it will take fewer classrooms to hold the same number of students.</p><p>“We are just being efficient and consolidating programs,” Hopkins said.</p><h2>Experts say smaller class sizes are better</h2><p>Early childhood groups, including the <a href="https://nieer.org/yearbook/2022/state-profiles" target="_blank">National Institute for Early Education Research</a> at Rutgers University and the <a href="https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/user-126377/2022elpstandardsandassessmentitems-compressed_2.pdf">National Association for the Education of Young Children</a>, recommend preschool class size maximums of 20 children and staff-to-student ratios of 1 to 10.</p><p>Many states with large, publicly funded preschool programs hew to those limits, too.</p><p>At a December meeting of the state’s Early Childhood Leadership Commission, co-chair Susan Steele acknowledged the tension in creating high quality preschool with limited funding, but said other states have managed.</p><p>“How can they have higher [teacher training] requirements? How can they have lower group sizes? How is that possible other places and not in Colorado? I mean, it doesn’t make sense to me,” she said.</p><p>Research on class size is mixed, with <a href="https://nieer.org/research-library/class-size-preschool">some studies</a> finding social, behavioral, or literacy gains for children in smaller classes and others finding no effects. A <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.3102/0162373716689489">2017 study</a> that analyzed decades of research concluded that class size caps of 20 and staff-to-student ratios of 1 to 10 “are largely adequate for most children.”</p><p>The same year, <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0170256">another group of researchers</a> that analyzed dozens of studies on staff-to-student ratios concluded that other efforts to boost preschool quality, such as staff training, might yield “better payoffs” than reducing ratios.</p><p>Alissa Mwenelupembe, managing director of early learning at the National Association for the Education of Young Children, said it’s clear that young children profit from deep connections with trusted adults.</p><p>“There is a point in the size of the group where those deep connections cannot happen,” she said. “The reality is the smaller the group size, the more individual attention and support children can get in the classroom.”</p><p>But Mwenelupembe is also sympathetic to preschool providers who’ve long operated with 24 children per class and fear losing money if Colorado’s proposed stricter limits come to pass.</p><p>“I think it’s really challenging to turn a ship,” she said. “At the end of the day, we do think lower ratios are better, but we also can’t let go of the fact that early learning programs have to be able to be viable businesses.”</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/02/23/colorado-universal-preschool-class-size-debate/Ann SchimkeAnn Schimke / Chalkbeat2024-02-29T20:20:57+00:002024-02-29T20:20:57+00:00<p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/02/23/colorado-universal-preschool-class-size-debate/" target="_blank"><i><b>Read in English</b></i></a></p><p>Mientras líderes en Colorado se preparan para el segundo año del popular programa nuevo de preescolar universal en el estado, también están tratando de resolver una pregunta muy discutida.</p><p>¿Cuántos alumnos de 4 años en un salón de clases son demasiados?</p><p>Desde que el programa de preescolar universal de $322 millones se lanzó en agosto, el estado ha permitido que los salones de clases tengan hasta 24 niños, y requiere que haya un empleado por cada 12 alumnos. Pero muchos expertos y observadores creen que esas cantidades son <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/9/13/23871863/colorado-universal-free-preschool-quality-standards-nieer-benchmarks/">demasiado altas</a> y socavan la promesa del estado de proporcionar educación preescolar de alta calidad. Quieren que el tamaño de las clases se limite a 20 alumnos y la relación entre la cantidad de alumnos y el personal (o cociente) a 10 por cada uno.</p><p>El otoño pasado, líderes estatales <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/10/30/23939834/colorado-universal-preschool-class-size-cap-quality-rules/">aparentaban estar listos</a> para lanzar los límites de clases con 20 estudiantes y cocientes de 10 a 1 para el año 2025. Pero han enfrentado meses de oposición, en su mayoría de proveedores privados de educación preescolar.</p><p>Lisa Roy, directora ejecutiva del Departamento de la Primera Infancia en Colorado, está examinando estudios sobre el tema y comentarios de un comité asesor, y tomará una decisión a más tardar el 28 de marzo.</p><p>El debate sobre la cantidad de alumnos por salón resalta una de las tensiones clave en el nuevo programa de preescolar universal en Colorado: la necesidad de balancear lo que es mejor para los niños con las realidades financieras impersonales.</p><p>Este año, alrededor de 39,000 niños de 4 años recibieron entre 10 y 30 horas de enseñanza preescolar gratis a través del programa—el 62 por ciento de todos los niños de esa edad en el estado. El próximo año, se espera que la cantidad de alumnos inscritos aumente.</p><p>Debido a que la enseñanza preescolar se financia por estudiante, muchos proveedores que han luchado para mantener 24 estudiantes por salón de preescolar universal advierten que perderán decenas de miles de dólares anualmente si tienen que reducir la cantidad a 20 alumnos por salón y a 10 estudiantes por cada integrante del personal. Algunos dicen que quizás tengan que aumentar las mensualidades o hasta cerrar permanentemente sus puertas.</p><p>Docenas de proveedores preescolares y grupos dedicados a la primera infancia han enviado <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Ll_3UzXH667b-ASfQyjs3gvTV1O-Tli-nB1ykBNg9z4/edit#gid=216716358">comentarios escritos</a> al estado en meses recientes sobre las propuestas reglas de calidad preescolar. Un par de proveedores han respaldado la reducción en la cantidad de alumnos y un menor cociente entre alumnos y el personal—pero la mayoría no lo han hecho, y varios los han criticado intensamente.</p><p>Un proveedor privado sugirió que las reducciones en la cantidad de alumnos y el cociente alumnos/personal tienen sentido en preescolares administrados por escuelas públicas—los cuales atienden a la mayoría de los estudiantes con necesidades especiales—pero no en preescolares privados. Un par de personas comentaron que los preescolares Montessori con frecuencia incorporan 24 niños o más de diversas edades porque los estudiantes trabajan con más independencia en esos programas.</p><p>Ron Montoya, quien con su esposa es dueño de una franquicia de la guardería Goddard School en Westminster, dijo en una entrevista que si el tamaño de las clases se reduce a 20 alumnos eso significará que deberá eliminar ocho espacios de preescolar universal—cuatro en cada uno de sus salones para alumnos de 4 años.</p><p>Ofrecer menos espacios para niños, dijo, va en contra del “mandato de los votantes y del gobernador”.</p><p>El prescolar universal es una de las iniciativas distintivas del gobernador Jared Polis y se financia en parte con un impuesto en la nicotina aprobado por los votantes.</p><p>A Montoya también le preocupa que los ingresos perdidos debido al propuesto límite en la cantidad de alumnos por salón cause que sea más difícil pagarles un salario competitivo a los maestros.</p><h2>Datos sobre la cantidad de alumnos por salón son difíciles de encontrar</h2><p>Una de las preguntas más importantes que quedan sin contestar en el conflicto del tamaño de las clases es cuántos estudiantes en los 1,932 preescolares que participan en el programa universal de Colorado realmente tienen clases con 24 estudiantes y 12 estudiantes por cada empleado. El estado no da seguimiento a esa cantidad.</p><p>Eso hace que sea difícil saber cuántos espacios de preescolar universal se perderían si se cambian las reglas. Algunos proveedores de educación preescolar dicen que miles de espacios desaparecerán alrededor del estado. A la vez, los funcionarios estatales dicen que hasta 150 preescolares nuevos están preparándose para unirse al programa de preescolar universal para el año escolar 2024-25, y agregarán nuevos espacios al total.</p><p>Algunos salones en Colorado simplemente no tienen el espacio físico que el estado requiere para acomodar a 24 niños. Además, el programa preescolar anterior financiado por el estado, a través del cual se atendía a niños con factores de riesgo principalmente en escuelas públicas, limitaba el tamaño de sus clases a 16 alumnos y la cantidad de estudiantes por cada empleado a ocho.</p><p>El distrito escolar de Durango en el sudoeste de Colorado sigue administrando sus 13 salones de educación preescolar con 16 niños por salón y un integrante del personal por cada ocho estudiantes, aunque ya no es un requisito.</p><p>“Creo que es lo mejor para los niños”, dijo Jennifer Baufield, la coordinador de la primera infancia en el distrito. “Nuestros maestros pueden cubrir mejor sus necesidades”.</p><p>El distrito de Denver, el más grande en Colorado, implementó un método diferente al de Durango. Aumentó el tamaño de sus clases de 16 alumnos a 20 cuando el nuevo programa de preescolar universal del estado empezó el año pasado.</p><p>Pero Priscilla Hopkins, la directora ejecutiva de educación temprana en el distrito, dijo que esa cantidad será la más alta que el distrito usará, excepto en entornos de aprendizaje Montessori.</p><p>“Me gusta mantener tamaños de clases lo más manejables posible [para ofrecerles] una sólida supervisión y programas y atención de alta calidad a los estudiantes”, dijo.</p><h2>Los expertos dicen que las clases más pequeñas son mejores</h2><p>Grupos dedicados a la primera infancia, incluidos el Instituto Nacional para el Estudio de la Educación Temprana en la Universidad de Rutgers y la <a href="https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/user-126377/2022elpstandardsandassessmentitems-compressed_2.pdf">Asociación Nacional para la Educación de los Niños Pequeños</a>, recomiendan máximos de 20 niños por salón de clases y cocientes de 10 alumnos por cada empleado.</p><p>Muchos estados con programas preescolares grandes respaldados con fondos públicos también mantienen esos límites.</p><p>Durante una reunión en diciembre de la Comisión estatal de Líderes en la Primera Infancia, la copresidenta Susan Steele reconoció la tensión entre crear un preescolar de alta calidad con fondos limitados, pero dijo que otros estados han logrado hacerlo.</p><p>“¿Cómo pueden tener requisitos más altos [de capacitación para maestros]? ¿Cómo pueden tener tamaños más pequeños de grupos? ¿Cómo es posible eso en otros lugares y no en Colorado? Digo, no tiene sentido para mí”, dijo.</p><p>Los estudios sobre el tamaño de las clases muestran resultados variados; <a href="https://nieer.org/research-library/class-size-preschool">algunos estudios</a> encuentran más beneficios sociales, de comportamiento o lectoescritura en los niños en salones con menos alumnos, mientras que otros no encuentran diferencias. Un <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.3102/0162373716689489">estudio de 2017</a> que analizó décadas de investigaciones concluyó que límites de 20 en el tamaño de las clases y cocientes de 10 alumnos por cada empleado “son en gran parte adecuados para la mayoría de los niños”.</p><p>Ese mismo año, <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0170256">otro grupo de investigadores</a> que analizó docenas de estudios sobre los cocientes entre la cantidad de alumnos por cada empleado concluyó que otros esfuerzos para mejorar la calidad de la educación preescolar, como la capacitación del personal, pueden dar “mejores resultados” que reducir los cocientes.</p><p>Alissa Mwenelupembe, directora gerencial de aprendizaje temprano en la Asociación Nacional para la Educación de los Niños Pequeños, dijo que queda claro que los niños pequeños se benefician de conexiones profundas con adultos confiables.</p><p>“Llega un punto en el tamaño del grupo en el que esas conexiones profundas no suceden”, dijo. “La realidad es que, mientras más pequeño sea el grupo, más atención individual y apoyo podrán recibir los niños en el salón de clases”.</p><p>Pero Mwenelupembe también entiende a los proveedores preescolares que han estado funcionando con 24 niños por salón durante años y que temen perder dinero si se aprueban los límites más estrictos en Colorado.</p><p>“Al final del día, pensamos que los cocientes más bajos son mejores, pero tampoco podemos ignorar el hecho de que los programas de aprendizaje temprano tienen que ser negocios viables”.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke es reportera senior de Chalkbeat y cubre temas relacionados con la educación en la niñez temprana y la alfabetización temprana. Para comunicarte con Ann, envíale un email a </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p><p><i>Traducido por Alejandra X. Castañeda</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/02/29/debate-sobre-el-tamano-de-las-clases-de-preescolar-universal/Ann SchimkeAnn Schimke / Chalkbeat2024-02-28T20:33:38+00:002024-02-29T03:59:10+00:00<p>When Meighen Lovelace’s daughter was in fifth grade two years ago, her school day started at 10 a.m. and ended at noon.</p><p>Lovelace said officials in their rural Colorado school district told them that was the only portion of the school day an aide was available to support the girl in her special education classroom.</p><p>Lovelace and her husband reluctantly accepted the two-hour school day.</p><p>“They had a kind of a take-it-or-leave-it attitude,” Lovelace said of school officials. “It felt like that was our only choice.”</p><p>Now, state lawmakers are considering a bill that would put stricter guardrails on the use of shortened schedules for students with disabilities and collect data on how often those students miss part of the school day because they are sent home early or placed on modified schedules. House Bill 24-1063, titled “<a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb24-1063">Addressing Abbreviated School Days</a>,” aims to better track and define a practice that parents and advocates say is isolating for students and disruptive for families, but often occurs under the radar.</p><p>The House Education Committee unanimously approved the bill on Feb. 15. Its next hearing will be in the House Appropriations Committee, but that hearing has not been scheduled.</p><p>The bill would require the Colorado Department of Education to create a policy stating when shortened school days are permitted and what information parents must be given. The policy would also require school teams to regularly review such schedules for students with disabilities. Under the bill, the department would also have to provide training to school districts on abbreviated school days.</p><p>Starting in 2026, the bill would require the department to publicly post school district data showing the number of students with disabilities who have abbreviated schedules, broken down by race, gender, and English learner status. The bill’s $219,000 price tag would cover the cost of additional staff at the education department.</p><p>During public testimony at the Feb. 15 hearing, several advocates for students with disabilities, including Lovelace, said students who are sent home early not only lose out on learning and friendships, but quickly get the message that schools value some students more than others. No one testified against the bill, though educators have said on previous occasions that short staffing and a lack of resources make it hard to serve students with severe needs.</p><p>Hanni Raley, executive director of the Arc of Aurora, a group that advocates for people with disabilities, said her organization is working with 30 families whose children face shortened school days. In one case, a single father’s job is at risk because he’s been asked to pick up one child early two days a week because the school can’t manage the child’s behavior. In another, a mother has been asked to keep her child home on days she’s not available to be at school to help the child use the toilet because school staff doesn’t have time to assist the child in the bathroom more than three times a day.</p><p>“These abbreviated school days currently go undocumented and unreported,” Raley said. “The burden will solely be felt by the family, and the child will continue to experience negative consequences in their academic, social, and emotional development.”</p><p>State Rep. Mary Young, a Greeley Democrat who co-sponsored the bill, said there are some cases where a shortened school day makes sense for students and garners explicit consent from families. For example, she talked about a young girl who was in a car accident in which her mother died. Initially, the girl, who’d suffered a brain injury, was brought back to school on a shortened schedule, slowly transitioning back to a full day as she recovered physically and emotionally.</p><p>But Young said there are many instances where shortened days are unplanned and educators simply tell parents to pick up their kids early.</p><p>“Parents and guardians should not be cut out of their legal right to make decisions with the special education or 504 team about their child’s education,” she said. “This bill addresses those significant concerns.”</p><p>A 504 plan spells out accommodations that students with disabilities are entitled to at school.</p><p>Lovelace said she wasn’t happy about her daughter’s short school day in fifth grade, but didn’t want to question school officials.</p><p>“They’re the professionals and you believe them because they’re the authority figures,” she said in an interview.</p><p>Lovelace said even during the two-hour window when her daughter was in school, officials asked Lovelace to stay in the neighborhood — 45 minutes away from the family’s home — in case they needed her to pick up her daughter early. Lovelace, who declined to identify her daughter’s disability to protect the girl’s privacy, said her employer was understanding, but eventually she lost her job. Today, Lovelace serves as the mental health policy lead at the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition, a disability rights advocacy group.</p><p>The early school pickup had a big impact on Lovelace’s daughter, too — setting her back academically and socially.</p><p>“What am I supposed to do? All my friends are in school,” her daughter would say during the long afternoons at home. “There are no kids at the playground, Mom.”</p><p>After months of looking, Lovelace found a school in a different district that offered the support her daughter needed to attend school all day. Although it was even farther away, Lovelace said the school’s approach was far more welcoming and positive.</p><p>“It was a relief,” she said.</p><p>Lovelace said she believes the bill, if passed, will provide more information about which students are affected by shortened school days and why, so that better processes can be put in place to meet their needs.</p><p>She also hopes it will remind policymakers that shortened days may send a message to students with disabilities that they don’t belong at school.</p><p>“When they’re sent home, that’s what they feel, that’s what they hear,” she said.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/02/28/colorado-bill-would-curb-shortened-school-days-students-with-disabilities/Ann Schimkebymuratdeniz2024-02-14T23:05:35+00:002024-02-15T21:29:25+00:00<p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/01/30/how-i-teach-carlota-loya-hernandez-bilingual-students/" target="_blank"><i><b>Read in English.</b></i></a></p><p>En segundo grado, Carlota Loya Hernández pasaba mucho tiempo coloreando en su asiento. No hablaba inglés y su maestra no hablaba español, así que los lápices de colores y el papel eran su actividad favorita en la escuela de San Luis Valley en Colorado.</p><p>En la escuela intermedia, las cosas habían cambiado. Loya Hernández estaba tomando la clase de matemáticas avanzadas y estaba en camino a tomar clases más avanzadas en la secundaria. Con el tiempo, obtuvo su diploma universitario y se convirtió en maestra en el distrito escolar del Boulder Valley.</p><p>Hoy tiene un doctorado y aboga por los estudiantes bilingües, trabajando para asegurar que ellos tengan las oportunidades educativas que merecen.</p><p>“El mayor problema de las escuelas públicas es la falta de respuesta al brillante e increíble talento de todos y cada uno de los niños, especialmente los bilingües y multilingües”, dijo ella.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/zeJLC4Afo00RiuEFnlRhNZ7CrK4=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/YFFMYLPNOJBHXCEXPEWSHKJDWA.jpg" alt="Carlota Loya Hernández." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Carlota Loya Hernández.</figcaption></figure><p>Loya Hernández, que es especialista en matemáticas y en programas para estudiantes sobresalientes y talentosos en la Escuela Bilingüe Pioneer, una escuela de inmersión en dos idiomas en Boulder Valley, fue nombrada maestra bilingüe de primaria del año 2023 por la Asociación de Educación Bilingüe de Colorado. Ella habló con Chalkbeat sobre cómo aseguraba que las reuniones de padres y maestros tuvieran un 100% de asistencia, qué le dijo a la mamá de un estudiante y por qué le preocupan los sentimientos en contra de los inmigrantes.</p><p><i>Esta entrevista ha sido levemente editada para acortarla y hacerla más precisa.</i></p><h2>¿En qué momento decidiste ser maestra?</h2><p>Como estudiante de intermedia y secundaria, recibí capacitación para ser tutora de estudiantes porque con frecuencia venían a mí para que los ayudara. En la universidad, fui tutora de matemáticas y ciencias. Nunca tuve planes de ser maestra y quería ser ingeniera arquitectónica por mi amor a las matemáticas y al arte. Pero era mi vocación.</p><p>Abandoné la universidad por dificultades económicas y por no saber sobre las ayudas financieras. Conseguí un trabajo como gerente de un restaurante y comencé mi carrera en el distrito de Boulder Valley como una tutora de idioma natal. Disfruté mucho trabajando con estudiantes inmigrantes y refugiados, que a menudo eran ignorados o no recibían apoyo en los salones de clase regulares. Esto me enfureció y me impulsó a volver a la universidad y obtener un diploma de maestra.</p><h2>¿Cómo influyó tu propia experiencia en la escuela en tu manera de enseñar?</h2><p>Recuerdo mi primer día de segundo grado en la Center Elementary School. Acabábamos de mudarnos a San Luis Valley desde Silverton. Tuve apoyo bilingüe en Kinder y en primer grado porque acababa de llegar al país, pero en segundo grado mis opciones eran nadar o hundirme. Mi maestra no me entendía y yo no la entendía a ella. Me dio lápices de colores y me dejó colorear. Yo era muy feliz porque me encantaba el arte.</p><p>En la escuela intermedia, me asignaron a una clase de matemáticas avanzadas. En la secundaria tomé clases avanzadas de lenguaje, matemáticas y ciencias. Como hija de trabajadores agrícolas con pocos recursos en casa, la escuela se convirtió en un refugio seguro. Me iba muy bien en todas las clases, excepto en Educación Física. La única C que recibí fue en educación física porque tenía que vestirme para la clase. Mi papá no me permitía usar pantalones cortos y tampoco contaba con los medios para comprarme pantalones de sudadera.</p><p>La Center High School me abrió las puertas a un mundo de oportunidades y me nominó para la beca Spud Bowl del Adams State College en Alamosa (que ahora es la Adams State University). Gané la beca completa, y fue la clave para acceder a una educación superior y a un futuro lleno de posibilidades. Se convirtió en mi boleto para salir de la pobreza.</p><h2>Cuéntanos cuál es la lección que más te gusta enseñar. ¿De dónde salió la idea?</h2><p>Me encanta desarrollar lecciones que realmente conecten con los estudiantes, impacten en su forma de pensar y les ayuden a entender conceptos importantes. Para enseñar conceptos matemáticos importantes, como fracciones, decimales y porcentajes, preparé una lección utilizando el libro <a href="https://www.amazon.com/If-World-Were-Village-CitizenKid/dp/1554535956"><i>If the World Were a Village</i></a> de David J. Smith.</p><p>El enfoque era muy matemático, pero los estudiantes pudieron analizar los datos y llegar a sus propias conclusiones. La lección permitió que mis estudiantes pensaran más allá de su propia existencia en su ciudad, más allá de las fronteras, y se enfrentaran a las graves desigualdades en el acceso a educación, atención médica, condiciones básicas para vivir, como acceso a agua potable, vivienda y alcantarillado, y pudieran imaginar la gran pobreza de tantos que literalmente se están muriendo de hambre. Nos permitió entender lo agradecidos que debemos estar por todo lo que tenemos en Estados Unidos, lo afortunados que somos y la gran cantidad de oportunidades que tenemos.</p><h2>¿Cuál es el mayor reto que enfrentan tus estudiantes bilingües?</h2><p>Los sistemas de opresión en todos los ámbitos de la vida de los estudiantes. Las manifestaciones de racismo incluyen programas de doble idioma adaptados para las familias blancas. La mayoría de los estudiantes de nuestro distrito que obtienen el Sello de Alfabetización Bilingüe (que demuestra que pueden leer y escribir tanto en inglés como en otro idioma) no son hablantes nativos de ese otro idioma.</p><p>Los estudiantes bilingües siguen estando sobrerrepresentados en educación especial, en referidos por disciplina y en escuelas alternativas con currículos técnicos en vez de en programas preuniversitarios y cursos AP/IB. Y no están suficientemente representados en clases avanzadas de todas las áreas, incluidas las de español. [A menudo], no se les identifica como sobresalientes y talentosos.</p><p>Estos son los sistemas contra los que lucho a diario. En mis tres semestres en la Escuela Bilingüe Pioneer, tenemos 25 estudiantes en matemáticas avanzadas solamente en cuarto y quinto grado. Cuando empecé en Pioneer solo había seis estudiantes. Hay otros 30-40 estudiantes en los grados más pequeños que están encaminados a toma clases de matemáticas avanzadas.</p><p>Como soy <i>nerd</i> para los datos, llevo cuenta del progreso de los estudiantes e identifico a los que tienen altas capacidades, tanto en matemáticas como en leer y escribir en ambos idiomas. Estamos en nuestro tercer año del <i>Boulder Universal Advanced Math Program</i> para estudiantes de cuarto y quinto grado.</p><p>La mayoría de los líderes de distritos y escuelas se enfocan en el nivel más alto de desempeño. Hay una urgencia por trabajar en la “brecha”, pero eso hace poco para mejorar una escuela. Tenemos que adoptar la mentalidad de desarrollar talento y oportunidades de aprendizaje avanzado para “subir la barra”.</p><h2>¿Qué fortalezas notas en tus estudiantes bilingües?</h2><p>Los estudiantes bilingües/multilingües están por encima del estándar, pero la fijación es que están por debajo del grado. Ellos logran un nivel más alto de lenguaje y de desempeño académico y social. Son el futuro de nuestra sociedad, ya que son ciudadanos con mentalidad global y serán los cuidadores del planeta. Los estudiantes bilingües/multilingües tienen más conciencia social a la hora de respetar y valorar diferencias, ya sean culturales, de idioma, religiosas, espirituales o de otro tipo.</p><h2>Cuéntanos alguna anécdota memorable, sea buena o mala, en la que el contacto con la familia de un estudiante cambió tu perspectiva o estrategia.</h2><p>Mis papás nunca pudieron ir a mi escuela cuando yo era niña porque trabajaban todo el día en los campos de lechugas o papas y llegaban tarde del trabajo. No tenían atención médica ni beneficios, y por lo tanto no podían darse el lujo de faltar al trabajo. Como maestra, me aseguré de quedarme hasta tarde y visitar los hogares de mis estudiantes para conectar con sus padres. Siempre me propuse y conseguí el 100% de asistencia en mis conferencias.</p><p>En mis 30 años como educadora, nunca vi a un padre o madre que no se preocupara por su hijo(a). La idea de que los padres no se preocupan, que están mal equipados para apoyar a sus hijos, tiene una base cruel y racista que contribuye a que los estudiantes de color sean vistos de manera más desfavorable, especialmente los que provienen de poblaciones de inmigrantes y refugiados. Por el contrario, esas familias cruzaron el continente a pie, huyeron del peligro y el hambre en su país de origen, y dejaron todo y a todos atrás para poder ofrecerles a sus hijos la mejor oportunidad para el futuro.</p><p>Una vez llamé a la mamá del payaso de la clase. Era un niño brillante que se negaba a hacer su tarea. Interrumpía la clase porque siempre estaba haciendo otra cosa y era muy gracioso. La madre contestó el teléfono: “¿Qué hizo Mario ahora?” Como estaba altavoz, Mario y el resto de la clase escucharon lo que dijo. No pude evitar reírme un poco, porque la estaba llamando para felicitarla por lo bien que Mario había hecho un examen o una actividad. Pero ese niño era y es brillante. Estoy seguro de que actualmente es un ciudadano exitoso y bilingüe que está aportando a la sociedad. No seguía las instrucciones siempre, pero tenía un potencial increíble. Para mí era tan obvio como el día; pero no todo el mundo es capaz de ver más allá del color de piel, trasfondo o comportamiento de un estudiante.</p><h2>¿Qué está ocurriendo en la comunidad y afecta lo que pasa en tu salón de clases?</h2><p>Nuestros estudiantes se ven afectados por el sentimiento antiinmigrante de este país, los asesinatos de latinos y negros a manos de la policía, los sistemas de prisión que alejan a los padres de sus hijos, la amenaza de los servicios sociales, y la falta de recursos en la comunidad, como vivienda básica, alimentos, atención médica, un salario digno y seguridad. La elección de un presidente — Donald Trump — que en su discurso y acciones proyectaba tanto odio, trajo miedo y angustia a las escuelas bilingües.</p><p>Los estudiantes estaban llorando mientras los maestros estaban en shock. Ese día tuve que quedarme en casa porque no podía afrontar la realidad de las elecciones. Este miedo ha regresado en 2024 porque el odio vuelve a afectar a todos los estudiantes de color, limita su humanidad y amenaza el bienestar y la seguridad de sus familias.</p><h2>¿Qué estás leyendo en tu tiempo libre?</h2><p><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/punished-for-dreaming-how-school-reform-harms-black-children-and-how-we-heal-bettina-l-love/19486351?gclid=Cj0KCQiA2eKtBhDcARIsAEGTG43hjNH6dTmiBMkndYd2706YWabP4AL7S1wjIQuNpWmhU6GP3KgTvNEaAkVDEALw_wcB">“Punished for Dreaming:</a><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/punished-for-dreaming-how-school-reform-harms-black-children-and-how-we-heal-bettina-l-love/19486351?gclid=Cj0KCQiA2eKtBhDcARIsAEGTG43hjNH6dTmiBMkndYd2706YWabP4AL7S1wjIQuNpWmhU6GP3KgTvNEaAkVDEALw_wcB"> How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal”</a> y <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/we-want-to-do-more-than-survive-abolitionist-teaching-and-the-pursuit-of-educational-freedom-bettina-love/9000170">“We Want to Do More than Survive,”</a> ambos escritos por Bettina L. Love. Me interesa mucho este tipo de literatura que trae a la luz y expone las causas raíz de las desigualdades en educación y sociales en la escuela y la sociedad. Este podría ser el enfoque de la siguiente fase de mi vida: enseñarle a la próxima generación la historia del racismo y la opresión en Estados Unidos para que puedan contribuir a cambiar la sociedad para que sea más equitativa.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke es reportera senior de Chalkbeat y cubre temas relacionados con la educación en la niñez temprana y la alfabetización temprana. Para comunicarte con Ann, envíale un email a </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p><p><i>Traducido por Milly Suazo-Martinez</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/02/14/carlota-loya-hernandez-maestra-estudiantes-bilingues-colorado/Ann SchimkeImage courtesy of Carlota Loya Hernández2024-01-17T20:34:24+00:002024-02-14T23:57:35+00:00<p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/01/29/preescolar-gratis-para-ninos-de-3-4-anos-2024/" target="_blank"><i><b>Leer en español</b></i></a></p><p>Colorado families can start applying for the state’s free preschool program for the 2024-25 school year on Feb. 29.</p><p>The $322 million program, which launched in August, is open to all 4-year-olds and some 3-year-olds. More than 39,000 4-year-olds are currently enrolled in the program — about 62% of that age group in the state. About 10,000 3-year-olds are also enrolled.</p><p>After a <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/2/14/23600290/colorado-free-preschool-application-deadline-extension-revision/">chaotic and confusing application rollout</a> last spring and summer, state officials made several changes to this year’s process. The goal is to make it easier for families already connected to a preschool to stay with that program for universal preschool. The state also is making a change to ensure that children in poverty get access to full-day tuition-free preschool.</p><p>Here’s what families need to know about the preschool program and the online application.</p><h2>Who gets free preschool and how much do they get?</h2><p>Two groups of children qualify: All 4-year-olds and some 3-year-olds who need extra help.</p><p>The preschool program is primarily designed for children in the year before they go to kindergarten — children who turn 4 before the state’s Oct. 1 cutoff date. Most 4-year-olds will get 15 hours of preschool a week, though some preschool providers offer only 10 hour-a-week schedules.</p><p>Starting this year, 4-year-olds from families with incomes at or below 100% of the federal poverty level — up to $31,200 for a family of four — will qualify for 30 hours of tuition-free preschool a week.</p><p>In addition, 4-year-olds in families with income between 100% and 270% of the federal poverty level — $31,200 to $84,240 for a family of four — who also fall into at least one of the categories below qualify for 30 hours a week:</p><ul><li>Speak a language other than English at home.</li><li>Have a special education plan, also known as an IEP.</li><li>Homeless</li><li>In foster care</li></ul><p>Remember, not every preschool offers a 30-hour a week schedule — or if they do, has open seats available. That means qualifying for 30 hours of free preschool through the state isn’t a guarantee that a child will get it.</p><p>Compared to 4-year-olds, only a small number of 3-year-olds — children two years away from kindergarten — qualify for tuition-free preschool. This year, about one-third of 3-year-olds in universal preschool are children with disabilities and the rest are from low-income families or have other risk factors.</p><p>Only 3-year-olds who have special education plans are guaranteed free preschool. The number of hours depends on what’s spelled out in their special education plan. Parents of these 3-year-olds should fill out the state’s online application.</p><p>If there’s enough funding, 3-year-olds with one of the other risk factors listed above may get at least 10 hours of free preschool a week. Parents of these children can skip the state application and apply for free preschool directly through their local school districts.</p><h2>What about 5-year-olds who aren’t in kindergarten yet?</h2><p>A small number of 5-year-olds are eligible for free preschool in the year before they attend kindergarten. Specifically: Those living in school districts with kindergarten cut-off dates earlier than the state’s Oct. 1 cut-off whose birthdays fall between the two cut-off dates. For example, a child in a district where children must turn 5 by July 30 to attend kindergarten, will qualify for free preschool if they turn 5 in August or September.</p><p>Five-year-olds who could go to kindergarten but have been held out by their families — a practice often called redshirting — aren’t eligible for free preschool in that year.</p><h2>When can I fill out the universal preschool application?</h2><p>This year’s application will open on Feb. 29, about a month later than last year.</p><p>Starting then, certain families will get to preregister, specifically those who want to send their child to the preschool where the child is currently enrolled, where a sibling is enrolled, or where the parent is employed. These families will get an email from the state that links to a universal preschool application preloaded with their current preschool. Once the family accepts the placement, the match will be confirmed immediately.</p><p>To ensure you get a preregistration link, talk to your current preschool or child care provider about your plans to stay with the program for universal preschool. The provider will then let the state know about all continuing families.</p><p>Families not eligible to preregister can still fill out the universal preschool application starting on Feb. 29 but they won’t be matched to a preschool until April. Families who apply after that will get their preschool matches in June.</p><p>Starting in late June, walk-ins will be allowed. That means families can apply for universal preschool by calling or visiting a local preschool directly. If that preschool is participating in the state program and has space, staff there will help families apply and secure a spot.</p><p>Unlike last year, some parents of 3-year-olds can skip the state’s online application and apply for preschool directly through their school districts. This includes parents of 3-year-olds from low-income households, or who are learning English, are homeless, or in foster care. Parents of 3-year-olds with special education plans still have to apply using the state’s online application.</p><h2>What do I need to fill out the application? Are there income requirements?</h2><p>If you qualify for preregistration, you’ll receive a link from the state with a prepopulated application. If not, you’ll create your online application using an email address or phone number. Most families will need about 15 minutes to fill it out. The application is offered in English, Spanish, and Arabic.</p><p>Families with incomes at or below 270% of the federal poverty line will need to upload proof of income, such as pay stubs or tax forms, when they apply for universal preschool.</p><h2>My child has a disability. What’s the application process?</h2><p>Families will get a link from the state with a preloaded universal preschool application if their child will be 3 or 4 next school year, has a special education plan — also known as an IEP — and are already getting services for their disability through their local school district.</p><p>If the family of a child with a special education plan is not currently connected to their local district — perhaps they recently moved — they can fill out the universal preschool application when it opens. Once they indicate on the application that their child has an IEP, the district will reach out to them about next steps. Most preschoolers with IEPs will be placed in classrooms run by their school districts.</p><p>Parents who are worried their preschooler may be delayed in speech, learning, or development but don’t have a diagnosis or IEP, should contact Child Find, a state program that screens children suspected of having a disability. Check <a href="https://www.cde.state.co.us/cdesped/childfinddirectoryinfo">this list</a> for Child Find coordinators by region.</p><h2>Can I pick my 4-year-old’s preschool?</h2><p>Yes. Families who don’t qualify for preregistration or want a program other than the one their child currently attends will be asked to pick up to five preschools and will be able to rank their choices. Options include school-based preschools, faith-based preschools, preschool programs inside child care centers, and state-licensed home-based programs.</p><p>Search and map functions are available within the universal preschool application to narrow down the choices. There are some cases where preschool providers can turn down a universal preschool applicant. For example, a school-based preschool might turn away a child who lives outside district boundaries or an employer-based preschool that mainly provides care to children of company employees may decline a child of a non-employee.</p><h2>Can I pick my 3-year-old’s preschool?</h2><p>Possibly, but you won’t have as many choices as 4-year-olds do. It all depends on your school district since districts are in charge of placing 3-year-old preschoolers. Some districts primarily serve 3-year-olds in district-run classrooms while others work with community child care programs to serve 3-year-olds. When you fill out the universal preschool application, you’ll select your school district and then work with them on preschool placement.</p><h2>My district’s school choice application is due before the universal preschool application opens. What should I do?</h2><p>Families who want to send their child to a district-run preschool run may have to fill out two applications. First up is the district’s school choice form. Next, fill out the universal preschool application when it opens.</p><p>If your child or a sibling already attends your favored district-run preschool, or you work there, the state will send you a preregistration link to a universal preschool application preloaded with your preschool choice in late February.</p><p>If you have no current affiliation with a district-run preschool, the state will send you a link to the general universal preschool application using your contact information from the school choice form. Fill out the application and choose your top five preschools and you’ll find out your child’s preschool match in April.</p><h2>What if I need more hours than what my preschooler is eligible for?</h2><p>You can still pay for extra hours above and beyond what the state covers for free, as long as the preschool offers more hours. You can also see if you qualify for financial help through other means, such as the state’s child care subsidy program or a local tuition assistance program. Here’s a <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/8/29/23851135/colorado-universal-preschool-financial-help-extra-hours/">rundown of the options</a>.</p><h2>I have more questions. What should I do?</h2><p>Contact the local group that’s coordinating the universal preschool program in your county or region. Here’s a <a href="https://cdec.colorado.gov/colorado-universal-preschool/find-my-lco">county-by-county list</a> of all the groups — the state calls them Local Coordinating Organizations or LCOs — with email addresses.</p><p>You can also contact the state’s help desk from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding state holidays. The number is 303-866-5223 and the email is <a href="mailto:cdec_upkcolorado@state.co.us">cdec_upkcolorado@state.co.us</a>.</p><p>Do you have a question you don’t see answered here or can’t find the answer to elsewhere? Let us know at <a href="mailto:co.tips@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank">co.tips@chalkbeat.org</a> and we’ll do our best to find an answer.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/01/17/colorado-free-universal-preschool-parent-application-2024/Ann SchimkeAnn Schimke2024-02-14T23:15:58+00:002024-02-14T23:32:02+00:00<p>Many parents of 3-year-olds with risk factors won’t have to fill out Colorado’s universal preschool application to secure a seat for the 2024-25 school year.</p><p>Instead, they’ll apply this spring through their local school districts.</p><p>The change could make it simpler for thousands of families to apply for tuition-free preschool — cutting out one of the steps that was previously required. The new rule will apply to 3-year-olds who come from low-income families, are learning English, are homeless, or are in foster care.</p><p>School districts asked for the change, according to a spokesman for the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, which runs the new $322 million universal preschool program. Many district leaders <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/3/24/23655621/colorado-universal-free-preschool-march-30-computer-match-concerns/" target="_blank">expressed frustration</a> about the state application during last year’s rollout, saying it caused confusion and kept some preschoolers from being properly placed.</p><p>Families whose 3-year-olds have special education plans, often called Individualized Education Programs or IEPs, will still have to complete the state’s online application this year. State officials say that’s because preschool for 3-year-olds with disabilities is funded differently than it is for other 3-year-olds and the state application allows the proper funding source to be tapped.</p><p>Colorado’s universal preschool program <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/8/23/23843133/colorado-universal-preschool-launch-first-day-auraria-early-learning/" target="_blank">launched in August</a> and serves about 39,000 4-year-olds and 10,000 3-year-olds. Most 4-year-olds get 15 hours of free preschool a week, but some with greater needs get 30 hours. This age group is served in both public school classrooms and private preschools.</p><p>Most 3-year-olds — those two years away from starting kindergarten — get 10 hours a week and are generally served in public school classrooms. This year, about one-third of 3-year-olds have special education plans. The rest qualify for tuition-free preschool because they come from low-income families or have one of the other three risk factors.</p><p>The state’s universal <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/01/17/colorado-free-universal-preschool-parent-application-2024/" target="_blank">preschool application opens on Feb. 29</a> this year. Families of 4-year-olds — those who will start kindergarten in the fall of 2025 — and families of 3-year-olds with special education plans can fill it out starting then.</p><p>Parents whose 3-year-olds don’t have a special education plan but may qualify for free preschool for other reasons should contact their school district to find out how the application process works.</p><p>Parents who worry that their 3-year-old may have a speech, learning, or developmental delay should contact Child Find, a state program that screens children suspected of having a disability. Check <a href="https://www.cde.state.co.us/cdesped/childfinddirectoryinfo">this list</a> for Child Find coordinators by region.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/02/14/colorado-universal-preschool-application-process-for-3-year-olds/Ann SchimkeAnn Schimke2024-01-30T20:24:49+00:002024-02-14T23:11:04+00:00<p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/02/14/carlota-loya-hernandez-maestra-estudiantes-bilingues-colorado/" target="_blank"><i><b>Leer en español.</b></i></a></p><p>In second grade, Carlota Loya Hernández spent a lot of time coloring at her desk. She didn’t speak English and her teacher didn’t speak Spanish, so crayons and paper were her go-to activity at school in Colorado’s San Luis Valley.</p><p>By middle school, things had changed. Loya Hernández was taking advanced math and headed for even more advanced coursework in high school. Eventually, she earned her college degree and became a teacher in the Boulder Valley School District.</p><p>Today, she has a Ph.D. and is a champion for bilingual students, working to ensure they get the educational opportunities they deserve.</p><p>“The greatest problem in public schools is a lack of responsiveness to the brilliance and incredible talent evident in each and every child, especially bilingual and multilingual children,” she said.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/zeJLC4Afo00RiuEFnlRhNZ7CrK4=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/YFFMYLPNOJBHXCEXPEWSHKJDWA.jpg" alt="Carlota Loya Hernández poses for a school photo." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Carlota Loya Hernández poses for a school photo.</figcaption></figure><p>Loya Hernández, who is a math and gifted and talented specialist at Escuela Bilingüe Pioneer, a dual language immersion school in Boulder Valley, was named the 2023 bilingual elementary teacher of the year by the <a href="https://www.cocabe.org/" target="_blank">Colorado Association of Bilingual Education</a>. She talked to Chalkbeat about how she ensured 100% attendance for parent-teacher conferences, what she told the mother of a class clown, and why she worries about anti-immigrant sentiments.</p><p><i>This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.</i></p><h3>Was there a moment when you decided to become a teacher?</h3><p>As a middle and high school student, I was trained as a peer tutor because my fellow students would often come to me for help. In college, I tutored other students in math and science. I never planned to become a teacher and wanted to become an architectural engineer due to my love of both math and art. But it was my calling.</p><p>I dropped out of college due to financial hardship and a lack of knowledge about financial aid. I got a job as a restaurant manager and began my career with the Boulder Valley district as a native language tutor. I greatly enjoyed working with immigrant and refugee students who were often ignored or not supported in the mainstream classroom. This angered me and propelled me to go back to college and get a teaching degree.</p><h3>How did your own experience in school influence your approach to teaching?</h3><p>I remember my first day in second grade in Center Elementary School. We had just moved to the San Luis Valley from Silverton. I had bilingual support in kindergarten and first grade as I was new to the country, but in second grade it was sink or swim. My teacher did not understand me, and I did not understand her. She gave me crayons and let me color. I was happy as could be as I loved art.</p><p>By middle school, I was pulled for an advanced math class. I was in advanced language arts, math, and science in high school. As the child of farm workers with few resources at home, the school became a safe haven. I thrived in all my classes, except PE. The only C I received was in PE because I had to dress for class. My father did not allow me to wear shorts nor did I have the means to buy sweatpants.</p><p>Center High School opened the door to a world of opportunities and nominated me for the Spud Bowl Scholarship at Adams State College in Alamosa — now Adams State University. When I won the full-ride scholarship, it was the key to accessing higher education and a future full of possibilities. It became my ticket out of poverty.</p><h3>Tell us about a favorite lesson to teach.</h3><p>I love to develop lessons that really connect with students, impact their thinking, and help them understand important concepts. To teach important math concepts, such as fractions, decimals and percentages, I created a lesson using the book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/If-World-Were-Village-CitizenKid/dp/1554535956">”If the World Were a Village”</a> by David J. Smith.</p><p>The focus was very mathematical, but students were able to analyze the data and come to their own conclusions. The lesson allowed my students to think beyond their own existence in their town, past borders, and to grapple with the grave inequities in educational access, medical care, basic living conditions, such as access to clean water, housing, and sewage, and to imagine the great poverty of so many that are literally starving to death. It allowed us to understand how grateful we should be for all we have in the U.S., how fortunate we are, and the great amount of opportunity we have.</p><h3>What is the biggest challenge your bilingual students face?</h3><p>The systems of oppression in all realms of students’ lives. Racist manifestations include dual-language programs tailored to white families. The majority of the students in our district who earn a Seal of Biliteracy, showing that they can read and write in both English and a non-English language, are not heritage speakers of the non-English language.</p><p>Bilingual students continue to be overrepresented in <a href="https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2830&context=ulj" target="_blank">special education</a>, <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1313783.pdf" target="_blank">discipline referrals,</a> and <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-19-373" target="_blank">alternative schools</a> with technical tracks instead of pre-collegiate programs and AP/IB coursework. They are underrepresented in <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/study-current-former-ells-take-fewer-advanced-college-prep-classes/2016/11" target="_blank">advanced coursework</a> in all areas, including Spanish. [Often], they are <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ835865.pdf" target="_blank">not identified as gifted and talented</a>.</p><p>These are the systems I fight against daily. In my three semesters at Escuela Bilingüe Pioneer, we have 25 students in advanced math just in fourth and fifth grades. There were only six students when I started at Pioneer. There are another 30-40 students in the younger grades who are in the pipeline for advanced math.</p><p>As a data nerd, I monitor students’ progress and identify students that have high ability, in both math and biliteracy (both languages). We are in our third year of the Boulder Universal Advanced Math Program which serves students in fourth and fifth grade.</p><p>Most district and school leaders do not focus on the high end of achievement. There is an urgency to work on the “gap,” but, that does little to improve a school. We must develop a mentality of talent development and advanced learning opportunities to raise the bar.</p><h3>What unique strengths do you observe in your bilingual students?</h3><p>Bilingual/multilingual students are above standard, although the fixation is that they are below grade level. They rise to a higher level of language and overall academic and social achievement. They are the future of our society as they are globally minded citizens and will be the caretakers of the planet. Bilingual/multilingual students have more social conscientiousness in respecting and valuing differences — whether it is cultural, linguistic, religious, spiritual, or otherwise.</p><h3>Tell us about a memorable time — good or bad — when contact with a student’s family changed your perspective or approach.</h3><p>My parents were never able to go to my school when I was a child as they worked all day in the lettuce or potato fields and arrived late from work. They had no medical care or benefits, so they could not afford to miss work. As a teacher, I made sure I stayed late and did home visits if necessary to connect with my students’ parents. I always aimed for and achieved 100% attendance at my conferences.</p><p>In my 30 years as an educator, I never saw a parent that did not care for their child. The idea that parents do not care, that they are ill-equipped to support their child, has cruel and racist underpinnings that contribute to the deficit perspective of students of color, especially immigrant and refugee populations. On the contrary, families have walked across the continent, fled danger and hunger in their home country, leaving everything and everyone behind so they can provide the best opportunity for their child’s future.</p><p>One time, I called a mom whose son was the class clown. He was a brilliant child who refused to do his work. He was disruptive to the class as he was always off-task and hilarious. The mom answered the phone with, “What did Mario do now?” She was on speaker phone and both Mario and the class heard her response. I could not help but chuckle a bit as I was calling to congratulate her on how well Mario had done on a test or activity. But that child was and is brilliant. I am sure he is a very successful and highly bilingual citizen contributing to society. He was not compliant at all times but he had incredible potential. It was as obvious as day to me; but not everyone is able to see beyond a student’s color, background, or behavior.</p><h3>What’s something happening in the community that affects what goes on in your classroom?</h3><p>The anti-immigrant sentiment in this country, police killings of Latinx and Black people, the prison systems that keep parents from their children, the threat of social services, the lack of community resources such as basic housing, food, medical care, a living wage, and safety all impact our students. The election of a president — Donald Trump — with all of that hate in his speech and actions brought fear and anguish into bilingual schools.</p><p>Students were crying as teachers were in shock. I had to stay home that day as I could not deal with the reality of the election. This fear has returned in 2024 as the hate returns to impact every student of color and limit their humanity and threaten the well-being and safety of their families.</p><h3>What are you reading for enjoyment?</h3><p><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/punished-for-dreaming-how-school-reform-harms-black-children-and-how-we-heal-bettina-l-love/19486351?gclid=Cj0KCQiA2eKtBhDcARIsAEGTG43hjNH6dTmiBMkndYd2706YWabP4AL7S1wjIQuNpWmhU6GP3KgTvNEaAkVDEALw_wcB">“Punished for Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal”</a> and <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/we-want-to-do-more-than-survive-abolitionist-teaching-and-the-pursuit-of-educational-freedom-bettina-love/9000170">“We Want to Do More than Survive,”</a> both by Bettina L. Love. I have become very interested in this type of scholarship that addresses and exposes the root causes of educational and social inequities in schooling and society. This might be the focus for the next phase of my life; to teach the next generation the history of racism and oppression in the U.S. so they can contribute to changing society to be more equitable.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/01/30/how-i-teach-carlota-loya-hernandez-bilingual-students/Ann SchimkeImage courtesy of Carlota Loya Hernández2023-02-11T22:02:46+00:002024-02-14T22:44:48+00:00<p><b>Nota:</b> Este artículo trata sobre la solicitud de preescolar gratis de 2023 y parte de la información está desactualizada. <b>Para obtener información actualizada sobre la solicitud de preescolar gratis de 2024, </b><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/01/29/preescolar-gratis-para-ninos-de-3-4-anos-2024/" target="_blank"><b>lea nuestro artículo actualizado aquí</b></a><b>.</b></p><p><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/1/17/23554316/colorado-free-universal-preschool-parent-application-opens"><i><b>Read in English.</b></i></a></p><p><i>Chalkbeat Colorado es un noticiero local sin fines de lucro que informa sobre las escuelas públicas en Denver y otros distritos. </i><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/en-espanol"><i>Suscríbete a nuestro boletín gratis por email en español</i></a><i> para recibir lo último en noticias sobre educación.</i></p><p>La <a href="https://upk.colorado.gov/">solicitud</a> para el <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/4/25/23041861/colorado-free-universal-preschool-polis-bill-signed">nuevo programa de preescolar gratis de Colorado</a> empezó a las 8 a.m. del martes, un momento importante en el camino a la apertura del nuevo programa el próximo verano.</p><p>El programa, financiado en parte por un <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2020/11/3/21548349/proposition-ee-colorado-2020-election-results">impuesto sobre la nicotina aprobado por los electores del estado</a>, ofrecerá entre 10 y 15 horas semanales de preescolar gratuito para todos los niños de 4 años de Colorado, y algunos serán elegibles para 30 horas semanales. Además, algunos niños de 3 años serán elegibles para obtener 10 horas semanales.</p><p><aside id="ZyF3P7" class="actionbox"><header class="heading">Preescolar gratis en Colorado</header><p class="description">Ya puedes solicitar el preescolar gratuito. Las familias que llenen la solicitud a más tardar el 24 de febrero recibirán notificación de cuál preescolar fue asignado para su hijo(a) el 30 de marzo.</p><p><a class="label" href="https://upk.colorado.gov/">Llena la solicitud aquí.</a></p></aside></p><p>Los funcionarios del estado esperan que unos 30,000 niños se inscriban en el programa universal de preescolar en su primer año. Eso representa más o menos la mitad de los que serán elegibles.</p><p>Esto es lo que las familias necesitan saber acerca del proceso en línea para solicitar el preescolar:</p><h2>¿Quién recibirá el preescolar gratis, y cuántos años deben tener los niños?</h2><p>Tres grupos de niños calificarán: los de 4 años, algunos de 3 años que necesitan ayuda adicional, y un pequeño grupo de 5 años que todavía están demasiado pequeños para ir al Kinder.</p><p>Permítenos explicarte. El programa de preescolar nuevo está diseñado para niños en el año antes de ir al Kinder; es decir, los niños que cumplan 4 años antes del 1 de octubre, la fecha límite del estado. El estado pagará por 15 horas semanales de preescolar para estos niños y no habrá costo adicional para los padres. Algunos proveedores de preescolar podrían ofrecer 10 horas a la semana; por ejemplo, un distrito escolar que ofrece clases de K-12 solamente cuatro días por semana.</p><p>Algunos niños de 4 años recibirán 30 horas semanales de preescolar gratis, los cuales incluyen niños de familias de pocos ingresos, los que hablan un idioma que no es inglés en el hogar, los que no tienen hogar, los que estén en hogares de crianza, y los que tengan discapacidades.</p><p>El programa de preescolar nuevo también cubrirá 10 horas semanales para los niños de 3 años que estén en esos mismos grupos.</p><h2>¿Y qué tal los niños de 5 años que todavía no están en Kinder?</h2><p>Algunos niños de 5 años calificarán para el preescolar gratuito y algunos no. Si un niño vive en un distrito escolar cuya fecha límite para cumplir 5 años y entrar al Kinder es antes del 1 de octubre, calificará para el preescolar si cumple años después de la fecha límite y antes del 1 de octubre. Por ejemplo, si vive en un distrito en el que tiene que cumplir 5 años a más tardar el 1 de agosto para ir al Kinder, calificará para el preescolar gratuito si cumplirá 5 años en septiembre.</p><p>Los niños de cinco años de edad que cumplen los requisitos de edad para ir al Kinder, pero sus familias prefieren retrasar la entrada a la escuela (una práctica conocida como <i>redshirting</i> en inglés) no podrán asistir al preescolar gratuito en el programa estatal nuevo.</p><h2>¿Qué necesito para llenar la solicitud? ¿Hay algún requisito de ingresos?</h2><p>Muchas familias necesitarán unos 15 minutos solamente. La solicitud está disponible en inglés, español y árabe, y los padres deben poder completarla en un celular o computadora.</p><p>Las familias cuyos ingresos del hogar califiquen para horas adicionales, o les permitan inscribir a un niño de 3 años, necesitarán subir documentos para comprobar los ingresos. Las familias que ganen hasta un 270% del límite federal de pobreza (unos $81,000 anuales para una familia de cuatro) están en esta categoría.</p><p>Si eso describe tu familia, esta <a href="https://cdec.colorado.gov/colorado-universal-preschool/qualifying-factors">página de preguntas frecuentes (FAQ) explica cuáles documentos</a> el estado aceptará como prueba de los ingresos del hogar.</p><p>Las familias que califiquen para el preescolar de niños de 3 años o para horas adicionales para niños de 4 años por razones aparte de los ingresos (por ejemplo, su hijo(a) tiene una discapacidad o está aprendiendo inglés) no necesitarán mostrar evidencia de los ingresos.</p><p>Esta página de <a href="https://cdec.colorado.gov/colorado-universal-preschool/qualifying-factors">preguntas frecuentes (FAQ)</a> tiene los detalles sobre cuáles documentos el estado aceptará como prueba de los ingresos del hogar.</p><h2>¿Cómo sabré cuántas horas recibirá mi hijo(a)?</h2><p>El sistema de solicitud en línea te dirá para cuántas horas es elegible tu hijo(a) después de que indiques algunos datos. Estos son los cuatro posibles resultados:</p><ul><li>No serás elegible. Tu hijo(a) no tiene suficiente edad, tiene demasiada edad, o no vive en Colorado.</li><li>10 horas: Si tu hijo(a) tiene 3 años y cumple uno o más de los criterios de elegibilidad.</li><li>15 horas: Si tu hijo(a) tiene 4 años.</li><li>30 horas: Si tu hijo(a) tiene 4 años y cumple uno o más de los criterios de elegibilidad.</li></ul><h2>¿Podré elegir el preescolar de mi hijo(a)?</h2><p>Sí. A las familias se les pedirá que elijan hasta cinco preescolares que les gustarían para su hijo(a) y podrán ponerlos en orden de preferencia. Las opciones incluyen preescolares en escuelas, preescolares en iglesias, programas preescolares dentro de centros de cuidado/guarderías, y preescolares en hogares con licencia del estado.</p><p>También habrá un mapa y buscador disponible para afinar los resultados. Puedes buscar el programa en el que tu hijo(a) ya está, o explorar opciones nuevas. En cada preescolar se les dará prioridad a los niños que ya están inscritos allí, si uno de sus hermanos está inscrito, o si uno de sus padres trabaja allí.</p><p>En algunos casos los proveedores de preescolar podrían no aceptar a un estudiante asignado por el sistema de solicitud. Por ejemplo, un preescolar dentro de una escuela podría rechazar a un estudiante que vive fuera de los límites geográficos del distrito, o es posible que un preescolar dentro de una empresa y que principalmente recibe a los estudiantes de sus empleados no inscriba al hijo(a) de alguien que no es empleado. (Durante el proceso de solicitud, los padres verán una banderita azul para indicar si los preescolares seleccionados les dan prioridad a determinados estudiantes.)</p><h2>Mi hijo(a) tiene una discapacidad. ¿Cuáles programas de preescolar puedo elegir?</h2><p>Si tu hijo(a) tiene un plan de educación especial (oficialmente conocido como un IEP, o <i>Individualized Education Program</i>), entonces necesitará asistir a un preescolar del distrito escolar. Esto se debe a la manera en que están escritas las leyes de educación especial.</p><p>Si tu hijo(a) no tiene un IEP y te preocupa algún retraso en su desarrollo, comunícate con <a href="https://www.cde.state.co.us/cdesped/childfinddirectoryinfo#:~:text=Locate%20a%20Child%20Find%20Contact%20in%20Colorado&text=To%20refer%20a%20child%20under,%2D888%2D777%2D4041.">Child Find</a>, el programa estatal de intervención temprana para niños de 3-5 años.</p><h2>Mi hijo(a) tiene 3 años. ¿Cuáles programas de preescolar puedo elegir?</h2><p>Los niños de 3 años principalmente asistirán a preescolares operados en distritos escolares. Algunos niños de 3 años podrían no tener opciones fuera de escuelas, pero solamente si sus distritos escolares tienen colaboraciones con preescolares privados. Esto se debe a la manera en que las leyes estatales de preescolar están escritas.</p><p>Los padres de niños de 3 años no podrán seleccionar centros preescolares específicos en el formulario de solicitud del estado. En vez de eso, ellos elegirán su distrito escolar local. Esto se debe a que los distritos escolares son los encargados de asignar a los niños de 3 años a programas preescolares específicos.</p><h2>¿Qué hago si el proveedor de preescolar de mi hijo(a) no está en la lista?</h2><p>Los proveedores de preescolar no están obligados a participar en el programa estatal de preescolar universal, pero más de 1,000 ya están participando, y se espera que más de ellos también lo hagan. Los funcionarios del estado dicen que, si los padres no encuentran el preescolar que quieren en el sistema de solicitud, deben comunicarse con el proveedor y alentarlo a que participe.</p><h2>¿Qué pasa si necesito más horas de las que mi hijo(a) es elegible para recibir?</h2><p>Tienes la opción de pagar por las horas adicionales a las que el estado cubre gratuitamente, siempre y cuando ese preescolar las ofrezca. También puedes ver si calificas para recibir ayuda financiera por otros medios, como el programa estatal de subsidios para cuidado de los hijos para familias de pocos ingresos, el <a href="https://cdec.colorado.gov/colorado-child-care-assistance-program-for-families">Colorado Child Care Assistance Program</a>.</p><h2>¿Necesito llenar la solicitud lo antes posible?</h2><p>Puedes hacerlo ahora, pero no quedarás fuera si esperas un par de días o semanas. El sistema no atiende en orden de llegada. Sin embargo, las familias que llenen la solicitud durante el primer periodo de solicitud tendrán más opciones y sabrán primero a cuál preescolar han sido asignadas.</p><p>El primero periodo de solicitud es del 17 de enero al 24 de febrero, y las familias sabrán cuál es su preescolar el 30 de marzo. <i>(El primer periodo iba a cerrar el 14 de febrero, pero se lo extendió después de que los oficiales descubrieron algunos errores en el sistema.)</i></p><p>Las familias todavía puede llenar la solicitud después del 24 de febrero, y sabrán más tarde en la primavera cuál es su preescolar.</p><h2>Ya llené la solicitud para el preescolar del estado. ¿Tengo que llenar también la solicitud para elegir la escuela (school choice) de mi distrito escolar?</h2><p>Posiblemente. Algunos distritos también quieren que los padres llenen formularios para seleccionar la escuela (<i>school choice</i>)<i> </i>si desean que su hijo(a) asista a un centro preescolar del distrito. Eso incluye los distritos de Denver y Jeffco, los dos más grandes. Si eliges un preescolar del distrito, visita la página web de inscripción de tu distrito local para ver si también quieren que solicites allí.</p><p>La solicitud estatal determinará si tu hijo califica para recibir educación preescolar gratuita, y en caso afirmativo, por cuántas horas. Esa solicitud también asignará a los niños de 4 años a un centro preescolar específico. El sistema para elegir la escuela del distrito recolecta más información para que los niños puedan inscribirse en el programa que les fue asignado. En el caso de niños de 3 años, el sistema de elección de escuela del distrito es el que asigna a las familias a un centro preescolar específico.</p><p>Si las familias no llenan el formulario del distrito, los funcionarios del distrito dicen que se pondrán en contacto con ellas y trabajarán con ellas para que lo hagan. En algunos casos, los retrasos en llenar el formulario del distrito podrían resultar en que las familias tengan menos opciones de preescolar.</p><h2>¿Qué hago si decido no inscribir a mi hijo(a) en el preescolar que me asignaron?</h2><p>Tienes la opción de no aceptar el preescolar que el estado le asignó a tu hijo(a). Sin embargo, es posible que tengas que volver a solicitar.</p><h2>¿Cuándo comenzará el preescolar gratuito en Colorado?</h2><p>En agosto o septiembre, todo depende de la fecha en que comenzará el programa de preescolar que se te asignó. Las familias se enterarán de su asignación con anticipación, pero la inscripción gratuita no comenzará hasta fines del verano.</p><h2>Mi hijo califica para el preescolar gratuito. ¿Mi centro de preescolar puede cobrarme cargos o matrícula adicionales?</h2><p>Sí y no. Depende de cuántas horas semanales de preescolar tu hijo(a) necesita.</p><p>Los centros que están participando en el programa de preescolar universal de Colorado no pueden cobrarles dinero adicional a las familias – inscripción, cuotas de suministros o cuotas de actividades – por las horas gratuitas para las que el niño o niña es elegible a través del programa estatal.</p><p>Sin embargo, los centros pueden cobrar por las horas que le proporcionen a un niño(a) adicionales a las horas gratuitas concedidas por el estado. Por ejemplo, si un niño de 4 años asiste a 20 horas de preescolar a la semana, pero solamente es elegible para 15 horas gratuitas, el proveedor puede cobrar inscripción por las cinco horas adicionales, más los gastos de suministros o cuotas por actividades para esas horas adicionales.</p><h2>Tengo más preguntas. ¿Qué debo hacer?</h2><p>Tienes tres opciones:</p><ul><li>Visitar la página de<b> </b><a href="https://cdec.colorado.gov/colorado-universal-preschool/family-FAQ">preguntas frecuentes sobre el preescolar universal del estado</a>.</li><li>Comunicarte con el grupo local que está coordinando el programa de preescolar universal en tu condado o región. Aquí hay una <a href="https://cdec.colorado.gov/colorado-universal-preschool/find-my-lco">lista por condado</a> de todos los grupos — conocidos por el estado como LCO, o <i>Local Coordinating Organizations</i> — y sus direcciones de email.</li><li>Comunícate con el escritorio de ayuda del estado de lunes a viernes, 6 a.m. a 10 p.m., excepto los días feriados estatales. El teléfono es 303-866-5223 y su email es <a href="mailto:cdec_upkcolorado@state.co.us">cdec_upkcolorado@state.co.us</a>.</li></ul><p>¿Tienes alguna pregunta que no ves aquí y no puedes encontrar respuesta en otro lugar? Escríbenos a <a href="mailto:co.tips@chalkbeat.org">co.tips@chalkbeat.org</a> y haremos lo posible por conseguirte la respuesta.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke es reportera senior en Chalkbeat y cubre temas sobre la niñez temprana y la alfabetización en la niñez temprana. Para comunicarte con Ann, escríbele a </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p><p><br/></p><p><br/></p><p><br/></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/1/17/23559895/preescolar-gratis-colorado-solicitud-lo-que-necesitas-saber/Ann Schimke2024-02-13T01:48:22+00:002024-02-13T14:53:51+00:00<p>Some Colorado lawmakers want to make it harder to pull books from the shelves of public libraries and school libraries, especially when the challenges come from people who live outside the community.</p><p><a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb24-049">Sen. Bill 24-49</a> would create a standard process through which books or other library materials could be challenged and outlines the makeup of school district committees that would have the authority to remove books from school libraries. The bill also spells out who can submit a book challenge. At a school library, challengers could be an enrolled student or the parent of a student. At a public library, a resident of the local library district could challenge a book.</p><p>The bill, which will be heard by the Senate Education Committee on Feb. 22, comes at a time when book bans and challenges are more prevalent than they’ve been in decades. Often, those challenging books raise objections about how <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/10/us/texas-critical-race-theory-ban-books.html" target="_blank">subjects like race, racism</a>, or <a href="https://kdvr.com/news/this-is-the-most-banned-book-in-colorado-report/" target="_blank">LGBTQ issues</a> are handled. In some cases, dozens of challenges originate <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/09/28/virginia-frequent-school-book-challenger-spotsylvania/">with one person</a>.</p><p>During a press conference Monday in the State Capitol building, Sen. Lisa Cutter, a Jefferson County Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill, framed the measure as a way to ensure young people in Colorado have the freedom to read, including books that “might challenge preconceived notions or present uncomfortable truths.”</p><p>While Cutter and others spoke, supporters of the bill, including from the state teachers union, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the LGBTQ advocacy group One Colorado, held up books that have been banned in the past — titles like, “Where the Wild Things Are,” “Hunger Games,” “The Hate U Give,” and “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.”</p><p>Lily Williams, a Colorado teacher and illustrator, also spoke at the press conference, recounting how her graphic novel, “Go With the Flow” was banned in Keller, Texas, in 2022. The book is about “growing up, best friends and getting your first period,” she said.</p><p>Williams, who teaches art at Carlson Elementary in Idaho Springs, talked about meeting a middle school girl during the book tour who confessed that she didn’t have anyone to talk to about puberty.</p><p>“When adults censor and ban books, important conversations and questions don’t suddenly stop,” she said. “Those conversations and questions and simply move to a less safe space.”</p><p>Williams said after the press conference that she hopes the bill will provide checks and balances so that book challenges aren’t quite so “free-form.”</p><p>The bill specifies that a committee appointed by the school district superintendent would consider challenges to school library books. The committee would include a district administrator, three teachers, three principals, a parent on the District Accountability Committee, and a student or recent graduate. It also would include three parents whose children are students of color or part of the LGBTQ community. The bill says a book could be removed only if the committee unanimously approves.</p><p>Cutter’s bill is a response to the book bans debated recently in Douglas County and nationally.</p><p>In August, conservative activist Aaron Wood requested the removal of four books that featured LGBTQ content. The Douglas County library board rejected the appeals by Wood.</p><p>Nationally, there’s been a surge in book bans, <a href="https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/book-ban-data">according to the American Libraries Association</a>. From January to August 2023, Colorado libraries heard eight challenges of 136 titles. And across the nation, there were 531 attempts to ban books with over 3,900 book titles challenged from January to August 2023.</p><p>The most sweeping challenges have come from a handful of conservative organizations, including Moms for Liberty, according <a href="https://apnews.com/article/books-bans-american-library-association-42b34a284a6363439de20bbb65bb43b4">to the Associated Press</a>. Cutter said she doesn’t want that to happen in Colorado, and the bill outlines the criteria for a challenge.</p><p>“You can’t just come from out of state,” she said.</p><p>Some Colorado education groups want to see the bill amended.</p><p>“Obviously, as school administrators, we support access to materials in school. That’s terrific,” said Bret Miles, executive director of the Colorado Association of School Executives.</p><p>But he said the bill should be pared down to allow more flexibility because it’s too prescriptive about how school districts make decisions about library books.</p><p>“These are the kinds of decisions that are best left to a local community,” he said.</p><p>Michelle Murphy, executive director of the Colorado Rural Schools Alliance, said the bill essentially excludes local school boards from developing their own book challenge policies or deciding the makeup of committees in charge of book removal decisions.</p><p>She said the alliance is still hoping to work with the bill’s sponsors to come up with amendments that would make it more palatable.</p><p>After the press conference, Cutter said she and other lawmakers are working on amendments to the bill.</p><p>“We’re trying to relax the committee structure and the process so that it’s not onerous for school districts and rural schools,” she said. “We started out probably too prescriptive.”</p><p><i>Reporter Jason Gonzales contributed to this report.</i></p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/02/13/colorado-bill-to-curb-school-library-book-challenges/Ann SchimkeAnn Schimke2024-02-09T23:11:05+00:002024-02-09T23:13:07+00:00<p>The school board of Colorado’s largest district called for all kindergarten through third grade students to be screened for dyslexia. Leaders in the Denver district said that’s happening this year. But some parents, teachers, and others are finding it hard to tell.</p><p>“I haven’t heard anything specific about a special assessment, screener, or anything regarding dyslexia,” said Lisa Williams, a second grade teacher who teaches in northwest Denver.</p><p>District leaders haven’t announced to families that dyslexia screening is taking place and aren’t tracking the number of students who show signs of having the learning disability. Instead, teachers are testing students for a variety of reading difficulties as they have in years past. It’s not what advocates who’ve long pushed for districtwide dyslexia screening envisioned and some feel like they’ve been kept in the dark about what is actually happening.</p><p>The school board mandate that Denver Superintendent Alex Marrero launch dyslexia screening is the latest development in <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2022/11/2/23435686/colorado-science-of-reading-curriculum-changes-literacy-denver-adams12-eagle/">a yearslong shift</a> in the district’s approach to reading instruction and remediation. The changes have been driven, in part, by new state laws<a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2022/1/26/22903450/colorado-reading-curriculum-state-enforcement-advances/"> requiring curriculum</a> and <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2022/10/13/23402999/colorado-science-of-reading-training-most-elementary-teachers-finish/">teacher training</a> aligned to the science of reading, a large body of research on how children learn to read.</p><p>The mixed messages on dyslexia screening may stem from the fact that the 88,000-student district is using a version of the screening process it has used for years — one that was never focused on dyslexia specifically. In addition, many educators have long been told they don’t have the expertise or credentials to flag students for dyslexia.</p><p>While legislative efforts to mandate dyslexia screening statewide have <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/3/16/23644069/colorado-dyslexia-screening-bill-kill-reading-disability/">failed repeatedly</a>, several districts, including <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2022/8/30/23329668/colorado-dyslexia-screening-pilot-boulder-valley-universal-reading/">Boulder Valley</a>, have rolled out their own dyslexia screening programs in recent years. Denver piloted a dyslexia screening at five elementary schools two years ago.</p><p>Jennifer Begley, the district’s director of humanities, said the current process screens for a variety of reading problems.</p><p>“The teachers you talked to would not refer to our guidance as a dyslexia screener,” she said by email. “Rather, it is our district guidance for screening, identification, and intervention in reading.”</p><p>About <a href="https://www.cde.state.co.us/communications/dyslexia-factsheet">15% to 20% of the population</a> has dyslexia, a learning disability that makes it hard to identify speech sounds, decode words, and spell them. With the right instruction, students with dyslexia can do as well as their peers in school.</p><p>Denver administrators say this year’s screening process flags students who are reading below grade level, pinpoints their weak skills, and provides specially tailored reading instruction to help them improve. The process doesn’t focus on communicating explicitly to families about whether their children have signs of dyslexia.</p><p>But some parents wonder why, if the district claims to screen for dyslexia, it’s shying awaying from the term.</p><p>Denver parent Kirsten Hansen, whose two children have dyslexia, said families are notified about other kinds of screenings — for scoliosis or gifted programming, for example — and dyslexia should be no different.</p><p>“If you’re not going to tell people about it, why not?” she said. “Information is power.”</p><p>The school board will evaluate Marrero this year in part on whether all K-3 students have been screened for dyslexia. The universal screening is among dozens of performance goals that will determine how much of a bonus, potentially tens of thousands of dollars, he’ll receive next fall.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/91f5cXjfrYJFQ50MDZabdGQ-YoU=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/Q5YZ6S5UYNG3VJHD653EKSHUJM.png" alt="Denver superintendent Alex Marrero's goal for dyslexia screening for the 2023-24 school year." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Denver superintendent Alex Marrero's goal for dyslexia screening for the 2023-24 school year.</figcaption></figure><h2>How Denver tests students for reading problems</h2><p>Colorado’s landmark reading law — the READ Act — has long required schools to test kindergarten through third grade students three times a year on reading. Denver district leaders say that’s the first step of their dyslexia screening process.</p><p>Most Denver schools use an assessment available in English and Spanish called IStation, though DIBELS is another common one. Students who score below grade level on those tests are given one or more diagnostic tests to drill down on the specific areas where they struggle — perhaps phonemic awareness, phonics, or spelling.</p><p>Next, students are put into small groups to receive instruction targeting their weaknesses. If, after about six weeks of specialized help — or multiple rounds of such instruction — they don’t make progress, they may be referred to the special education team at their school for an evaluation.</p><p>The special education team may not use the word dyslexia with parents initially, but after the evaluation may share that the child has indicators of dyslexia, Begley said during a phone interview.</p><p>This year, just over half of the 25,500 K-3 students who took the initial reading assessment scored below grade level and were given diagnostic tests. Of those students, 488 students were evaluated for special education and 106 were classified as having a “specific learning disability,” an umbrella term in special education that includes dyslexia.</p><p>But despite that multi-step process, district officials said they couldn’t tell Chalkbeat how many of the 106 students have dyslexia because the eligibility criteria for that umbrella category doesn’t call out that disability. Even if all those students have dyslexia, it would represent less than half a percent of the district’s K-3 population.</p><p>Many students with dyslexia, which can range from mild to severe, don’t have a special education plan. Some have what’s called a 504 plan, which includes accommodations such as extra time to complete assignments or access to audiobooks. Some have no plan at all.</p><p>“I worry that the DPS dyslexia screener is more of a ‘low literacy screener’ and will not give many kids the one thing they need most — the actual reason for their struggles, which is dyslexia,” said Tayo McGuirk, president of DenCoKID, an advocacy group.</p><p>Struggling to read can make students feel frustrated or doubt their own intelligence. McGuirk said that when kids know dyslexia is the reason for their struggles, it can improve their mental health and their overall trajectory.</p><p>The knowledge can help parents, too. After her oldest son was found to have dyslexia, she said she became more patient and had more empathy for the way he learned.</p><p>Some Colorado districts are more transparent than Denver about flagging students for signs of dyslexia.</p><p>The Boulder Valley district has screened all kindergarteners for dyslexia since 2023, using the Mississippi Dyslexia Screener for most students. Students whose primary language is Spanish are screened using a combination of subtests pulled from different assessments. Parents receive a letter detailing the child’s overall risk level for dyslexia, as well as information about the subtests.</p><h2>‘To call it dyslexia is hard’</h2><p>Denver teachers and administrators say the biggest change this year in how K-3 students are screened for reading problems is that there’s more clarity about each step of the process, and about what teachers should do to help students who are behind.</p><p>“Before we’d say, ‘Oh this kid is really struggling’ and we didn’t necessarily have the right next steps to take,” said Molly Veliz, a reading intervention teacher at Marie L. Greenwood Early-8.</p><p>She said the district created a “decision tree” that tells teachers exactly how to proceed in assessing and teaching struggling readers.”It’s a super clear system,” she said.</p><p>Shelley Flanagan, a reading intervention teacher at Goldrick Elementary School, said of the district’s dyslexia screening mandate: “I’m thrilled that it’s one of the things the superintendent will be called on to follow through on.”</p><p>Flanagan, who took a college-level class on dyslexia when she became interested in the science of reading, said teachers have historically been discouraged from using the term dyslexia even when the signs point to that disability. Doctors or psychologists were seen as the ones who could legitimately identify it.</p><p>“To call it dyslexia is hard for us as teachers,” she said. “I think it’s rare to find people who will call it that.”</p><p>But Flanagan thinks many parents would feel better “knowing these are a team of experts and they’ll let me know if they see some signs of dyslexia.”</p><p>Some teachers told Chalkbeat the dyslexia label can be shocking to parents, or that it’s not as important to name dyslexia as it is to ensure children get help on the skills where they’re weak.</p><p>Robert Frantum-Allen, the district’s former director of special education and the architect of Denver’s dyslexia screening pilot, said it’s outside a general education teacher’s job scope to tell parents a child could have dyslexia.</p><p>He said students can struggle to read words for all kinds of reasons: dyslexia, ADHD, vision problems, hearing impairment, or because they were not taught properly.</p><p>“A screening tells us there is a problem, but the problem isn’t always dyslexia. It just says we need to do a diagnostic assessment,” he said.</p><h2>Experts says teachers need specific dyslexia training</h2><p>In the spring of 2022, Denver piloted a dyslexia screening program at five elementary schools. It used several of the same components in use now, including the initial reading test and some of the diagnostic tests.</p><p>But it also used other tools, including a teacher survey called the Shaywitz Dyslexia Screener and a parent survey asking about the child’s reading ability and any family history of reading problems. Unlike the district-wide screening program today, pilot schools also sent parents explicit information about their child’s risk for dyslexia.</p><p>The Shaywitz Dyslexia Screener and the parent survey are not part of the district’s current dyslexia screening process. Frantum-Allen said the pilot found that the Shaywitz Dyslexia Screener was reliable when filled out by highly knowledgeable teachers, but not novice teachers. Asked why family surveys aren’t part of this year’s dyslexia screening process, district officials didn’t provide an answer Friday.</p><p>Frantum-Allen said one of the biggest takeaways from the pilot was the need for teacher training specifically on dyslexia. He said the state-mandated science of reading training that all K-3 teachers have to take doesn’t dive deeply into the topic. LETRS — another well-regarded reading training that some Denver teachers are taking now — also doesn’t delve deeply into dyslexia, he said.</p><p>As special education director, he oversaw some training on dyslexia, but “not to the level I think should be there.”</p><p>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at <a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank">aschimke@chalkbeat.org</a>.</p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/02/09/denver-offers-dyslexia-screening-but-kindergarten-third-grade-teachers-parents-unaware/Ann SchimkeCatherine McQueen / Getty Images2024-02-03T00:14:19+00:002024-02-03T00:17:47+00:00<p>A little over a year ago, Grace Luchavez opened a child care program in her Grand Junction home in western Colorado. Today, the former nursing assistant cares for a handful of children in a living room accessorized with a colorful alphabet rug and lined with toy bins.</p><p>Five miles away, a new state-of-the-art child care center is going up in a former alfalfa field, rising steadily from a skeleton of metal beams and concrete. A longtime local child care provider will operate the center, which will be the first in Clifton, an unincorporated community with more than 1,000 small children, many from low-income families.</p><p>Luchavez’s child care business and the future Clifton center represent some of the fruits of an ambitious campaign to double the number of child care slots and boost child care quality in Mesa County. The effort began in 2017 and was originally dubbed <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2018/2/9/21104338/a-giant-leap-how-one-colorado-community-plans-to-double-its-child-care-spots-in-three-years/">Child Care 8,000</a> for the number of slots county leaders hoped to reach. At the time, the county was losing child care seats by the dozens, parents were hamstrung by long waitlists, and employers were struggling to keep working parents on the job.</p><p>Jeff Kuhr, who then headed the county health department and was the chief architect of Child Care 8,000, believed high-quality child care could improve child and family well-being, and by extension, community well-being. It could help address everything from low elementary test scores to high suicide rates and workforce turnover.</p><p>Today, leaders and advocates in Mesa County say parents have more child care choices, quality is higher, and it’s easier for prospective child care providers to get into the field. But the county fell short of its ultimate goal: Instead of 8,000 child care slots, it has 5,000. That represents about 800 more slots than there used to be, but still not enough to meet the need.</p><p>Child Care 8,000 no longer exists as an official county initiative, but leaders say its message and momentum live on.</p><p>“We’re not done for sure, but definitely making strides,” said Stephanie Bivins, director of Mesa County’s early childhood council, a group that supports child care providers and families with young children.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/irWWF6OuFBEQc9N092g1VRGuigQ=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/FNG3PTWR6VDX3FOSHRZPKHSY7M.jpg" alt="Stephanie Bivins, director of Mesa County's early childhood council, stands last fall in front of the building that will house the new Clifton child care center. " height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Stephanie Bivins, director of Mesa County's early childhood council, stands last fall in front of the building that will house the new Clifton child care center. </figcaption></figure><p>She said Child Care 8,000 created a stronger early childhood ecosystem by getting county agencies, city leaders, local colleges, and businesses to work together on child care in an unprecedented way. The effort brought in new grant money, streamlined parts of the process for opening a child care business, and dramatically expanded free training for child care teachers.</p><p>Kuhr said more needs to be done to raise wages for early childhood staff, but he’s proud of what the effort has accomplished.</p><p>“It changed the values of Mesa County,” he said, “It put early childhood education on the map.”</p><h2>Finding child care that’s still far away</h2><p>Parent Kaycie Crider knows what it’s like to scramble for child care. When she had her first child five years ago, “I ended up rearranging my entire life to stay home,” she said.</p><p>She cared for her daughter while working from home in the tiny ranching town of Colbran in eastern Mesa County. She assisted a real estate broker with paperwork on a contract basis. But things got tricky when her second child, a son, grew into a busy, inquisitive toddler.</p><p>“He was too active … climbing on counters when I was trying to put on my professional voice and answer the phone,” she said. “It just was too crazy.”</p><p>Last summer, Crider, who now sells commercial playground equipment, decided to put her children in child care a few days a week. She found a licensed home-based provider near Grand Junction who’d opened about six months before. She also relied on her father to care for the children one day a week. She and her husband, a lineman for the local power utility, took turns caring for the children on Fridays.</p><p>The hard part of Crider’s child care search wasn’t finding open slots, but finding them in a convenient location for an affordable price. Last fall, her commute to work in Palisade was an hour and 20 minutes, partly because she drove 12 miles out of her way to drop the kids at child care each morning.</p><p>This winter, she switched her son and daughter to a Grand Junction child care center partly because tuition was lower — $78 a day instead of $110 — and partly so her son could be around more kids his age. Her commute each way is eight miles longer now.</p><p>Ideally, Crider said, there’d be more child care options in or near Colbran. The local school district operates a preschool that her 4-year-old daughter now attends tuition-free two days a week through the state’s universal preschool program. But her son, who just turned 3, won’t qualify for more than a year.</p><h2>Planning for healthy children and a healthy county</h2><p>When Child Care 8,000 launched in 2017, the 8,000-slot goal represented about 60% of the county’s population of children age 12 and younger — the approximate proportion who needed child care either because both parents work or their household is led by a single parent who works.</p><p>Curtis Englehart, executive director of the Grand Junction Economic Partnership, which helps recruit companies to the area, said child care is a big issue for the business community.</p><p>“It can be right up there with cost of living,” he said. “If child care remains a huge barrier … then getting businesses to relocate or expand, they won’t have the workforce to do it.”</p><p>Bivins, who was early childhood coordinator for Mesa County Public Health before moving to the early childhood council in 2021, started her work on Child Care 8,000 by gathering data at five child care centers. She discovered they were operating at about 70% capacity, not because of a lack of demand, but because they couldn’t find qualified staff.</p><p>“There were so many costs associated with entering the field,” she said. “To get [an entry-level Child Development Associate credential] is about two grand and these folks are making minimum wage. They can’t afford that.”</p><p>Bivins and the rest of the team set about making it easier and cheaper for people to enter the field and advance once they were in it. They gave out scholarships for training courses, offered stipends so prospective providers could afford to take off work for child care credential exams, and dramatically expanded coaching and technical assistance for new providers.</p><p>“Now, we have a full career pipeline that we’ve built over the last few years,” she said.</p><p>The work of Child Care 8,000 was funded through a variety of sources, including a state 2Generation Opportunities grant, county health department dollars, and federal COVID aid.</p><p>Several employees at the Grand Junction’s Eureka! McConnell Science Museum — which launched a full-day preschool program three years ago — have taken advantage of the free early childhood classes and training.</p><p>They include staff who worked at the museum’s reception desk and in other non-child care jobs. The financial help allowed them to land full-time early childhood jobs with benefits, said Jenn Moore, the museum’s executive director.</p><p>“They would never have done it without the county providing these financial offsets just because it’s too expensive,” she said.</p><p>Englehart said although it’s still particularly tough to find infant care in the county, it’s getting easier for families to find child care generally — and for businesses to take a chance in the region. In 2023, 10 companies relocated or expanded to the Grand Junction area, creating 150 new jobs.</p><p>“Progress is definitely being made,” he said.</p><h2>Employers expand child care options for employees</h2><p>In a field marked by low pay, high stress, and lots of regulation, Child Care 8,000 was always destined to be a huge lift. And perhaps unsurprisingly, the topline goal of increasing the number of child care seats from 4,200 to 8,000 by the end of 2020 — a 90% jump — never materialized. Instead there was a more modest 20% increase in child care capacity.</p><p>“I didn’t ever expect that this was going to happen quickly” said Kuhr, who left his job at the health department last summer. “I feel like we’ve made some headway but we still have a ways to go.”</p><p>Mesa County did exceed its goal on child care quality, boosting the proportion of providers with one of the top three ratings on the state’s Colorado Shines rating system from 10% in 2017 to 40% today. That’s higher than the original goal of 30% and the statewide average of 24%.</p><p>There have been other high-profile gains, too. In the past few years, several local employers have opened centers to provide child care to their workers. Both Grand Junction and Community Hospital have opened child care centers for their employees — together creating 184 new seats.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/GFEUEHe8V9mntOkrTasCZvju_Mc=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/AECEI7N26ZFJBDBYCB76IKGDL4.jpg" alt="Jennifer Knott operates the new child care center at Community Hospital and will also operate the center opening in Clifton later this year. " height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Jennifer Knott operates the new child care center at Community Hospital and will also operate the center opening in Clifton later this year. </figcaption></figure><p>County leaders also have high hopes for the Clifton project, which will create nearly 200 new child care slots, plus space for early childhood offices, training, and conferences.</p><p>In addition, a center that will serve employees of the Eureka museum along with four other nonprofits, is slated to open in 2025, provided the nonprofits can raise enough money for construction.</p><p>Several people involved in Child Care 8,000 said it shouldered much of the work that should have fallen to the county’s early childhood council, which was dysfunctional when Child Care 8,000 began. Today, under Bivins’ leadership, the council is well-regarded.</p><p>“That council is completely changed and it’s awesome,” said Kuhr.</p><h2>Giving families flexibility and an attractive setting</h2><p>One day last fall, Luchavez distracted a toddler who was on the brink of bumping a wobbly baby by asking him to tell a visitor his age.</p><p>“How old are you?” she said, from her perch on a blue pillow that looked like a beach ball. “Show your fingers.”</p><p>Gazing at Luchavez, who was holding up her own fingers as a hint, the 2-year-old rested his fists on his chin, with both index fingers pointing skyward. Then he hopped on a blue ride-on car and inched around the living room.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/OzDcZkUPvzvfu2Q6_jgrb96PMWY=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/54CRT4MKIZCPHGTENHJWSQGAZU.jpg" alt="Grace Luchavez takes the children she cares for to her yard for outdoor playtime. " height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Grace Luchavez takes the children she cares for to her yard for outdoor playtime. </figcaption></figure><p>As a licensed home-based provider, Luchavez provides the cozy setting and flexible hours that lots of families seek, especially for infants and toddlers. Some days, she starts at 6:15 a.m. and sends the last child home around 7 p.m. — a long day for her, but priceless for parents who work 12-hour shifts.</p><p>During the pandemic, Luchavez worked nights as a nursing assistant at St. Mary’s Medical Center. But when a colleague struggled to find child care for her young son after her husband died, Luchavez offered to help out on her days off. From there, she decided to get a state license so she could accept more children and turn it into a full-time business.</p><p>Luchavez has a warm personality, calm demeanor, and lots of experience with children. She’s the mother of three adult daughters and used to help out at her sister’s child care program in Montrose. Still, she initially had doubts about whether she could jump through the hoops required to enter the highly-regulated world of licensed child care.</p><p>“Maybe I will not be able to pass or maybe I’ll not get that license,” she recalled thinking when she started the journey.</p><p>But she credits her coach from the early childhood council for helping every step of the way.</p><p>While Child Care 8,000 has encouraged home-based child care providers like Luchavez to enter the field, there are still fewer seats in home settings than before the pandemic. Bivins said the county is still working its way back from a huge deficit of such providers. But 2023 was a good year, with a net gain of 38 home-based child care slots in the county — a 9% increase from 2022.</p><p>Today, Luchavez gets calls about twice a week from parents looking for child care.</p><p>“Sorry, I’m already full,” she tells them.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/02/03/mesa-county-child-care-8000-new-seats/Ann SchimkeAnn Schimke,Ann Schimke2024-01-29T19:48:35+00:002024-02-02T00:27:51+00:00<p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/01/17/colorado-free-universal-preschool-parent-application-2024/" target="_blank"><i><b>Read in English.</b></i></a></p><p>Las familias de Colorado pueden comenzar a solicitar el programa preescolar gratis del estado para el año escolar 2024-25 <a href="https://cdec.colorado.gov/universal-preschool-colorado" target="_blank">el 29 de febrero</a>.</p><p>El programa de $322 millones, que empezó en agosto, está abierto a todos los niños de 4 años y a algunos de 3 años. Más de 39,000 niños de 4 años están actualmente inscritos en el programa, aproximadamente un 62% de los niños de esa edad en el estado. También están matriculados unos 10,000 niños de 3 años.</p><p>Después de un <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/2/14/23600290/colorado-free-preschool-application-deadline-extension-revision/">caótico y confuso proceso de solicitud</a> la primavera y el verano pasados, los funcionarios estatales hicieron varios cambios en el proceso de este año. La meta es facilitar que las familias ya conectadas a un preescolar permanezcan en ese programa de preescolar universal. El estado también está haciendo un cambio para asegurar que los niños en índice de pobreza tengan acceso al día completo de educación preescolar gratis.</p><p>Esto es lo que las familias necesitan saber sobre el programa preescolar y la solicitud en línea.</p><h2>¿Quién recibe educación preescolar gratis y cuánto le dan?</h2><p>Califican dos grupos de niños: Todos los niños de 4 años y algunos de 3 que necesitan ayuda adicional.</p><p>El programa preescolar está diseñado principalmente para niños en el año antes de ir al Kinder — es decir, los que hayan cumplido 4 años a más tardar el 1 de octubre, la fecha de corte del estado. La mayoría de los niños de 4 años recibirán 15 horas de preescolar a la semana, aunque algunos proveedores solo ofrecen 10 horas semanales.</p><p>A partir de este año, los niños de 4 años de familias con ingresos iguales o inferiores al 100% del nivel federal de pobreza — $31,200 o menos para una familia de cuatro — calificarán para derecho a 30 horas semanales de preescolar gratis.</p><p>Los niños de cuatro años con dos o más de los siguientes factores de riesgo también calificarán para 30 horas semanales</p><ul><li>Ingreso familiar igual o menor de 270% del índice federal de pobreza — $84,240 para una familia de cuatro.</li><li>Hablar un idioma distinto del inglés en casa.</li><li>Tener un plan de educación especial, también conocido como IEP.</li><li>No tener vivienda</li><li>Vivir en un hogar de crianza (<i>foster care</i>)</li></ul><p>Recuerda, no todos los preescolares ofrecen un horario de 30 horas semanales, y si lo ofrecen, no todos tienen espacio disponible. Esto significa que calificar para 30 horas de educación preescolar gratis a través del estado no garantiza que se reciban.</p><p>En comparación con los niños de 4 años, solamente un pequeño número de niños de 3 años — niños a los que les falta dos años para ir al Kinder — califican para el preescolar gratis. Este año, aproximadamente un tercio de los niños de 3 años en preescolar universal son niños con discapacidad y el resto procede de familias con bajos ingresos o tiene otros factores de riesgo.</p><p>Solamente los niños de 3 años con planes de educación especial tienen garantizado el preescolar gratis. La cantidad de horas depende de lo que se especifique en su plan de educación especial. Si hay suficientes fondos, los niños de 3 años con uno de los otros factores de riesgo mencionados podrían recibir al menos 10 horas semanales de preescolar gratis. Si no sabes si tu hijo de 3 años va a calificar, llena la solicitud estatal por si acaso.</p><h2>¿Qué pasa con los niños de 5 años que aún no están en Kinder?</h2><p>Una pequeña cantidad de niños de 5 años son elegibles para el preescolar gratis el año antes de empezar el Kinder. Específicamente: Los que viven en distritos escolares con fechas de corte para el Kinder antes del 1 de octubre (fecha de corte del estado) y que cumplen años entre las dos fechas de corte. Por ejemplo, un niño de un distrito donde los niños tienen que haber cumplido 5 años a más tardar el 30 de julio para ir al Kinder calificarán para el preescolar gratis si cumplen 5 años en agosto o septiembre.</p><p>Los niños de cinco años que podrían ir al Kinder pero sus familias prefieren esperar otro año — una práctica conocida en inglés como <i>redshirting</i> — no son elegibles para recibir preescolar gratis ese año.</p><h2>¿Cuándo puedo llenar la solicitud de preescolar universal?</h2><p>La solicitud de este año estará disponible el 29 de febrero, aproximadamente un mes más tarde que el año pasado.</p><p>Desde ese momento, ciertas familias podrán preinscribirse, específicamente las que quieran que sus hijos se queden en el mismo preescolar donde están actualmente, en el que asiste un hermano(a) o en el que trabaje uno de sus padres. Estas familias recibirán un email del estado con un enlace a una solicitud de preescolar universal que ya tendrá la información de preescolar actual. Una vez que la familia acepte esa oferta, la preinscripción se confirmará inmediatamente.</p><p>Para asegurarte de recibir un enlace de preinscripción, habla con tu proveedor de preescolar o de guardería actual sobre tus planes de permanecer en el programa de preescolar universal. Luego, el proveedor le informará al estado de todas las familias que desean continuar en ese preescolar.</p><p>Las familias que no sean elegibles para preinscribirse pueden empezar a llenar la solicitud de preescolar universal a partir del 29 de febrero, pero no se les asignará un centro de preescolar hasta abril<b>.</b> Las familias que soliciten después de esa fecha recibirán sus asignaciones de preescolar en junio.</p><p>Empezando a fines de junio, se permitirán inscripciones en persona. Eso significa que las familias pueden solicitar el preescolar universal llamando o visitando un preescolar local directamente. Si ese preescolar está participando en el programa estatal y tiene espacio disponible, el personal ayudará a las familias a solicitarlas y asegurar un espacio.</p><h2>¿Qué necesito para llenar la solicitud? ¿Hay requisitos de ingresos?</h2><p>Si calificas para preinscripción, recibirás un enlace del estado con una solicitud que ya tendrá tu información. Si no, vas a solicitar en línea usando una dirección de email o un número de teléfono. La mayoría de las familias necesitarán unos 15 minutos para llenar la solicitud. La solicitud está disponible en inglés, español y árabe.</p><p>Las familias con ingresos iguales o inferiores al 270% del límite federal de pobreza tendrán que presentar un comprobante de ingresos al momento de solicitar el preescolar universal, como por ejemplo talonarios de pago o formularios de impuestos.</p><h2>Mi hijo(a) tiene una discapacidad. ¿Cuál es el proceso para solicitar?</h2><p>Las familias recibirán un enlace del estado con una solicitud de preescolar que ya tendrá su información si su hijo(a) cumplirá 3 o 4 años el próximo año escolar, tiene un plan de educación especial —también conocido como IEP — y ya está recibiendo servicios para su discapacidad a través de su distrito escolar local.</p><p>Si la familia de un niño con un plan de educación especial no está actualmente conectada con su distrito local — porque quizás se mudaron recientemente — puede llenar la solicitud de preescolar universal cuando esté disponible. Una vez que indiquen en la solicitud que su hijo(a) tiene un IEP, el distrito se comunicará con ellos para informarles de los siguientes pasos. La mayoría de los niños de preescolar con un IEP se asignarán a salones operados por sus distritos escolares.</p><p>Los padres que estén preocupados porque su hijo en edad preescolar pueda tener retrasos en el habla, aprendizaje o desarrollo, pero no tienen un diagnóstico ni un IEP, deben comunicarse con <i>Child Find</i>, un programa estatal que evalúa a los niños que se sospecha tienen una discapacidad. Consulta <a href="https://www.cde.state.co.us/cdesped/childfinddirectoryinfo">esta lista</a> para encontrar los coordinadores de <i>Child Find</i> por región.</p><h2>¿Puedo elegir el preescolar de mi hijo(a) de 4 años?</h2><p>Sí. A las familias que no califican para preinscripción, o que desean un programa distinto al que su hijo(a) asiste actualmente, se les pedirá que seleccionen hasta cinco preescolares y que los pongan en orden de preferencia. Las opciones incluyen preescolares dentro de escuelas, preescolares en centros religiosos, preescolares dentro de guarderías y programas a domicilio autorizados por el estado.</p><p>Hay funciones de búsqueda y mapa para afinar las opciones disponibles. Hay algunos casos en los que los proveedores de preescolar pueden rechazar a un solicitante de preescolar universal. Por ejemplo, una escuela preescolar dentro de una escuela puede rechazar a un niño que viva fuera de los límites del distrito, o un preescolar dentro de una empresa, que principalmente atiende a los hijos de sus empleados, puede rechazar a un hijo de alguien que no es empleado.</p><h2>¿Puedo elegir el preescolar de mi hijo(a) de 3 años?</h2><p>Posiblemente, pero no tendrás tantas opciones como los niños de 4 años. Todo depende de tu distrito escolar, ya que los distritos son los encargados de asignar a los niños de 3 años. Algunos distritos atienden principalmente a niños de 3 años en salones operados por el distrito, mientras que otros trabajan con programas comunitarios de cuidado de niños para atender a niños de 3 años. Cuando llenes la solicitud de preescolar universal, seleccionarás tu distrito escolar y luego trabajarás con ellos para que te asignen a un centro preescolar.</p><h2>La solicitud de <i>school choice </i>de mi distrito vence antes de que se abra la solicitud de preescolar universal. ¿Qué debo hacer?</h2><p>Es posible que las familias que quieran matricular a su hijo(a) a un preescolar del distrito tengan que llenar dos solicitudes. Primero llenarán el formulario de <i>school choice</i> de su distrito. Luego, llenarán la solicitud de preescolar universal cuando esté disponible.</p><p>Si tu hijo o un hermano ya asiste al centro preescolar que prefieres en tu distrito, o si trabajas allí, el estado te enviará a finales de febrero un enlace de preinscripción a una solicitud que ya tendrá tu información y el preescolar que prefieres.</p><p>Si actualmente no tienes conexión con ningún preescolar operado por un distrito, el Estado te enviará un enlace a la solicitud general de preescolar universal usando los datos de contacto que usaste en el formulario de <i>school choice</i>. Llena la solicitud, selecciona tus cinco centros preescolares favoritos, y en abril sabrás a cuál preescolar asignaron a tu hijo(a).</p><h2>¿Y si necesito más horas de las que mi hijo(a) es elegible?</h2><p>Puedes seguir pagando por las horas adicionales a las que el estado cubre gratis, siempre y cuando ese preescolar ofrezca más horas. También puedes ver si calificas para ayuda económica por otros medios, como el programa estatal de subvenciones para guarderías, o un programa local de ayuda para la matrícula. Aquí te mostramos un <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/8/29/23851135/colorado-universal-preschool-financial-help-extra-hours/">resumen de las opciones</a>.</p><h2>Tengo más preguntas. ¿Qué debo hacer?</h2><p>Comunícate con el grupo local que está coordinando el preescolar universal en tu condado o región. Aquí hay una <a href="https://cdec.colorado.gov/colorado-universal-preschool/find-my-lco">lista por condados</a> de todos los grupos — el estado los llama <i>Local Coordinating Organizations</i>, o LCO — con sus direcciones de email.</p><p>También puedes comunicarte con el servicio de ayuda del estado de lunes a viernes, de 7:00am a 10:00 pm, excepto los días feriados estatales. El teléfono es 303-866-5223 y el email es <a href="mailto:cdec_upkcolorado@state.co.us">cdec_upkcolorado@state.co.us</a>.</p><p>¿Tienes alguna pregunta que no está aquí o cuya respuesta no encuentras en ningún otro sitio? Escríbenos a <a href="mailto:co.tips@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank">co.tips@chalkbeat.org</a> y haremos lo posible por encontrar la respuesta a tu pregunta.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke es reportera senior de Chalkbeat y cubre temas relacionados con la educación en la niñez temprana y la alfabetización temprana. Para comunicarte con Ann, envíale un email a </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p><p><i>Traducido por Milly Suazo-Martinez</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/01/29/preescolar-gratis-para-ninos-de-3-4-anos-2024/Ann SchimkeAnn Schimke2024-01-24T23:42:41+00:002024-01-25T15:53:16+00:00<p>A pandemic-era program that provides free therapy sessions to Colorado children and teens moved a little closer Wednesday to becoming permanent, easily clearing its first legislative hurdle.</p><p>The bill to make the 2-year-old <a href="https://imattercolorado.org/">I Matter program</a> permanent passed 7-2 in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and will now go to the Senate Appropriations Committee.</p><p>Supporters of the bill say I Matter has made mental health counseling easy to access for thousands of Colorado students who’ve struggled with unprecedented levels of depression and anxiety in the wake of the pandemic.</p><p>The program provides six free telehealth or in-person counseling sessions to students in elementary through high school. Students 12 and over can sign up for the therapy sessions by filling out <a href="https://imattercolorado.org/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=branded&utm_campaign=bha_ymh_fy23&utm_content=search">a simple online form</a>. Children under 12 can use the service, but need to fill out a form with a parent. Currently, the annual cost of I Matter is $6 million, but state officials expect it could cost $11 million next year as use increases.</p><p>If the bill under consideration doesn’t pass, I Matter will expire this summer.</p><p>During Wednesday’s hearing, one mother, Laura Love, told the story of her 14-year-old son Sam, who died by suicide last May.</p><p>After his death, she went through his phone and discovered he’d recommended I Matter to three friends who’d been facing their own mental health struggles in the month before he died.</p><p>“This program even got the attention of a teenage boy who had a hard time sitting still long enough to finish his homework,” she said. “He shared it with friends who were hurting.”</p><p>Love urged lawmakers to support I Matter’s continuation.</p><p>“While I can’t bring Sam back, I can help give a voice to so many other kids who are just as incredible as our Sam,” she said.</p><p>Since I Matter launched in the fall of 2021, nearly 11,000 children and teens have used the program, according to data from Colorado’s Behavioral Health Administration.</p><p>Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, a Commerce City Democrat and a co-sponsor of the original I Matter bill and <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb24-001">the bill</a> to make it permanent, rattled off the number of kids who’ve used I Matter in various counties since the program’s inception: 1,386 in Denver, 1,417 in El Paso, 1,250 in Jefferson, 581 in Weld, and 299 in Eagle.</p><p>“We’re reaching our people,” she said. “This has proven to help our students and I would like to see it continue.”</p><p>Several doctors and mental health advocates testified in favor of the bill, describing it as one user-friendly option that can help youth cope during tough times. A few Colorado residents spoke against the program Wednesday, arguing that allowing children 12 and over to use it on their own damages parent-child relationships.</p><p>A <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/HB19-1120">2019 law</a> — not <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb21-1258">the original I Matter law</a> — lowered the age that adolescents can seek mental health therapy without parental consent from 15 to 12.</p><p>Anne Frank, a Denver pediatrician, spoke in support of continuing I Matter, saying it can help teens who might otherwise fall through the cracks because they have no health insurance or face other barriers to mental health care.</p><p>She described a teenage patient with depression whose parent works a lot and is mostly on his own from morning till night.</p><p>“This teen is really, really hard-working and was seeking treatment that would fit his life,” she said. “I Matter was easy and he put it in his phone the day I saw him.”</p><p>He got therapy through the program and felt better when Frank followed up, she said.</p><p>Riley Haleen, a recent college graduate and a program associate for the Colorado chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said she wished a program like I Matter had been around when she was a teenager. With no money for therapy at the time, she had only her sister to lean on when her stepfather died and her mother battled cancer.</p><p>“We were each other’s therapy,” she said. “As sweet as that sounds, we needed professional help.”</p><p>She urged lawmakers to keep the program going.</p><p>“Students are using it,” she said. “I see the posters in coffee shops and beam with pride when I think about its impact.”</p><p><i>If you are in crisis, please call, text or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or contact Colorado’s Crisis Line at 1-844-493-8255 or by texting TALK to 38255.</i></p><p><i>Correction: Due to incorrect information from the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration, an earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that more than 14,000 children and teens have used I Matter since its inception. Nearly 11,000 youth have used the program.</i></p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/01/24/colorado-bill-to-make-free-youth-therapy-permanent-moves-forward/Ann SchimkeMelanie Asmar2023-02-15T01:22:09+00:002024-01-18T16:46:08+00:00<p><b>Note:</b> This story is about the 2023 free preschool application, and some of the information is out of date. <b>For updated information about the 2024 free preschool application,</b> <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/01/17/colorado-free-universal-preschool-parent-application-2024/" target="_blank"><b>read our updated story here</b></a><b>.</b></p><p><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/1/17/23559895/preescolar-gratis-colorado-solicitud-lo-que-necesitas-saber"><i><b>Leer en español.</b></i></a></p><p>The <a href="https://upk.colorado.gov/">parent application</a> for <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/4/25/23041861/colorado-free-universal-preschool-polis-bill-signed">Colorado’s new free preschool program</a> opened at 8 a.m. on Tuesday — a major milestone in the march toward the program’s launch next summer.</p><p>The program, funded in part by a <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2020/11/3/21548349/proposition-ee-colorado-2020-election-results">voter-approved nicotine tax</a>, will offer 10 to 15 hours a week of tuition-free preschool to 4-year-olds statewide, with some eligible for 30 hours a week. In addition, some 3-year-olds will be eligible for 10 hours a week.</p><p>State officials expect about 30,000 children to opt into the universal preschool program in its first year. That’s about half the number that will be eligible.</p><p>Here’s what families need to know about the online preschool application:</p><h2>Who gets free preschool and what age do they have to be?</h2><p>Three groups of children qualify: 4-year-olds, some 3-year-olds who need extra help, and a small number of 5-year-olds who are too young for kindergarten.</p><p>Let us explain. The new preschool program is designed for children in the year before they go to kindergarten — children who turn 4 before the state’s Oct. 1 cutoff date. The state will pay for 15 hours a week of preschool for these students at no cost to parents. Some preschool providers may offer only 10 hours a week — for example, a school district that offers K-12 classes only four days a week.</p><p>Some 4-year-olds will get 30 hours of free preschool a week, including those from lower-income families, who speak a language besides English at home, are homeless, in foster care, or have disabilities.</p><p>The new preschool program will also cover 10 hours a week of preschool for 3-year-olds in these same groups.</p><h2>What about 5-year-olds who aren’t in kindergarten yet?</h2><p>Some 5-year-olds will qualify for free preschool and some won’t. Children who live in school districts with kindergarten cutoff dates before Oct. 1 will qualify if they turn 5 after the district’s cutoff date and before Oct. 1. For example, a child in a district where children must turn 5 by Aug. 1 to attend kindergarten, will qualify for free preschool if they turn 5 in September. (The application may indicate these children are not eligible. State officials say families should contact the group coordinating universal preschool in their area if this happens. Search this <a href="https://cdec.colorado.gov/colorado-universal-preschool/find-my-lco">county-by-county list</a> to find contact information for the right local group.)</p><p>Five-year-olds who could go to kindergarten but have been held out by their families — a practice often called redshirting — won’t be able to get free preschool through the new state program.</p><h2>What do I need to fill out the application? Are there income requirements?</h2><p>Many families will need about 15 minutes and not much else. The application is offered in English, Spanish, and Arabic, and parents should be able to complete the application on a cell phone or computer.</p><p>Families whose household income qualifies their 4-year-olds for extra hours or allows them to enroll a 3-year-old will need to upload documents that prove their income. Families that earn up to 270% of the federal poverty limit — about $81,000 a year for a family of four — fall into this category.</p><p>If that describes you, this <a href="https://cdec.colorado.gov/colorado-universal-preschool/qualifying-factors">FAQ lays out which documents</a> the state will accept for proof of household income.</p><p>Families who qualify for 3-year-old preschool or extra hours of 4-year-old preschool for reasons other than income levels — perhaps their child has a disability or is learning English — won’t need to show proof of income.</p><p>Check this <a href="https://cdec.colorado.gov/colorado-universal-preschool/qualifying-factors">FAQ for details about which documents</a> the state will accept for proof of household income.</p><h2>How do I know how many hours my child will get?</h2><p>The online application system will tell you how many hours your child is eligible for after you enter a few pieces of information. There are four possibilities:</p><ul><li>Not eligible: Your child is too young, too old, or doesn’t live in Colorado.</li><li>10 hours: If your child is 3 and meets one or more of the eligibility criteria.</li><li>15 hours: If your child is 4.</li><li>30 hours: If your child is 4 and meets one or more of the eligibility criteria.</li></ul><h2>Can I pick my child’s preschool?</h2><p>Yes. Families will be asked to pick up to five preschools they’d like their child to attend and will be able to rank their choices. Options include school-based preschools, church-based preschools, preschool programs inside child care centers, and state-licensed home-based preschools.</p><p>Search and map functions are available to narrow down the choices. You can look for the program your child already attends or explore new options. Children will be prioritized for a spot in a preschool if they’re already enrolled there, if a sibling is enrolled there, or if a parent works there.</p><p>There are some cases where preschool providers may not accept a preschool match made by the application system. For example, a school-based preschool might turn away a child who lives outside district boundaries or an employer-based preschool that mainly provides care to children of company employees may not enroll the child of a non-employee. (During the application process, parents will see a blue banner indicating if selected preschools prioritize certain students.)</p><h2>My child has a disability. What preschools can I pick?</h2><p>If your child has a special education plan — officially called an Individualized Education Program, or IEP — your child will be served in a preschool classroom run by your school district. That’s because of the way special education laws are written.</p><p>If your child doesn’t have an IEP and you’re worried about a developmental delay, contact <a href="https://www.cde.state.co.us/cdesped/childfinddirectoryinfo#:~:text=Locate%20a%20Child%20Find%20Contact%20in%20Colorado&text=To%20refer%20a%20child%20under,%2D888%2D777%2D4041.">Child Find</a>, the state’s early intervention program for 3- to 5-year-olds.</p><h2>My child is 3. What preschools can I pick?</h2><p>Three-year-olds will mostly be served in preschool classrooms run by their school districts. Some 3-year-olds may have non-school options, but only if their district partners with private preschools. That’s because of the way the state’s preschool law is written.</p><p>Parents of 3-year-olds won’t be able to select specific preschools on the state application. Instead, they’ll select their local school district. That’s because school districts are in charge of matching 3-year-olds to specific preschool programs.</p><h2>What if I don’t see my child’s provider on the list?</h2><p>Preschool providers don’t have to participate in the state’s universal preschool program, but more than 1,000 have chosen to and more are expected to sign up. State officials say if parents don’t find the preschool they want listed in the application system, they should reach out to the preschool provider and encourage them to sign up.</p><h2>What if I need more hours than what my preschooler is eligible for?</h2><p>You can still pay for extra hours above and beyond what the state covers for free, as long as the preschool offers more hours. You can also see if you qualify for financial help through other means, such as the state’s child care subsidy program for low-income families, called the <a href="https://cdec.colorado.gov/colorado-child-care-assistance-program-for-families">Colorado Child Care Assistance Program</a>.</p><h2>Do I need to fill out the application right away?</h2><p>Families who fill out the application by Feb. 24, the deadline for the first round of applications, will have more options and find out sooner which preschool they matched with.</p><p>The first application window runs from Jan. 17 to Feb. 24. (The original end date was Feb. 14, but <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/2/14/23600290/colorado-free-preschool-application-deadline-extension-revision">state officials extended it</a>.) Families will find out their match on March 30. State officials said families can still apply after Feb. 24, including through spring and summer.</p><h2>I filled out the state’s preschool application. Do I have to fill out my school district’s school choice application, too?</h2><p>Possibly. Some districts also want parents to fill out school choice forms if they want a spot in a district-run preschool. That includes Denver and Jeffco, the two largest school districts. If you choose a district-run option, check your local district’s enrollment website to see if they want you to apply there as well.</p><p>The state application will determine whether your child qualifies for free preschool and if so, for how many hours. It will also match 4-year-olds to a specific preschool. The district school choice system collects more information so that children can be enrolled in the program they matched with. For 3-year-olds, the district choice system is where families get matched with a specific preschool.</p><p>If families fail to fill out the district choice form, district officials they’ll reach out and work with them to get it done. In some cases, delays in filling out the district form could mean families end up with fewer preschool options.</p><h2>What if I decide against the preschool my child was matched with?</h2><p>You can reject the preschool match the state makes for you. However it’s possible you’ll have to resubmit your application.</p><h2>When does free preschool start in Colorado?</h2><p>Not until August or September, whenever the preschool program you matched with starts. Families will find out their matches sooner, but tuition coverage doesn’t kick in until late summer.</p><h2>My child qualifies for free preschool. Can my preschool charge extra tuition or fees?</h2><p>Yes and no. It depends how many hours of care your child needs each week.</p><p>Preschools participating in Colorado’s universal preschool program cannot charge families additional money — tuition, supply fees, or activity fees — for the free hours the child is eligible for through the state program.</p><p>However, preschools are allowed to charge for any additional hours they provide to a child above the number of free hours granted through the state. For example, if a 4-year-old receives 20 hours of preschool a week, but is only eligible for 15 free hours, the provider can charge tuition for the additional five hours, plus supply or activity fees for that extra time.</p><h2>I have more questions. What should I do?</h2><p>You have three options:</p><ul><li>Check out the state’s universal preschool<b> </b><a href="https://cdec.colorado.gov/colorado-universal-preschool/family-FAQ">frequently asked questions page</a>.</li><li>Contact the local group that’s coordinating the universal preschool program in your county or region. Here’s a <a href="https://cdec.colorado.gov/colorado-universal-preschool/find-my-lco">county-by-county list</a> of all the groups — the state calls them Local Coordinating Organizations or LCOs — with email addresses.</li><li>Contact the state’s help desk from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding state holidays. The number is 303-866-5223 and the email is <a href="mailto:cdec_upkcolorado@state.co.us">cdec_upkcolorado@state.co.us</a>.</li></ul><p>Do you have a question you don’t see answered here or can’t find the answer to elsewhere? Let us know at <a href="mailto:co.tips@chalkbeat.org">co.tips@chalkbeat.org</a> and we’ll do our best to find an answer.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p><p><br/></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/1/17/23554316/colorado-free-universal-preschool-parent-application-opens/Ann Schimke2015-11-10T20:45:45+00:002024-01-18T00:50:21+00:00<p>Last year at preschool, Madison Walker would stomp her foot when she got upset. When her teachers sternly told her there would be no foot-stomping in the classroom, she simply stomped harder.</p><p>It was a power struggle with no victors.</p><p>Madison, who has autism, was miserable at school. Her teachers were frustrated, ultimately telling her mother, Kristin Miesel, that the girl might have to be physically removed from the classroom if her emotions continued to escalate.</p><p>Miesel, a school psychologist at a Jefferson County elementary school, chokes up remembering that moment.</p><p>“It’s like, ‘Really? You need to physically remove my child because she’s stomping her feet or getting upset like that?’” she said.</p><p>Fast-forward a year. Four-year-old Madison (a pseudonym to protect her identity) now attends preschool at Bal Swan Children’s Center in Broomfield, and Miesel has finally breathed a sigh of relief.</p><p>“This place is like heaven,” she said.</p><p>The center, where about one-third of children have special needs, uses an approach that Miesel and school leaders credit with creating a welcoming environment for every kind of child—even those who elsewhere might get kicked out for biting, hitting or other behaviors.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/4qCcZaku_XO_x8ROBW85CLatKvw=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/FAFL36YXHJAOXAQDNJANSPZP3A.png" alt="This 2011-12 data is from The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>This 2011-12 data is from The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.</figcaption></figure><p>It’s called the Pyramid Plus Approach and launched six years ago at four demonstration sites in Colorado, including Bal Swan. Today, it’s used at around 200 centers and preschools in the state.</p><p>While the program has grown slowly but steadily since 2009, it’s getting a closer look in light of recent state and national conversations about the alarming frequency of preschool expulsions.</p><p><aside class="sidebar float-right"><p><strong>Colorado Pyramid Plus Demonstration Sites</strong></p><p></p><ul><li>Bal Swan Children’s Center, Broomfield</li><li>Creative Options Center for Early Education, Denver/Aurora</li><li>Primetime Early Learning Center, Norwood</li><li>Fremont County Head Start, Canon City</li></ul></aside></p><p>Not only are preschoolers expelled at higher rates than their K-12 counterparts, <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/crdc-early-learning-snapshot.pdf">a 2014 report</a> from the U.S. Department of Education revealed that boys and students of color are disproportionately expelled from preschool.</p><p>Geneva Hallett, director of the Pyramid Plus Center at the University of Colorado Denver, said getting expelled at 3, 4 or 5 often leads to a lifetime trajectory that includes more of the same.</p><p>Bal Swan Director of Education Patti Willardson calls preschool expulsion her hot-button issue. She finds it frustrating that the default response to challenging children at some local centers is to send them to Bal Swan.</p><p>“We take as many kiddos as we can,” she said. “But I just keep telling other administrators, ‘You can’t depend on one school in the whole area to take these kids. You all need to learn to help them yourself.’”</p><h2>A Full Toolbox</h2><p>The Pyramid Plus Approach was created in Colorado, building off a free national framework for early childhood social emotional practices called the Pyramid Model. More than 24 school districts have adopted that model over the last eight years with support from the Colorado Department of Education.</p><p><aside class="sidebar float-right"><p><strong>Resources</strong></p><ul><li><a href="http://www.pyramidplus.org/">Pyramid Plus Approach</a></li><li><a href="http://challengingbehavior.fmhi.usf.edu/">Pyramid Model</a></li><li><a href="http://www.cde.state.co.us/early/pyramidmodelimplementationtoolkit">CDE toolkit on Pyramid Model</a></li><li><a href="http://iik.org/the-incredible-years/">The Incredible Years</a></li></ul></aside></p><p>The “Plus” in Pyramid Plus refers to its emphasis on including children with disabilities in early childhood classrooms.</p><p>Pyramid Plus includes an 18-session training and follow-up coaching. The idea is to give early childhood staff a full set of tools for teaching young children social-emotional skills and managing challenging behaviors.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/_Fvya7UACMaRqjeiKXglW2xxrNk=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/HNRYAM467ZBDZPKYNXNQCYSXQI.jpg" alt="Speech therapist Melissa Cain talks to a preschooler at the Bal Swan Children’s Center." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Speech therapist Melissa Cain talks to a preschooler at the Bal Swan Children’s Center.</figcaption></figure><p>For example, teachers might learn when to ignore bad behavior so as not to reinforce it with a burst of attention. Or how to use puppets to demonstrate toy-sharing or teach students to be aware of their own emotional state.</p><p>At Bal Swan, you won’t typically hear admonishments like “no,” “stop,” or “don’t.” Correction is rephrased in a positive way. You’ll also see teachers using the same social skills they tell students to employ, like getting someone’s attention with a tap on the shoulder.</p><p>Pyramid Plus also includes a series of parent classes called Positive Solutions for Families that offer many of the strategies and tools that teachers use in the classroom. Miesel said even with her background as a psychologist, she’s learned a lot from the sessions.</p><p>“The language they use here has been educational for us,” she said.</p><p>The Pyramid Plus Approach is not the only program aimed at cultivating healthy social-emotional development in young children, or the only one cited as a remedy to preschool expulsions. Another evidence-based program called The Incredible Years, run by the Denver-based Invest In Kids, provides similarly themed trainings to teachers and parents.</p><p>Early childhood mental health consultants, who are typically called in to help teachers work with the highest needs students, represent another expulsion prevention strategy, but their ranks are relatively small in Colorado.</p><h2>Diminishing problems</h2><p>Using Pyramid Plus doesn’t mean that aggressive or disruptive behaviors magically disappear. They may occur less often, but many Pyramid Plus advocates say the biggest transformation is in the level of confidence teachers display when problems do arise.</p><p>“When they have a plan and they know they can deal with these things. They don’t see challenging behavior as a problem anymore,” said Alyson Jiron, a Bal Swan counselor.</p><p>“It’s not like there’s kids that people are like, ‘Oh I don’t want that kid in my class,’” she said. “Truly, across the board now … everyone’s like, ‘We got this. We can do this.’”</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/QyE3HTIwzFLemY9EcWAgF-ejK8s=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/NYQ7HSJNTBF6NID4TEN4GJA6SM.jpg" alt="The “calm box” is a place in the classroom where kids can go when they feel upset." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>The “calm box” is a place in the classroom where kids can go when they feel upset.</figcaption></figure><p>When a child recently jumped up on a table in the class Clarissa Villareal co-teaches, she ignored the behavior and instead focused her attention on a child nearby who had her feet on the floor. The table-stander soon got down on her own.</p><p>“A huge part of it is our reaction,” she said.</p><p>At Bal Swan and other centers that use the Pyramid Plus model, expulsion isn’t an option. In fact, providers sign an agreement beforehand stating they won’t resort to it.</p><p>Hallett said without that policy, expulsion could be a tantalizing option when the toughest cases rear up.</p><p>“That’s not a back door they can get out of…and that’s hard,” she said.</p><h2>Slow build</h2><p>While there are now 2,200 providers trained in the Pyramid Plus approach in Colorado, that represents only a fraction of the state’s early childhood workforce.</p><p>“It has been a slow steady build,” said Hallett. “The fact is this is very hard work.”</p><p>Pyramid Plus, which includes a 45-hour training costing up to $500 per person, can be a tough sell for time-crunched, cash-strapped childcare centers.</p><p>Elizabeth Steed, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Denver, said she’s visited hundreds of preschool classrooms and many don’t have the budget, leadership or staffing flexibility to take on the program.</p><p>“They feel very stretched already,” said Steed, who is a member of a state policy team promoting the Pyramid Model and inclusion practices.</p><p>Bal Swan, named for a philanthropist who donated to the school, is perhaps better positioned than smaller, less stable centers to embrace an effort like Pyramid Plus. Most of the school’s 350 slots are tuition-based. In addition, class sizes are small and the pay is above average. Willardson said teachers with a degree typically start at $18 an hour and go up to $23 — at many centers it’s closer to $13-14 an hour.</p><h2>Thriving</h2><p>These days, Miesel doesn’t brace herself for bad news when she picks up her daughter at the end of the day.</p><p>Even when Madison slips up, she knows its not a stepping stone to ultimatums or expulsion.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/gd3e02FatIEa27HFWAdWXuaheyg=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/V7NBCMXBG5BDHOWDOBQEX3IU3I.jpg" alt="" height="960" width="1440"/></figure><p>Take, for example, a recent day when Madison bit a classmate.</p><p>There were no gasps or scoldings. Instead, a teacher consoled the injured child and then enlisted Madison’s help to get an icepack and deliver it to the girl. Instead of being punished for hurting her friend, she was praised for helping her feel better.</p><p>Miesel admits she was mortified when she found out what happened, but Madison’s teacher and Willardson counseled her against overreacting.</p><p>“Don’t feed into it,” they told her.</p><p>While such a low-key reaction from teachers and parents can feel counterintuitive, it’s effective, said Willardson.</p><p>That’s what she likes about the Pyramid Plus approach.</p><p>“It’s changed our teaching skills … It’s changed our understanding of who children are,” said Willardson.</p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2015/11/10/21092920/growing-approach-helps-kick-preschool-expulsion-habit/Ann Schimke2024-01-12T23:27:04+00:002024-01-13T00:49:42+00:00<p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/01/13/milken-educator-award-winner-caleb-flores-bilingual/" target="_blank"><i><b>Leer en español</b></i></a></p><p>Teacher Caleb Flores knew a top-secret assembly was planned at his northern Colorado high school. The principal wanted the building to look flawless and for students to be on their best behavior. Flores wondered if an important government official was visiting on that December day.</p><p>Turns out that the visiting dignitaries, speeches, and gym full of cheering students were for him. Flores, who teaches English language development and language arts at Greeley West High School, had won a Milken Educator Award — also known as the” Oscars of Teaching.” The award, which is for early and mid-career teachers, comes with a $25,000 cash prize.</p><p>“I was speechless,” said Flores, who was the only Colorado teacher to win the award this year. “The entire day was phenomenal and something that I will always treasure.”</p><p>Flores, who was raised in Greeley and attended college there, talked to Chalkbeat about how coaching youth football changed his career path, why he began incorporating music into his lessons, and how a student’s request for a letter of reference humbled him.</p><p><i>This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.</i></p><h3>Was there a moment when you decided to become a teacher?</h3><p>As a college student, I was a business marketing major at the University of Northern Colorado. Throughout my sophomore and junior years, I was a little league football coach with my college roommate. We had a blast getting to know the kids that we coached, and coaching was always the highlight of my week. I made the decision in my junior year to switch my major to English to pursue a career in teaching.</p><p>The moment that made me decide to pursue culturally and linguistically diverse teaching was after college. Since I switched majors as a junior, I could not graduate with a teaching license. I began my career in Greeley-Evans District 6 working as a migrant advocate. My job involved supporting migrant families and students, most of them English learners, to make it to graduation. I fell in love with the role and saw that population as the subject area that I wanted to teach. I then applied to be an English language development teacher at Greeley West and enrolled in an alternative licensure program to receive my teaching license while working my first year.</p><h3>How did your own experience in school influence your approach to teaching?</h3><p>My parents had me and my siblings when they were young, so they did not have the opportunity to pursue a college education until we were older. My dad received his degree when I was in high school, and my mom and I graduated college on the same day. My parents always told us that they expected us to attend college right after high school, so I took school very seriously growing up.</p><p>I was always a talkative student in class, but I was fortunate enough to have teachers who were patient with me and held me to a high standard. These high expectations were crucial to me as a student to be able to perform well enough to be able to receive a scholarship to attend college. My parents and teachers were able to change the trajectory of my and my siblings’ education. (Both of my siblings also graduated from college.) This is something that I know firsthand can influence my students. I hold my students to a high standard and communicate with their families often to encourage them to perform well enough in high school to, hopefully, have the chance to pursue post-secondary education.</p><h3>Tell us about a favorite lesson to teach. Where did the idea come from?</h3><p>As an English 9 teacher, we incorporate students’ culture within our lessons so that students can see themselves within our classroom and our instruction. The idea for my favorite lesson came from a 9th grade student curriculum advisory committee. They wanted to incorporate music within our poetry unit — specifically, music that represented them.</p><p>One of my favorite poems that we annotate is a Spanish song called “Corrido de Juanito” by Calibre 50. The song is a first-person narrative describing the perspective of an immigrant to the United States named Juanito. The song is entirely in Spanish (we don’t provide a translation at first), so it makes my Spanish-speaking students the experts for the lesson. After annotating the song, students dispersed into small groups to discuss what they interpreted from the song and the themes it presented. After discussions, students do a comparative analysis project based on a song of their own choice and the themes that it presents. We’ve had amazing conversations and projects that students created from this unit.</p><h3>What are your go-to strategies for connecting with new students, whether they’re new to your building or new to the country?</h3><p>When they enroll in my class, we begin with an enrollment meeting with the student and family. This is such a crucial step because it helps ease the family’s apprehensions about enrolling in a school in the U.S. We make sure that the students understand their schedule, provide them with any school supplies that they need, and give them and their families a tour of the school.</p><p>When students arrive in my language development class, I always introduce them and involve them in the collaborative classroom activity for the day to encourage them to get to know their new classmates. Allowing this time for students to cooperate has been so crucial to building a sense of community within my class.</p><h3>As a mentor to new teachers, what advice do you share?</h3><p>Teaching is not meant to be done in isolation; get to know the staff and community of your school and learn from the experts who have found success. That definitely helped me learn and grow when I first started.</p><p>I would also encourage new teachers to embrace the diverse student populations. For me, it was teaching language learners. They may not be the easiest students to educate. They come with gaps in their learning, emotional traumas, and many responsibilities outside of school. However, they are some of the most thoughtful, inspirational, and fulfilling students that I have had the pleasure of teaching. Learning how to properly educate language learners made me a better teacher.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/Csy4iO6-xJSv_EnOMuoowRIwRp8=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/WSZLSFKI5VGL5L5ITM4P3ZYNGQ.jpg" alt="Caleb Flores, a teacher at Greeley West High School and a recent recipient of the Milken Educator Award, center in the black robe, poses for a photo with students at their graduation." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Caleb Flores, a teacher at Greeley West High School and a recent recipient of the Milken Educator Award, center in the black robe, poses for a photo with students at their graduation.</figcaption></figure><h3>Tell us about a memorable time — good or bad — when contact with a student’s family changed your perspective or approach.</h3><p>One of the most memorable moments came from a student who was a part of my Language Development class. He had asked me if I would be willing to write a character reference letter for him. After calling his uncle, his legal guardian, I found out that the letter was to be presented to a judge because the student was facing an order for deportation. I knew that this was a pivotal moment for the student and his family, so we went and contacted several of his teachers to get letters of recommendation on his behalf. My wife and I attended court with him and saw firsthand the legal battles and additional barriers that my students face just to receive an education. My student was allowed to stay. It was a great moment. He is a junior now and is on track for graduation.</p><p>I was humbled that my student and his family trusted me to share what was going on, and it reminded me how important it is to be accessible to my students.</p><h3>What was the biggest misconception that you brought to teaching?</h3><p>My biggest misconception was about classroom management. I went into teaching thinking that one had to be stern, tough, and unkind to run an effective classroom. I came to find out that the opposite was true; most students did not respond to teachers who yelled. My style of classroom management is more around building relationships. I still hold students accountable and have high expectations for them, but when students misbehave or distract others, I can address it without embarrassing or disrespecting them.</p><h3>What are you reading for enjoyment?</h3><p>I just finished the book <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Brown-Enough/Christopher-Rivas/9781955905046">“Brown Enough”</a> by Christopher Rivas. It’s a personal memoir and a social commentary about being brown in the U.S. and how to find one’s identity, sense of belonging, and place within it.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/01/12/milken-educator-award-winner-caleb-flores/Ann SchimkeImage Courtesy of Milken Family Foundation2024-01-13T00:41:58+00:002024-01-13T00:42:52+00:00<p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/01/12/milken-educator-award-winner-caleb-flores/" target="_blank"><i><b>Read in English</b></i></a></p><p>El maestro bilingüe Caleb Flores sabía que se había planeado una asamblea secreta en su secundaria al norte de Colorado. El director quería que la escuela se viera perfecta y que los estudiantes se comportaran lo mejor posible. Flores se preguntaba si ese día de diciembre estaría de visita algún funcionario importante.</p><p>En realidad, los visitantes, los discursos y el gimnasio lleno de estudiantes eran para él. </p><p>Flores, que es maestro de inglés y maestro de estudiantes que están aprendiendo inglés en la Greeley West High School, había ganado un premio <i>Milken Educator Award</i>, también conocido como los “Oscar de la Enseñanza” El premio, destinado a maestros que están empezando o a mediados de su carrera profesional, incluye $25,000 en efectivo.</p><p>“Me quedé sin palabras”, dijo Flores, el único maestro de Colorado premiado este año. “Todo el día fue fenomenal y es algo que siempre atesoraré”.</p><p>Flores, que se crió y fue a la universidad en Greeley, habló con Chalkbeat sobre cómo haber sido entrenador de un equipo de fútbol americano de niños cambió su trayectoria profesional, por qué empezó a incorporar la música en sus lecciones y cómo se sintió cuando un estudiante le pidió una carta de recomendación.</p><p><i>Esta entrevista ha sido levemente editada para acortarla y hacerla más precisa.</i></p><h2>¿En qué momento decidiste ser maestro?</h2><p>En la universidad estudié marketing empresarial en la Universidad del Norte de Colorado. Durante mi segundo y tercer año, fui entrenador de la liga de fútbol americano de niños con mi compañero de cuarto de la universidad. La pasamos de maravilla conociendo a los niños del equipo, y el tiempo que pasaba entrenándolos era siempre la mejor parte de mi semana. En mi tercer año de universidad decidí cambiar mi carrera a inglés para dedicarme a ser maestro.</p><p>El momento en que decidí dedicarme a ser un maestro con diversidad cultural y de idioma fue después de la universidad. Como cambié de carrera en el tercer año, no pude graduarme con una licencia de maestro. Empecé mi carrera en el Distrito 6 de Greeley-Evans trabajando como defensor de los inmigrantes. Mi trabajo incluía ayudar a las familias y estudiantes inmigrantes a graduarse y la mayoría de ellos estaban aprendiendo inglés. Me enamoré de mi rol y vi que esa población era el área a la que me quería dedicar como maestro. </p><p>Luego solicité ser maestro de desarrollo del inglés en Greeley West y me inscribí en un programa alternativo de licencia para obtener la mía mientras trabajaba mi primer año.</p><h2>¿Cómo influyó tu propia experiencia en la escuela en tu manera de enseñar?</h2><p>Mis padres nos tuvieron a mí y a mis hermanos cuando eran jóvenes, así que no tuvieron la oportunidad de ir a la universidad hasta que fuimos mayores. Mi padre se graduó de universidad cuando yo estaba en el secundaria, y mi mamá y yo nos graduamos el mismo día. Mis padres siempre nos decían que su expectativa era que fuéramos a la universidad inmediatamente después de graduarnos de secundaria, así que la escuela siempre fue algo muy serio para mí.</p><p>Siempre fui un estudiante hablador en clase, pero tuve la suerte de tener maestros que fueron pacientes conmigo y me exigieron mucho. Estas altas expectativas fueron cruciales para yo desempeñarme lo suficientemente bien y recibir una beca universitaria. Mis padres y maestros pudieron cambiar la trayectoria de mi educación y la de mis hermanos. (Mis dos hermanos también se graduaron de la universidad.) </p><p>Esto es algo que por experiencia sé que puede influir en mis estudiantes. Yo les exijo mucho a mis estudiantes y me comunico a menudo con sus familias para animarlos a que se desempeñen bien en la secundaria y que, con suerte, tengan la oportunidad de ir a la universidad.</p><h2>Cuéntanos cuál es la lección que más te gusta enseñar. ¿De dónde salió la idea?</h2><p>Como maestros de inglés de noveno grado, incorporamos la cultura de los estudiantes en nuestras clases para que ellos puedan verse a sí mismos dentro de nuestra clase y nuestra enseñanza. La idea de mi lección favorita surgió de un comité asesor de currículo compuesto por estudiantes de noveno grado. Ellos querían incorporar música en nuestra unidad de poesía, y específicamente, música que les representara.</p><p>Uno de mis poemas favoritos que anotamos es una canción en español llamada “Corrido de Juanito” de Calibre 50. La canción es una narración en primera persona que describe la vida de un inmigrante a Estados Unidos llamado Juanito. La canción está escrita completamente en español (al principio no ofrecemos traducción), y por lo tanto los estudiantes que lo hablan son los expertos de la lección. Después de anotar la canción, los estudiantes se dividieron en pequeños grupos para discutir lo que interpretaron de la canción y los temas que presentaba. Luego de las discusiones, los estudiantes hacen un proyecto de análisis comparativo basado en una canción de su elección y los temas que presenta. Hemos tenido conversaciones y proyectos increíbles que los estudiantes han creado con esta unidad.</p><h2>¿Qué estrategias usas para conectarte con los estudiantes nuevos, ya sean nuevos en la escuela o nuevos en el país?</h2><p>Cuando se inscriben en mi clase, primero me reúno con el estudiante y su familia.</p><p>Esto es un paso crucial porque ayuda a que la familia se sienta a gusto con su decisión de inscribir a su hijo o hija en una escuela de Estados Unidos. Me aseguro de que los estudiantes entiendan su horario de clases, les entrego los materiales escolares que necesitan y les enseño la escuela a ellos y a sus familias.</p><p>Cuando los estudiantes llegan a mi clase de desarrollo del lenguaje, siempre los presento a los demás y los incluyo en la actividad colaborativa del día para animarlos a conocer a sus nuevos compañeros. Tener este tiempo para que los estudiantes cooperen ha sido crucial para crear un sentido de comunidad en mi clase.</p><h2>Como mentor de maestros nuevos, ¿qué consejos tienes?</h2><p>La enseñanza no debe hacerse de forma aislada; conoce al personal y a la comunidad de tu escuela y aprende de los expertos que han tenido éxito. Eso definitivamente me ayudó mucho a aprender y crecer cuando empecé.</p><p>También animaría a los maestros nuevos a aceptar la diversidad de los estudiantes. En mi caso, enseñaba a estudiantes que estaban aprendiendo inglés. Puede que no sean los estudiantes más fáciles de educar. Llegan con lagunas en su aprendizaje, han pasado por traumas emocionales y tienen muchas responsabilidades fuera de la escuela. Sin embargo, son algunos de los estudiantes más amables, inspiradores y gratificantes a los que he tenido el placer de enseñar. Aprender a educarlos correctamente me convirtió en mejor maestro.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/Csy4iO6-xJSv_EnOMuoowRIwRp8=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/WSZLSFKI5VGL5L5ITM4P3ZYNGQ.jpg" alt="Caleb Flores, maestro de la escuela secundaria Greeley West y reciente ganador del premio Milken Educator Award, en el centro con una túnica negra, posa para una fotografía con los estudiantes en su graduación." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Caleb Flores, maestro de la escuela secundaria Greeley West y reciente ganador del premio Milken Educator Award, en el centro con una túnica negra, posa para una fotografía con los estudiantes en su graduación.</figcaption></figure><h2>Cuéntanos alguna anécdota memorable, sea buena o mala, en la que el contacto con la familia de un estudiante cambió tu perspectiva o estrategia.</h2><p>Uno de los momentos más memorables fue con un estudiante de mi clase regular de inglés. Me había preguntado si estaría dispuesto a escribirle una carta de referencia. Cuando llamé a su tío, que era su tutor legal, me enteré de que la carta era para presentarla ante un juez porque el estudiante estaba enfrentando una orden de deportación. Sabía que era un momento crucial para el estudiante y su familia, así que nos pusimos en contacto con varios de sus maestros para obtener cartas de recomendación en su nombre. Mi esposa y yo asistimos al tribunal con él y vimos de primera mano las batallas legales y las barreras adicionales a las que se enfrentan mis estudiantes solo para recibir una educación. A mi estudiante le permitieron quedarse en el país, y fue un gran momento. Ahora es estudiante de undécimo grado y está encaminado a graduarse.</p><p>Esta experiencia me permitió ver una muestra de lo que mis estudiantes estaban enfrentando. Para mi fue un honor que ese estudiante y su familia confiaran en mí para compartir lo que estaba pasando, y me recordó lo importante que es ser accesible para mis estudiantes.</p><h2>¿Cuál fue el mayor mito que tenías cuando empezaste a enseñar?</h2><p>Mi mayor mito estaba relacionado con el manejo del salón de clases. Decidí ser maestro pensando que tendría que ser fuerte, estricto y poco amable para dirigir bien un salón de clases. Llegué a descubrir lo contrario: la mayoría de los estudiantes no respondían a los maestros que gritaban. Mi estilo en el salón de clases se basa más en establecer relaciones. Sigo exigiéndoles responsabilidad a los estudiantes y tengo grandes expectativas para ellos, pero cuando se portan mal o distraen a los demás, puedo resolverlo sin avergonzarlos ni faltarles al respeto.</p><h2>¿Qué estás leyendo en tu tiempo libre?</h2><p>Acabo de terminar el libro <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Brown-Enough/Christopher-Rivas/9781955905046" target="_blank"><i>Brown Enough</i></a> de Christopher Rivas. Es un libro de memorias y un comentario social sobre el hecho de ser latino en Estados Unidos y cómo encontrar identidad propia, sentido de pertenencia y un lugar para encajar.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke es reportera senior de Chalkbeat y cubre temas relacionados con la educación en la niñez temprana y la alfabetización temprana. Para comunicarte con Ann, envíale un email a </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/01/13/milken-educator-award-winner-caleb-flores-bilingual/Ann SchimkeImage Courtesy of Milken Family Foundation2024-01-03T03:56:38+00:002024-01-03T03:56:38+00:00<p>Enrolling preschoolers from LGBTQ families would conflict with the religious beliefs and obligations of Catholic preschools, attorneys for two Denver-area Catholic parishes said Tuesday as the trial began in a lawsuit challenging the nondiscrimination rules in Colorado’s universal preschool program.</p><p>Two Catholic parishes that run preschools — St. Mary’s in Littleton and St. Bernadette’s in Lakewood — and the Archdiocese of Denver sued the state in federal district court in August. They argued that a nondiscrimination clause in an agreement required by the state for participation in the preschool program conflicts with their mission to provide a Catholic education. Senior U.S. District Judge John L. Kane, who is presiding over the trial, recently issued an order dismissing the archdiocese as a plaintiff.</p><p>Attorneys for the state said Catholic preschools under the archdiocese are being treated the same as other preschools in the program, and that the nondiscrimination agreement in question is similar to the ones some Catholic schools have signed in the past for other kinds of publicly funded programs.</p><p>The lawsuit could have big implications for the new $322 million preschool program, which launched in August and enrolls more than 60% of the state’s 4-year-olds this year. A win for the Catholic preschools could bring more faith-based schools into the preschool program, but it could limit the state’s ability to set nondiscrimination policies for an education program that it pays for.</p><p>A win for the state could deter some faith-based preschools from participating, but it means families with LGBTQ parents or children couldn’t be shut out of preschools because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.</p><p>The trial is expected to last several days, with the judge making the decision.</p><p>Four witnesses testified for the Catholic preschools on Tuesday, including the mother who said her family would have saved several thousand dollars if the Catholic preschool her 4-year-old attends had been able to participate in universal preschool this year.</p><p>Colorado’s universal preschool program offers 10 to 30 hours of tuition-free preschool a week to 4-year-olds. Families can pick preschool classrooms in public schools, private child care centers, faith-based programs, or state-licensed homes.</p><p>The two parish preschools that sued declined to join the program after the archdiocese instructed them not to sign the state’s nondiscrimination agreement, which prohibits discrimination based on religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity, among other factors. The lawsuit asserts that the nondiscrimination clause could prevent them from prioritizing children from Catholic families for enrollment, or force them to admit a child who identifies as a gender “at odds with their biological sex,” or a child whose parents “identify as gay or lesbian” or are “part of a same sex couple.”</p><p>The suit also argues that the state’s nondiscrimination rules would prohibit preschools from hiring employees who agree with the Catholic Church’s mission and teachings, including “that marriage is limited to one man and one woman for life.”</p><p>The lawsuit is one of two that religious preschools have filed over the state program. The other one, filed by a Christian preschool in Chaffee County that’s participating in the universal preschool program this year, also argues that the nondiscrimination provision could impede hiring, but didn’t focus on enrollment questions. A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in October in that case, barring the state from punishing or withholding funds from the Chaffee County preschool even though some of its policies appear to violate the nondiscrimination agreement.</p><p>A third lawsuit was filed by several school districts last summer and deals with services and funding for preschoolers with disabilities as well as other high-needs students.</p><p>Nick Reaves, a lawyer for the Catholic preschools, said that in rare circumstances, schools overseen by the Archdiocese of Denver have turned away families on the grounds that their beliefs or practices conflict with what the school teaches. He said there have been no complaints from any LGBTQ families about any of the 36 preschools that operate under the archdiocese.</p><p>During her testimony Tuesday, Avery Coats, principal of the pre-K-8 school operated by St. Bernadette’s, described turning away a prospective fifth-grade student because the parents were a same-sex couple and school officials worried Catholic teachings would cause confusion and conflict in the family.</p><p>Of the more than 1,900 preschools that joined Colorado’s universal program this year, 40 are faith-based. Together, they serve about 900 children. State rules allow faith-based preschools to give children in their congregations priority for enrollment. But beyond that, they don’t allow enrollment decisions based on a family’s religion or beliefs.</p><p>While some families choose religious preschools to match their faith, others choose them because the schools are close to their homes or jobs, or because they offer full-day care or flexible schedules.</p><p>Lawyers for the Catholic preschools asked a state witness to clarify what kind of enrollment restrictions or conditions preschools in the universal program are allowed to have. For example, Reaves asked, could a Jewish preschool, as a condition of enrollment, ask parents to sign a statement of faith saying they won’t eat pork and will keep kosher?</p><p>The witness, Michael Cooke, who helped roll out the universal preschool program, said that the question hadn’t come up before but that the state wouldn’t object to an enrollment condition based on the preschool’s particular program.</p><p>“Where we would object is if there was something in a statement that a family needed to sign or acknowledge that is contrary to anything that’s in statute or in policy or rule,” Cooke said.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/01/03/colorado-universal-preschool-catholic-lawsuit-trial/Ann SchimkeAnn Schimke2023-09-18T18:41:50+00:002023-12-22T21:42:40+00:00<p>A partir de este otoño, Colorado está ofreciendo entre 10 y 15 horas de educación preescolar gratuita a todos los niños de 4 años como parte del <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/23/23843133/colorado-universal-preschool-launch-first-day-auraria-early-learning">programa preescolar universal del estado</a>. Más de 40,000 familias ya lo solicitaron, pero <a href="https://upk.colorado.gov/">el proceso de solicitud sigue abierto</a> y estará disponible durante todo el año.</p><p>¿Pero qué pasa si necesitas que tu hijo o hija reciba más de solo 10 a 15 horas de clase semanales?</p><p>Hay varias formas de obtener ayuda financiera para esas horas adicionales. El programa de preescolar universal pagará hasta 30 horas de preescolar a la semana para algunos niños. Esos niños tienen que ser de familias con bajos ingresos y estar en una de las siguientes categorías: Estar aprendiendo inglés, no tener hogar, vivir en un hogar de crianza (<i>foster home</i>) o tener un plan de educación especial.</p><p>El mero hecho de ser de una familia con bajos ingresos no basta para calificar para las 30 horas — pero muchas familias hispanohablantes pueden calificar <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/4/19/23689795/colorado-preescolar-universal-aplicacion-solicitud-30-horas-gratis-que-necesitas-saber-preguntas-upk">si sus ingresos caen bajo cierto nivel</a>.</p><p>Hemos recopilado una lista de otros programas que pueden ayudar a cubrir las horas adicionales de preescolar, que incluyen <i>Head Start</i>, el <i>Colorado Child Care Assistance Program</i>, y para los residentes de Denver, el Programa Preescolar de Denver. El condado de Summit también ofrece ayudas para la matrícula de preescolares con su <a href="https://www.earlychildhoodoptions.org/paying-for-childcare">Programa de PreKinder de Summit</a>, pero el plazo de solicitud generalmente es del 1 al 31 de mayo.</p><p>Las familias de militares pueden ser elegibles para ayuda financiera a través del programa <a href="https://public.militarychildcare.csd.disa.mil/mcc-central/mcchome/mccyn"><i>Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood</i></a>, establecido para familias que no pueden acceder a los programas de guardería operados por el servicio militar porque hay listas de espera o porque están lejos de sus hogares.</p><p>Por último, vale la pena preguntar en el centro preescolar de tu hijo si ellos ofrecen becas o descuentos que puedan ayudar a reducir el costo del programa.</p><p>Si tienes preguntas sobre el preescolar universal o sobre cómo añadir horas, llama al servicio de ayuda del preescolar universal al 303-866-5223 o o comunícate con el <a href="https://cdec.colorado.gov/universal-preschool-find-my-lco">grupo local de tu condado</a> que está ayudando a operar el preescolar universal.</p><p>Este es un resumen rápido de algunos de los programas que pueden combinarse con el preescolar universal para darles un día completo de clases a los estudiantes.</p><h2>Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP)</h2><p><b>¿Qué es? </b>Un <a href="https://cdec.colorado.gov/colorado-child-care-assistance-program-for-families">programa estatal</a> que ayuda a las familias con bajos ingresos a pagar por el cuidado de los niños, incluido el preescolar. Los padres deberán estar trabajando, buscando trabajo o asistiendo a la escuela.</p><p><b>Quién es elegible:</b> Las familias cuyos hijos son ciudadanos o residentes legales permanentes y cuyo ingreso familiar esté entre el 200% y el 270% del límite federal de pobreza. Eso es entre $60,000 y $81,000 para una familia de cuatro. Cada condado establece sus propios criterios de ingresos, así que <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WzobLnLoxGbN_JfTuw3jUCZV5N7IA_0uvwEkIoMt3Wk/edit#gid=1350122430">verifica los detalles aquí</a> dependiendo en dónde vives.</p><p><b>Ayuda financiera:</b> El CCCAP paga por la mayor parte de los gastos de guardería de las familias que califican, y la cantidad pagada varía según las horas de cuidado que necesite el niño por encima de las horas de preescolar universal. Las familias que califican también tienen que pagar una cuota de los padres: un copago basado en los ingresos, el tamaño de la familia y el número de niños que van a la guardería.</p><p><b>Cómo solicitar:</b> <a href="https://peak--coloradopeak.force.com/peak/s/benefit-information/benefit-detail?language=en_US&category=early-childhood-programs">En línea</a> en inglés o español, o comunícate con <a href="https://cdhs.colorado.gov/contact-your-county">el departamento de servicios humanos de tu condado</a>.</p><p><b>Lo que debes saber sobre combinar con la educación preescolar universal: </b>Solamente algunos preescolares participan en el <i>Colorado Child Care Assistance Program</i>. Pregúntale al proveedor de preescolar universal que hayas seleccionado si acepta el CCCAP, o busca su nombre en la solicitud de preescolar universal y haz clic en “Ver más información”. Aparecerá una ventana con información sobre el proveedor y te dirá si ellos aceptan el CCCAP o si ofrecen otro tipo de ayuda financiera.</p><p>Algunas familias que califican para el CCCAP podrían no recibir la ayuda debido a la escasez de fondos, sobre todo una vez que se agoten los fondos del estímulo federal por COVID en 2024.</p><h2>Programa Preescolar de Denver</h2><p><b>¿Qué es? </b>Un <a href="https://dpp.org/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=adtaxi_search&gclid=CjwKCAjwrranBhAEEiwAzbhNtaIsUQMoqROIxKLRSrP0Z8nmzExzFRZ1dPQzcXiq74YK3UuDku6TRBoCfG4QAvD_BwE">programa en Denver</a> que cuenta con matrícula basada en los ingresos para niños de 4 años en preescolar, sin importar los ingresos de la familia.</p><p><b>Quién es elegible: </b>Residentes de Denver con hijos de 4 años que asistan a preescolar, independientemente de su estatus migratorio.</p><p><b>Ayuda financiera: </b>Los créditos de matrícula varían entre $36 y $1,227 mensuales por un máximo de 12 meses, y se le pagan a la escuela a nombre de la familia.<b> </b>Usa la<b> </b><a href="https://dpp.org/sign-up-for-tuition-support/how-we-calculate-your-tuition-credit/">calculadora de crédito de matrícula del Programa Preescolar de Denver</a> para calcular tu crédito de matrícula mensual. Los créditos se basan en el tamaño de la familia, los ingresos y la calidad del centro preescolar seleccionado.</p><p><b>Cómo solicitar: </b><a href="https://find.dpp.org/register?action=apply&subsidyProgramId=eefc0e97-4687-4fb2-9c40-9d4f015e8b20">En línea</a> en cualquier momento en inglés o español, o comunícate con el Programa Preescolar de Denver llamando al (303) 595-4377 o escribiendo a <a href="mailto:info@dpp.org">info@dpp.org</a>. Hay solicitudes en formato PDF disponibles en chino/mandarín, francés, ruso, vietnamita, somalí, amárico y nepalí.</p><p><b>Lo que debes saber sobre combinar con la educación preescolar universal: </b>Solicita el preescolar universal primero, y después de que tu hijo o hija se haya matriculado en un preescolar, solicita el Programa Preescolar de Denver. Esto es necesario porque la solicitud del Programa Preescolar de Denver requiere que las familias indiquen el centro preescolar al que asiste su hijo o hija. La mayoría de los centros de preescolar de Denver que están participando en el preescolar universal también participan en el Programa Preescolar de Denver, pero hay algunos que no. <a href="https://find.dpp.org/welcome/">Checa aquí</a> para encontrar los centros preescolares que están participando en el Programa Preescolar de Denver.</p><h2>Head Start</h2><p><b>¿Qué es? </b>Un <a href="https://cdec.colorado.gov/head-start/early-head-start">programa financiado con fondos federales</a> que ofrece educación preescolar gratuita, servicios de salud y apoyo familiar a niños de familias con bajos ingresos, independientemente de su estatus migratorio.</p><p><b>Quién es elegible: </b>Niños de 3 a 5 años de familias con ingresos que igualan o son menos que el límite federal de pobreza. Esto equivale a $30,000 anuales para una familia de 4. Los niños sin hogar, en hogares de crianza (<i>foster care</i>) o cuyas familias reciben asistencia pública también son elegibles independientemente de sus ingresos.</p><p><b>Ayuda financiera: </b>Head Start es un programa preescolar gratuito que ofrece un horario de clases parcial o completo a los niños.</p><p><b>Cómo solicitar: </b><a href="https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/">Busca aquí</a> para encontrar proveedores cerca de ti y comunícate directamente con el centro para solicitar. Si necesitas ayuda para encontrar un proveedor de Head Start, llama al 866-763-6481.</p><p><b>Lo que debes saber sobre combinar con la educación preescolar universal: </b>Solamente algunos proveedores de preescolar ofrecen Head Start. La solicitud de preescolar universal también muestra si los proveedores participan en Head Start. Para obtener ayuda, comunícate con el proveedor de Head Start que te interesa o con <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NETF8pguQxd8L-ewinpDJsGLNehVc_7i3UkiEEL6QXo/view#gid=632419378">el grupo local</a> que ayuda a operar el preescolar universal.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke es reportera senior de Chalkbeat y cubre temas relacionados con la niñez temprana y la alfabetización temprana. Para comunicarte con Ann, envíale un email a aschimke@chalkbeat.org.</i></p><p><br/></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/9/18/23879099/ayuda-para-pagar-el-preescolar-colorado/Ann Schimke2022-05-26T16:26:08+00:002023-12-22T21:40:00+00:00<p><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/5/11/23067136/jeffco-bright-minds-colorado-dyslexia-middle-high-school-students"><i>Read in English.</i></a></p><p>Kaylee, estudiante de octavo grado vestida con un <i>hoodie</i> azul claro, le leyó una lista de palabras (una por una) a la maestra Jessica Thurby. Batalló un poco con algunas: Leyó ‘<i>debate</i>’ como “<i>deblate</i>”, <i>sacred</i> como “<i>secret</i>” y <i>defend</i> como “<i>define</i>.”</p><p>Ambas repasaron las palabras que Kaylee no leyó bien. Cuando intentó leer la palabra <i>sacred</i> otra vez, Kaylee dijo “Se ve como la palabra <i>scared</i>”.</p><p>“Así es,” dijo Thurby. “Por eso el cerebro adivinó automáticamente. Pero estamos tratando de no hacer eso, ¿recuerdas?”</p><p>Para los estudiantes que llegan a la escuela intermedia sin contar con buenas destrezas de lectura, estas palabras se convierten en barreras que les impiden entender y dificultan el aprendizaje. Un programa nuevo en la escuela Alameda International Junior/Senior High School de Lakewood está tratando de ayudar.</p><p>El programa <i>Bright MINDS</i>, lanzado el otoño pasado, ofrece tutorías intensivas de lectura para ayudar a 14 estudiantes de séptimo y octavo grado que tienen dislexia u otras dificultades para leer. Los líderes escolares tienen planes de agregar un grado cada año hasta que <i>Bright MINDS</i> incluya hasta el 12mo grado, y el objetivo final es que sirva de modelo para otras escuelas en el distrito Jeffco (cuya matrícula es de 78,000 estudiantes) y el resto del estado.</p><p><i>Bright MINDS</i> ha surgido en un momento en que los líderes de educación de están <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/colorado-reading">bastante enfocados en mejorar la enseñanza de lectura en la primaria</a>, con iniciativas que incluyen <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/3/9/22969925/colorado-teacher-reading-training-state-board-deadline">requisitos nuevos de capacitación</a> para los maestros de Kinder hasta tercer grado, y <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/1/26/22903450/colorado-reading-curriculum-state-enforcement-advances">límites más estrictos en el currículo de lectura</a>. Pero aparte de ser un modesto programa de lectura subsidiado, quienes establecen las políticas en el estado le han dado muy poca atención a las decenas de miles de estudiantes de secundaria que tienen problemas para leer.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/WZF7xJtUp2yNxJ21OFc6IHC1_pM=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/NABQYWL5IJD5HCYQDZNSHDWVQU.jpg" alt="La especialista en aprendizaje/lectura Jessica Thurby trabaja con un estudiante del programa Bright MINDS. El programa comenzó con 14 estudiantes de séptimo y octavo grado, pero agregará un grado adicional cada año hasta llegar al duodécimo." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>La especialista en aprendizaje/lectura Jessica Thurby trabaja con un estudiante del programa Bright MINDS. El programa comenzó con 14 estudiantes de séptimo y octavo grado, pero agregará un grado adicional cada año hasta llegar al duodécimo.</figcaption></figure><p>Los estudiantes que no saben leer bien enfrentan consecuencias a largo plazo. Están en mayor riesgo de abandonar la escuela, ganar menos ingresos como adultos, y de terminar en el sistema de justicia criminal.</p><p>Los líderes del departamento de educación estatal dicen que el rol de ellos es mínimo en cuanto a resolver el problema de estudiantes mayores que no saben leer, ya que no existe ley equivalente a la Ley READ de 2012, que los obliga a ayudar a los estudiantes más pequeños que estén batallando para leer.</p><p>“Como no hay una ley similar a la Ley READ, no existe estructura en cuanto a la lectura y escritura en [los grados] cuarto hasta 12”, dijo Floyd Cobb, director ejecutivo de enseñanza y aprendizaje en el Departamento de Educación de Colorado. “Esa responsabilidad recae mayormente en los distritos”.</p><p>Los expertos dicen que el panorama de control local de Colorado significa que hay una amplia variedad en los tipos de ayuda adicional provista a los estudiantes de secundaria que no leen bien — si es que hay alguna.</p><p>“Siempre somos honestos con las familias sobre el hecho de que, a medida que los estudiantes siguen subiendo de grado, a menudo hay menos recursos para el tipo de intervención recomendada”, dijo Laura Santerre-Lemmon, que dirige la clínica de neurosicología de desarrollo en la Universidad de Denver, un centro que frecuentemente hace evaluaciones de dislexia en niños.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/3ZgYs9duIjCaaS14P96y6uAVACc=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/FFRVYV3H5JCMJGNH55YOPZFTGM.jpg" alt="Si bien los líderes educativos de Colorado han trabajado para mejorar la instrucción de lectura en la primaria, han prestado menos atención a los estudiantes de secundaria que tienen dificultades con la lectura." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Si bien los líderes educativos de Colorado han trabajado para mejorar la instrucción de lectura en la primaria, han prestado menos atención a los estudiantes de secundaria que tienen dificultades con la lectura.</figcaption></figure><h2>Enemigo de la seguridad en sí mismos</h2><p>La dislexia, una discapacidad de aprendizaje que afecta entre un <a href="https://www.cde.state.co.us/communications/dyslexia-factsheet">15% y 20% de la población</a>, tiene la capacidad de ser devastadora para los estudiantes y hacer que las tareas escolares de rutina les causen estrés y vergüenza.</p><p>Elise, estudiante de 13 años y participante en el programa <i>Bright MINDS</i>, tartamudeaba al leer en voz alta en la primaria y los otros niños la llamaron estúpida porque leía lentamente y no sabía deletrear bien.</p><p>La niña de séptimo grado, que tiene dificultad para escuchar los sonidos de las palabras, recuerda cómo finalmente se memorizó la palabra “<i>people</i>” porque la maestra estaba bastante frustrada con ella.</p><p>“Memoricé muchas palabras de esa manera porque temía que ella se enojara conmigo”, dijo.</p><p><aside id="U0WB7f" class="actionbox"><header class="heading">¿Conoces a un estudiante de intermedia o secundaria que tiene dificultades para leer? </header><p class="description">Dígale a Chalkbeat qué podría ayudar a los estudiantes de Colorado a ser mejores lectores. </p><p><a class="label" href="https://forms.gle/FJYC3RSgGezxsvru5">Toma nuestra encuesta</a></p></aside></p><p>Aun después de identificar que un estudiante tiene dislexia, los problemas pueden persistir si no reciben el tipo adecuado de ayuda. Brody, otro estudiante de <i>Bright MINDS</i>, fue diagnosticado en quinto grado con dislexia y calificó para recibir servicios de educación especial. Su mamá, Kristina Trudeau, dijo que sin embargo no estaba teniendo progreso en su escuela en el condado de Adams.</p><p>Estaba leyendo a nivel de Kinder, y reconocía únicamente palabras básicas como “<i>cat</i>” y “<i>dog</i>”. En un momento, ella descubrió que el programa de lectura que los maestros de Brody estaban usando no era recomendado para estudiantes con dislexia.</p><p>Trudeau ha visto el impacto real de las dificultades para leer de Brody. Una noche lo encontró llorando solo en el cuarto de lavandería. Se había propuesto hacerse cena, pero no podía leer las instrucciones en el paquete de pasta china.</p><p>“Me rompió el corazón”, dijo Trudeau. “Él piensa de manera diferente. Aprende de manera diferente. Y merece que esas necesidades sean atendidas”.</p><h2>¿Qué tan grande es el problema?</h2><p>La escasez de datos hace difícil cuantificar cuántos estudiantes de intermedia y secundaria están teniendo problemas para leer en Colorado.</p><p>Más de la mitad de los estudiantes de intermedia en Colorado tuvieron puntuaciones de poco rendimiento en los exámenes de lectura y escritura del estado en 2019, el último año en que los estudiantes de sexto, séptimo y octavo grado tomaron el examen. Es una medida aproximada, sin embargo, en parte porque el estado no separa los resultados de lectura y de escritura.</p><p>El alcance de los problemas de lectura es más claro para los estudiantes más pequeños porque la ley de lectura de Colorado de 2012 requiere que las escuelas identifiquen a los estudiantes con problemas significativos de lectura desde Kinder hasta tercer grado y que definan planes para ayudarlos a mejorar. De hecho, el estado ha separado fondos para ayudar a este grupo de estudiantes.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/-iXxA_tYKmUG3AgNl44aYtk4-e0=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/OU64WEUZNRDDNLQEW7MRHPYWGU.jpg" alt="La Asistente del Director de Alameda, Andrea Arguello (a la izquierda), diseñó el programa Bright MINDS junto con el sicólogo de la escuela, Todd Ognibene (a la derecha) y las maestras Jessica Thurby y Sarah Richards." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>La Asistente del Director de Alameda, Andrea Arguello (a la izquierda), diseñó el programa Bright MINDS junto con el sicólogo de la escuela, Todd Ognibene (a la derecha) y las maestras Jessica Thurby y Sarah Richards.</figcaption></figure><p>En contraste, para los estudiantes de cuarto hasta 12mo grado no existe ese requisito — y tampoco los fondos — aunque algunos estudiantes continúan sus planes de la ley READ por más tiempo después del tercer grado. Unos 48,000 estudiantes de Colorado en los grados cuarto hasta 12mo estaban en planes de la ley READ en 2021, lo cual representa un 8% de los estudiantes en esos grados.</p><p><figure id="B03x4A" class="table"><table><thead><tr><th>Grado</th><th>No cumple las expectativas</th><th>Cumplio parcialmente</th><th>Se acercó a las expectativas</th><th>Total que no cumplieron</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>6</td><td>9.8%</td><td>18.3%</td><td>28.3%</td><td>56.4%</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>13.3%</td><td>16.9%</td><td>23.2%</td><td>53.4%</td></tr><tr><td>8</td><td>15.0%</td><td>16.2%</td><td>21.9%</td><td>53.1%</td></tr></tbody></table><figcaption><div class="title">Porcentaje de estudiantes que no cumplieron expectativas en las pruebas de lectura CMAS</div><div class="caption">Estos datos vienen de las pruebas CMAS de literatura del 2019. Los estudiantes de secundaria toman las pruebas PSAT o SAT y no están representados.</div></figcaption></figure></p><p><figure id="wjq7AS" class="table"><table><thead><tr><th>Grado</th><th>Estudiantes</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>6</td><td>14.7%</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>11.7%</td></tr><tr><td>8</td><td>8.4%</td></tr><tr><td>9</td><td>6.1%</td></tr><tr><td>10</td><td>4.2%</td></tr><tr><td>11</td><td>2.6%</td></tr></tbody></table><figcaption><div class="title">Porcentaje de estudiantes secundarios con plan de la ley READ en 2021</div></figcaption></figure></p><p>Pero muchos estudiantes con dificultad para leer nunca son identificados para tener un plan de lectura porque sus problemas no son lo suficientemente graves en los primeros grados o porque ellos ocultan sus debilidades con vocabulario avanzado, excelentes destrezas verbales, y otras estrategias de compensación. Esos estudiantes a menudo se las ingenian para seguir subiendo de grado con las calificaciones mínimas aunque no hayan captado gran parte de lo que leían.</p><p>Ese fue el caso de Collin, estudiante de séptimo grado y aficionado al <i>lacrosse</i> que vive en el distrito Jeffco y está matriculado en el programa <i>Bright MINDS.</i></p><p>Su mamá, Leslie Dennis, dijo que hasta el segundo grado Collin podía tomar exámenes de lectura usando una herramienta que le leía los pasajes. A su hijo siempre le fue bien en los exámenes, pero en tercer grado tuvo que leer los pasajes por sí solo y sus puntuaciones bajaron drásticamente. Sin embargo, Collin no recibió un Plan de la ley READ; solamente recibió sesiones de ayuda para ayudarle a ser más fluido al leer — es decir, poder leer rápido, sin errores, y con la expresión apropiada.</p><p>Las sesiones no fueron suficiente. Collin obtuvo calificaciones promedio en toda la primaria, pero todavía titubeaba al leer algunas palabras, odiaba leer en voz alta, y se llamaba “tonto” a sí mismo.</p><p>Dennis sabía que el problema tenía que ser mayor, y dijo “pero no sabía exactamente cuál era”.</p><p>Finalmente, en quinto grado y siguiendo el consejo de otra mamá, llevó a su hijo a hacerse una prueba privada y descubrió que tenía dislexia.</p><h2>Equidad y acceso</h2><p>El programa <i>Bright MINDS</i> — donde ‘MINDS’ es la sigla de <i>Multisensory Intensive Dyslexia Support</i> — fue una idea de Jason Glass, pasado Superintendente del Distrito Jeffco, nos dijo Todd Ognibene, sicólogo escolar de Alameda y coordinador de <i>Bright MINDS</i>. Cuando Glass dejó de ser superintendente en 2020, otros administradores continuaron el plan.</p><p>“Salté de la alegría porque esto era algo que el distrito… finalmente reconoció que se necesitaba”, dijo Ognibene.</p><p>Alameda, donde casi tres cuartas partes de los estudiantes califican para comidas con subsidio, fue seleccionada para ser la sede del programa por su ubicación centralizada. Ognibene y Andrea Arguello, Asistente del Director de la escuela, diseñaron <i>Bright MINDS</i> junto con Thurby, maestra de educación especial, y Sarah Richards, maestra de inglés como segundo idioma y cuya hija tiene dislexia.</p><p>Para asegurar accesibilidad, no requieren un diagnóstico de dislexia, cuya prueba privada puede costar cientos de dólares. En su lugar, el equipo evalúa a los solicitantes del Distrito Jeffco y otros distritos del área metropolitana de Denver para detectar características asociadas con dislexia u otros problemas de lectura relacionados.</p><p>Encontrar un programa de dislexia estructurado dentro de una escuela pública es una agradable sorpresa para muchas familias. Las escuelas privadas que ofrecen servicios similares son bastante caras.</p><p>Algunos padres le han dicho a Ognibene, “Esto fue más difícil que encontrar una aguja en un pajar”.</p><p>Los estudiantes del programa reciben 80 minutos de lectura diarios. Aproximadamente la mitad recibe la ayuda más intensa, <a href="https://www.cde.state.co.us/coloradoliteracy/advisorylistofinstructionalprogramming2020">un programa de intervención aprobado por el estado</a> llamado <i>Wilson Reading System</i>. La otra mitad, que cuenta con destrezas de lectura un poco mejores, usan <i>Just Words, </i>otro programa de Wilson.</p><p><i>Bright MINDS</i> está apenas empezando, pero los primeros resultados son prometedores. Desde el otoño hasta el invierno, los estudiantes que participaron mejoraron un 68% más de lo esperado típicamente en lectura.</p><p>“Estoy agradecida… Por esto es que yo estaba exactamente peleando”, dijo Trudeau, la mamá de Brody. “No es justo asumir una deuda de $30,000 al año simplemente para que tu hijo reciba la educación correcta”,</p><p>Este año, <i>Bright MINDS</i> incluye algunos estudiantes que están en el programa de educación especial, algunos que tienen otros planes de aprendizaje, y otros que no tienen ningún plan. Algunos estudiantes hablan inglés como segundo idioma.</p><p>Los estudiantes del programa también reciben ayuda con destrezas como planificación y organización, ya que es común que otros trastornos ocurran junto con la dislexia, como por ejemplo déficit de atención/hiperactividad.</p><p>Los estudiantes de <i>Bright MINDS</i> no tienen que faltar a sus clases básicas para asistir a su clase diaria de lectura. En su lugar, simplemente no se matriculan en una de las clases electivas. Además, Thurby o Richards los acompañan en sus clases básicas para asegurar que estén recibiendo la ayuda necesaria para absorber el contenido.</p><p>Arguello, que también tiene dislexia, recuerda el impacto que tenía ser sacada de las clases generales en la escuela para recibir ayuda con la lectura.</p><p>“Me tomó mucho tiempo ponerme al día”, dijo.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/bPyK067ui9fdOdLLKzMD1a-J5ks=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/DYPT6BS4FNAR5K7IS22TWVFKMM.jpg" alt="La especialista en lectura Sarah Richards (a la derecha) mide un minuto durante un descanso del programa Bright MINDS. El programa ha tenido resultados prometedores hasta ahora, y los estudiantes han mostrado una mejora 68% mayor desde el otoño al invierno de la que normalmente se anticiparía." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>La especialista en lectura Sarah Richards (a la derecha) mide un minuto durante un descanso del programa Bright MINDS. El programa ha tenido resultados prometedores hasta ahora, y los estudiantes han mostrado una mejora 68% mayor desde el otoño al invierno de la que normalmente se anticiparía.</figcaption></figure><h2>Cambio en la atención</h2><p>Hay señales de que pronto habrá más ayuda para los estudiantes de los grados mayores.</p><p>En 2020, el gobierno federal le otorgó <a href="https://www.cde.state.co.us/early/comprehensive-state-literacy-development-grant">$16 millones </a>en <i>grants</i> a los distritos de Colorado para ser destinados a iniciativas de lectura y escritura que cubran desde la niñez temprana hasta la secundaria. Hasta ahora diez distritos han recibido los <i>grants</i>, y estos incluyen Aurora, Cherry Creek, St. Vrain Valley, Harrison, Lewis-Palmer y Sheridan.</p><p>Además, esta primavera <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2022A/bills/2022a_004_rer.pdf">se aprobará una ley</a> para requerir que los directores de primaria y los intervencionistas que trabajan con estudiantes de cuarto hasta 12mo grado completen una capacitación en enseñanza de lectura similar a la que ya se les <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/3/9/22969925/colorado-teacher-reading-training-state-board-deadline">requiere a los maestros de los grados K-3</a>.</p><p>Jill Youngren, consultora que está ayudando a los distritos St. Vrain y Sheridan con sus <i>grants</i>, aboga por una estrategia sistémica para ayudar a los estudiantes que están batallando con la lectura — asegurar que los educadores usen las evaluaciones correctas, identifiquen el problema raíz, y sepan cómo impartir enseñanza que resuelva la brecha.</p><p>“Si se empieza temprano todo eso se puede evitar, pero no podemos tirar la toalla por un niño que no recibió la instrucción correcta y decir, ah pues, lo sentimos, así es la vida, qué pena”.</p><p>Los estudiantes de <i>Bright MINDS</i> y sus padres dicen que este año el programa los ha ayudado con mucho más que lectura, deletreo y redacción. Ha logrado que la experiencia de tener dislexia se siente menos aislante.</p><p>“Ha sido excelente”, dijo Elise, “Es como tener un montón de hermanos y más padres que te están cuidando”.</p><p>Una encuesta rápida de las metas profesionales entre los estudiantes de <i>Bright MINDS</i> demostró una gran variedad: Astronomía, medicina, guardabosque, ingeniería y jugador de béisbol. Ognibene dijo que la prioridad es empoderar a los estudiantes para que logren sus metas.</p><p>“Queremos que se gradúen de Alameda sabiendo que esencialmente no existe opción que no puedan perseguir”, dijo.</p><p><div id="IYFOV0" class="html"><iframe src="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeiF0UxX4bOUoim6koWE59iGsKUoKzzY7Q6XkW9OXkLFnxMsw/viewform?embedded=true" width="100%" height="2127" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0">Loading…</iframe></div></p><p><i>¿Tiene problemas para ver esta encuesta? </i><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/u/0/?tgif=d"><i>Haga click aquí</i></a><i>.</i></p><p><i>Ann Schimke es reportera senior en Chalkbeat y cubre temas de niñez temprana y de lectura y escritura en la niñez temprana. Comunícate con Ann escribiéndole a </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a>.</p><p><br/></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2022/5/26/23142160/jeffco-escuelas-bright-minds-dislexia-dificultades-leer/Ann SchimkeRJ Sangosti / The Denver Post2021-03-15T21:12:56+00:002023-12-22T21:39:27+00:00<p>Algunas escuelas de Aurora tendrán que cambiar a un nuevo currículo de lectura para cumplir con una ley estatal que requiere materiales de lectura respaldados por ciencia — aunque los líderes del distrito inicialmente negaran que tendrían que cambiar.</p><p>Más o menos una tercera parte<b> </b>de las escuelas primarias y K-8 del distrito usan un programa que ha sido rechazado por los revisores del estado. Pero cuando un reportero les preguntó a mediados de febrero acerca de reemplazar el programa, los funcionarios del distrito resistieron la idea y dijeron que la ley no les requiere cambiar. El próximo día, después de que los oficiales de educación estatales confirmaran que la ley de 2019 les aplica a ellos, cambiaron su posición.</p><p>“El Departamento de Educación de Colorado (CDE) no ha establecido ningún plazo para que los distritos hagan cambios y nosotros seguiremos trabajando con el CDE a fin de hacer cualquier actualización necesaria,” dijo Corey Christiansen, portavoz del distrito, en una declaración escrita.</p><p>Comparado con algunos distritos grandes en Colorado, donde la amplia mayoría de las escuelas usan currículos inaceptables que tendrán que ser reemplazados, Aurora enfrenta un cambio relativamente leve. Pero entre la confusión del distrito en cuanto a la ley sobre la lectura, la comunicación no tan clara por parte de los funcionarios estatales, y la fricción que sigue habiendo entre el Superintendente de Aurora Rico Munn y la junta escolar, no se sabe cuándo el currículo de lectura tendrá alta prioridad en la lista de tareas “por hacer” del distrito.</p><p>En 2019, solo una cuarta parte de los estudiantes de tercer grado en Autora obtuvo una puntuación de dominio en los exámenes de lectura y escritura, lo cual está por debajo del promedio estatal. De los 38,000 estudiantes del distrito, un 47% están aprendiendo inglés (conocidos como <i>English Learners</i>), un grupo que representa un porcentaje desproporcional de los identificados como estudiantes con dificultad para leer.</p><p>Los funcionarios de educación del estado llevan tiempo diciendo que mejorar la enseñanza de lectura — y mejorar las puntuaciones de alfabetismo estancado en Colorado — es una de las mayores prioridades, pero tradicionalmente no se involucran en las decisiones de cómo los maestros deberán enseñar a leer. Eso está cambiando debido a <a href="https://www.cde.state.co.us/coloradoliteracy/sb19199coloradoreadactpdf">una ley de 2019 con respecto a la lectura</a> que requiere que esos currículos sean respaldados por ciencia y que los maestros de K-3 reciban nueva capacitación.</p><p>Pero a algunos defensores de la mejora en lectura, aunque estén alentados por las disposiciones más estrictas en la ley, les preocupa que los funcionarios del estado no van a darle seguimiento al asunto.</p><p>Hasta ahora, las señales han sido mixtas. Los funcionarios del estado le han dicho a Chalkbeat que ellos tienen el poder de bajar las puntuaciones de acreditación de los distritos si las escuelas no hacen un esfuerzo de buena fe por cumplir con las reglas para los currículos de lectura. Al mismo tiempo, han reconocido que los líderes de algunos distritos todavía están confundidos con respecto a la ley. Además, los funcionarios no tienen planes de comunicarse con los distritos para identificar los programas de lectura inaceptables hasta más tarde en esta primavera — dos años completos después de haber aprobado la ley.</p><p>“Yo pienso que esto es algo normal en cualquier situación nueva, en cualquier ley nueva a medida que la gente comienza a cumplirla,” dijo Melissa Colsman, comisionada asociada de aprendizaje de los estudiantes en el departamento de educación del estado. “Hasta que nos comuniquemos con ellos para darle seguimiento, no se siente como algo real todavía.”</p><h3>Qué dice la ley</h3><p>La ley sobre lectura en Colorado del 2019 (una actualización de la histórica ley de 2012, la Ley READ) tiene dos partes clave que tratan sobre la selección de un currículo para lectura. La primera y más conocida disposición requiere que los distritos compren programas de lectura aprobados por el estado si usan fondos de la Ley READ para la compra.</p><p>Como muchos distritos usan otros fondos monetarios para comprar el currículo de lectura, los administradores podrían suponer que por eso pueden seleccionar el currículo que quieren. Y ahí es que la segunda disposición de la ley de 2019 entra en juego.</p><p>Esa disposición requiere que todas las escuelas usen un currículo de lectura para los grados K-3 que tenga respaldo científico o esté basado en evidencia. Cuando revisó 30 programas el año pasado, el estado determinó que <a href="https://www.cde.state.co.us/coloradoliteracy/advisorylistofinstructionalprogramming2020">10 programas en inglés y dos en español cumplían este requisito</a>. El estado no ha emitido públicamente una lista de los programas de lectura que rechazó.</p><p><i>Wonders</i>, el programa de lectura más ampliamente usado en las escuelas de Aurora, es uno de los aprobados por los revisores del estado. Pero un segundo programa llamado <i>Units of Study for Teaching Reading</i>, o más comúnmente como <i>Lucy Calkins</i>, no cumplió los requisitos. Lo mismo ocurrió con un programa complementario de fónica llamado <i>Fountas &amp; Pinnell Phonics</i>, que es usado en todas las escuelas de Aurora que usan el programa <i>Lucy Calkins</i>.</p><p>Eso significa que un tercio de las escuelas primarias y K-8 de Aurora administradas por el distrito (una matrícula total de más de 5,000 estudiantes) usan un currículo de lectura inaceptable y no están cumpliendo la ley.</p><p>Pero durante una reciente entrevista telefónica, Starla Pearson (directora ejecutiva de currículo e instrucción de Aurora) dijo que el distrito no tiene planes de cambiar del programa <i>Lucy Calkins</i> y cuestionó la manera en que Chalkbeat interpreta la ley.</p><p>Christiansen, el portavoz del distrito que también estaba presente en la llamada, dijo “Nuestra recomendación es que le pidan aclaración sobre ese punto al [Departamento de Educación de Colorado].”</p><p>Más tarde el mismo día, él pidió aclaración escribiéndole al departamento, “Nuestro entender es que, al no usar fondos de la Ley READ para comprar el currículo, los requisitos de transición no se aplican a las escuelas de APS.”</p><p>Un portavoz del departamento de educación contestó la carta: “A todos los distritos se les requiere usar un currículo respaldado por ciencia o basado en evidencia, no importa cuál sea la fuente de fondos usada para efectuar la compra.”</p><p>Lindsay Drakos, copresidente de COKID, un grupo estatal que aboga por la dislexia, dijo que la comunicación del estado con respecto a qué es un currículo aceptable es poco precisa y deja demasiado espacio para confusión.</p><p>A ella le preocupa que esto es una señal de que el estado no va a hacer cumplir la ley de 2019 estrictamente.</p><p>“Nosotros tenemos la responsabilidad de ayudar a estos niños,” dijo ella.</p><p>Colsman, del departamento de educación del estado, dijo que implantar la ley de lectura de 2019 es una de las mayores prioridades de la Junta de Educación del Estado.</p><p>“Eso lo tomamos muy en serio,” ella dijo. “Vamos a estar trabajando… para asegurar que los distritos cumplan la ley si ahora están usando un programa que no está respaldado por ciencia ni basado en evidencia.”</p><h3>Llenar las brechas en el currículo</h3><p>Hace tres años, cuando Aurora adoptó los programas <i>Wonders</i> y <i>Lucy Calkins</i>, a las escuelas se les permitía escoger el currículo que quisieran. Aproximadamente dos docenas de las escuelas optaron por <i>Wonders.</i> Casi una docena seleccionó <i>Lucy Calkins</i> junto con el programa complementario <i>Fountas &amp; Pinnell Phonics.</i></p><p>(Las ocho escuelas chárter del distrito que tienen grados K-3 usan una variedad de programas de lectura, entre ellos <i>Wonders</i> y otras opciones aprobadas por el estado.)</p><p>Kerri Ampry-Smith, que este año ha estado enseñando Kinder completamente a remoto en la <i>Fulton Academy of Excellence</i> de Aurora, dice que generalmente le gusta el currículo de <i>Wonders</i>. Ella lo describe como bastante completo, con un componente de fónica bueno, libros que destacan varias culturas, y materiales que traducen fácilmente al mundo digital.</p><p>Dijo además que también tiene sus puntos débiles — la porción dedicada a enseñanza en pequeños grupos, por ejemplo — pero que es mejor que algunos otros programas de lectura que ha usado en los últimos 20 años. Ampry-Smith dijo que los maestros en su escuela originalmente seleccionaron <i>Wonders</i> porque ofrecía bastante guía para los muchos maestros nuevos de la escuela.</p><p>“Te dice exactamente qué hacer cada día,” dijo ella. “Eso es un apoyo enorme para los maestros nuevos.”</p><p>Desde 2015, el logro en lectura y escritura de tercer grado del distrito ha ido mejorando poco a poco cada año, y la proporción de estudiantes que cumple o supera los estándares estatales subió de un 18.4% a un 22.8% en 2019. El promedio del estado en 2019 fue un 41.3%.</p><p>Aurora es el distrito más diverso del estado, ya que sus estudiantes hablan más de 100 idiomas — y el más común es el español.</p><p>Cara MacCarthy, maestra de cuarto grado en la primaria <i>Vaughn Elementary</i>, dijo que tener <i>Wonders</i> en algunas escuelas y <i>Lucy Calkins</i> en otras causa un poco de inconsistencia, pero que era aún peor antes de 2017, cuando no había nada establecido.</p><p>MacCarthy, que antes enseñaba primer grado, recuerda pasar horas uniendo pedazos de varios programas. Otros maestros hicieron lo mismo.</p><p>“Podía ser completamente diferente de una clase a otra, y de una escuela a otra,” dijo. “Eso crea grandes interrogantes en cuanto a la igualdad.”</p><p>En 2017, “Hubo un gran suspiro de alivio cuando finalmente se adoptó un currículo, fuera <i>Wonders</i> o <i>Lucy</i> [<i>Calkins</i>],” ella señaló.</p><p>Los maestros de la <i>Vaughn Elementary</i> finalmente seleccionaron <i>Wonders</i> y si bien MacCarthy dice que no es perfecto, al menos ofrece una base sólida para empezar a construir.</p><h3>¿Los niños están adivinando?</h3><p>Aunque los revisores de currículo de Colorado rechazaron el programa <i>Lucy Calkins</i> la primavera pasada, los expertos en lectura y escritura lo criticaron, en parte porque alienta a los niños a adivinar palabras según la ilustración, el contexto, u otra información en la página. Los científicos han desacreditado ese método, diciendo que es un hábito empleado por personas con poca habilidad para leer, y que los estudiantes deben usar sus destrezas fónicas para pronunciar las palabras según el sonido.</p><p>Cuando se le preguntó si le preocupaba que el programa <i>Lucy Calkins</i> podría estar alentando a los estudiantes a adivinar, Pearson (que dirige la oficina de currículo e instrucción de Aurora) dijo, “Pienso que si eso es lo único que usamos, entonces sería un problema.”</p><p>También agregó, “Ciertamente no estoy aquí para confirmar o negar la efectividad de los materiales [de <i>Lucy Calkins</i>].”</p><p>Pearson dijo que las deficiencias en el programa <i>Lucy Calkins</i> se resuelven agregando el currículo <i>Fountas &amp; Pinnell Phonics</i>. Pero no pudo decir si los estudiantes de Aurora pudieran estar recibiendo una enseñanza de lectura inconsistente por ser alentados a adivinar en algunas instancias y a pronunciar los sonidos en otras.</p><p>“Ya que no he estado presente en esos salones de clase…. no puedo decir si eso es lo que está ocurriendo o no,” dijo.</p><p>Aparte de promover que adivinen y no incluir enseñanza clave sobre fónica, los expertos han criticado el currículo <i>Lucy Calkins</i> porque apenas tiene apoyo para los estudiantes que están aprendiendo inglés. <a href="https://achievethecore.org/page/3240/comparing-reading-research-to-program-design-an-examination-of-teachers-college-units-of-study">Una revisión del programa en 2020 por siete investigadores</a> dijo que sus reclamos de “prácticas que son ‘especialmente poderosas’ o ‘de increíble apoyo’ para los estudiantes que están aprendiendo inglés no son consistentes con los estudios existentes.”</p><p><i>Traducción por Milly Suazo.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2021/3/15/22332595/reglas-de-colorado-sobre-curriculo-de-lectura-le-aplican-a-aurora-respaldados-por-ciencia/Ann Schimke2023-02-01T19:53:02+00:002023-12-22T21:38:58+00:00<p><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/1/19/23562860/colorado-youth-mental-health-free-therapy-i-matter-aurora-cherry-creek-summit-county"><i><b>Read in English.</b></i></a></p><p>Roxana Alvarado Martínez, estudiante de décimo grado, solamente le había contado a algunas amistades cercanas que estaba yendo a citas de terapia para que la ayudaran con la ansiedad y el insomnio.</p><p>Pero eso cambió la semana pasada en el salón de la clase de educación cívica, donde trabaja como ayudante del maestro. El maestro sacó papelitos de la caja “Sol y Nubes”, donde los alumnos pueden compartir sus dificultades o emociones anónimamente.</p><p>Ese día, cuando se tocaron los temas de depresión, acoso escolar y suicidio, Roxana habló.</p><p>“No es motivo de vergüenza, ni absolutamente de pena, que ustedes o yo acudamos a terapia”, le dijo a la clase en la Escuela Secundaria Summit en Breckenridge. “Podría ayudarte a conectarte, si es lo que necesitas”</p><p>Roxana es parte de una generación que, en los últimos años, ha tenido que enfrentar problemas de salud mental sin precedentes en medio de una pandemia que amplió el estrés, el miedo y el aislamiento en personas jóvenes y mayores. También es una de los miles de jóvenes de Colorado que están aprovechando el aumento en programas cuyo propósito es hacer que el apoyo de salud mental sea más accesible y económico para la juventud.</p><p>Estos programas incluyen el programa estatal <i>I Matter</i> (Yo Importo), que ofrece seis sesiones gratuitas de consejería en persona o telesalud (virtuales) para estudiantes de primaria a secundaria. Hasta ahora, el programa ha atendido a más de 5,600 estudiantes en todo el estado.</p><p>Además, hay una variedad de programas locales. Roxana, de 16 años, recibió una beca para cubrir el costo de la terapia de <i>Building Hope</i>, un grupo sin fines de lucro en el Condado de Summit. El distrito escolar de Aurora, al este de Denver, empezó a ofrecerles seis sesiones gratuitas de consejería a los estudiantes hace un año, y el vecino distrito de Cherry Creek empezó a ofrecer en diciembre de ocho a 10 sesiones gratuitas para los estudiantes de escuela intermedia y secundaria. Ambos distritos contrataron a <a href="https://www.hazel.co/">Hazel Health</a>, una empresa de telesalud con sede en San Francisco.</p><p>Es difícil saber si la juventud de Colorado está recibiendo toda la ayuda que necesita. Durante los primeros nueve meses de 2022, las visitas a la sala de emergencias del sistema Children’s Hospital Colorado relacionadas con salud mental aumentaron un 74% en comparación con el mismo período en 2019, dijo una portavoz del hospital.</p><p>Esta es en parte la razón por la que los líderes locales y estatales siguen presionando para que los niños y adolescentes tengan acceso fácil a servicios de salud mental antes de que haya una crisis mayor.</p><p>Michelle Weinraub, directora de salud mental de Cherry Creek, dijo que el programa de consejería gratuita del distrito surgió de un grupo de trabajo sobre salud mental puesto en marcha a principios de 2022. Recordó que les preguntó a los estudiantes, en una reunión, si ellos usarían sesiones de consejería gratuitas que estuviesen disponibles en sus teléfonos después de la escuela o el trabajo.</p><p>Un par de ellos se emocionaron tanto, que casi saltaron de sus sillas, dijo ella.</p><p>“Dijeron: ‘Sí, eso es lo que queremos’”, afirmó ella. Entonces los estudiantes empezaron a hablar: “No podemos conseguir cita a menos que estemos en crisis... Mi amigo intentó llamar y está en lista de espera desde hace seis meses. Quería la cita con alguien que ya estaba atendiendo a un conocido, pero esa persona no acepta seguros médicos.”</p><h2>Expertos declaran una emergencia de salud mental</h2><p>En mayo de 2021, poco más de un año después del inicio de la pandemia, los líderes del Children’s Hospital Colorado dieron la voz de alarma sobre el gran aumento de problemas graves de salud mental entre niños y adolescentes, y declararon <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2021/5/25/22453088/colorado-experts-declare-youth-mental-health-state-of-emergency">un “estado de emergencia” de salud mental en la juventud.</a>”</p><p><aside id="IB3vrX" class="sidebar float-right"><h2 id="K8r4C5">Recursos de salud mental</h2><p id="1K42VS"><em>Si tu hijo o hija está sintiendo tristeza o ansiedad, está siendo victima de acoso escolar o tiene otros problemas en la escuela, hay ayuda disponible. Y tú también puedes recibir ayuda. No estás solo(a).</em></p><p id="0Ra4Dz"><a href="https://yoimportocolorado.org/">Yo Importo (I Matter)</a>: Inscríbete para recibir seis sesiones gratuitas de terapia para los niños y adolescentes de Colorado.</p><p id="y10kob"><a href="https://coloradocrisisservices.org/es/home-es/">Línea de crisis de Colorado</a>: 1-844-493-8255 (oprime 2 para español) o envía la palabra TALK por texto al 38255.</p><p id="iRxiE1"><a href="https://988lifeline.org/help-yourself/en-espanol/">Línea Nacional de Suicidio y Crisis:</a> 1-888-628-9454</p></aside></p><p>Ellos pidieron más fondos y también más esfuerzos para reducir las trabas burocráticas en el sistema de salud mental para los niños y adolescentes. Seis meses después, el estado lanzó el programa <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2021/10/27/22749878/colorado-free-mental-health-therapy-session-teens-youth-i-matter"><i>I Matter</i></a>.</p><p>Este programa no es la única “puerta” para encontrar consejería. Es una opción de acceso fácil para cualquier persona joven que necesite alguien con quien hablar, dijo Charlotte Whitney, de la Administración de Salud Conductual, la agencia estatal que maneja el programa <i>I Matter</i>. No se requiere tener ansiedad ni depresión extremas.</p><p>Whitney dijo que el modelo puede ayudar a los niños a mejorar su salud mental a largo plazo “porque sabrán dónde obtener los servicios y habrán aprendido las técnicas de manejo para superar esos momentos realmente difíciles”</p><p>Los estudiantes de 12 años en adelante pueden inscribirse en las sesiones de terapia llenando <a href="https://imattercolorado.org/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=branded&utm_campaign=bha_ymh_fy23&utm_content=search">un formulario sencillo en línea</a>. Los menores de 12 años pueden utilizar el servicio, pero necesitan que uno de sus padres lo haga. Whitney dijo que, en general, los estudiantes pueden obtener citas de telesalud en cuestión de días.</p><p>Ocasionalmente, dijo ella, los estudiantes esperarán más si están buscando algo específico, por ejemplo una cita en persona en una comunidad rural, o un terapeuta que se especialice en asuntos de transgénero.</p><p>En Aurora, desde que comenzó el año escolar más o menos 230 estudiantes han sido referidos a consejería a través del programa gratuito de Hazel Health. En Cherry Creek, que puso en marcha su programa el 5 de diciembre, unos 200 estudiantes han sido referidos para recibir ayuda. Los funcionarios del distrito dicen que no hay listas de espera para las citas.</p><p>Ya sea que los estudiantes empiecen con <i>I Matter</i> o con otro programa, si necesitan consejería continua, los terapeutas trabajarán con ellos para encontrar esa ayuda ya sea a través del seguro médico o de otra forma.</p><h2>La pandemia de COVID19 provocó agotamiento mental en los estudiantes</h2><p>Roxana siempre fue estudiante sobresaliente, incluso antes de mudarse de México a Estados Unidos a los 7 años. Sus padres esperaban buenas calificaciones, y ella las lograba.</p><p>Pero sus clases se hicieron más difíciles en la intermedia. Luego, en séptimo grado, llegó la pandemia. Roxana, que antes siempre estaba rodeada de amigos, se encontró pasando largos días sola en su cuarto.</p><p>Su papá le decía, “tienes que salir y por lo menos comer algo, beber agua”, dijo Roxana. “Empecé a llegar al punto en que me estaba ahogando en todo mi trabajo”</p><p>Se sentía claustrofóbica, agotada y preocupada por su madre, que trabajaba como enfermera en México. Al final, Roxana acudió a consejería, pero no le fue bien. Dice ella que el terapeuta le dijo: “Solo está en tu cabeza. Estás fingiendo”.</p><p>A mediados del noveno grado, sus problemas se agravaron. Por primera vez en su vida, estaba faltando a clases y a punto de fracasar en sus clases. Y terminó en el hospital.</p><p>Actualmente Roxana está mejor. Está acudiendo a una terapeuta con la que se siente identificada — es latina y su primer idioma es español, como ella — y ha dejado de lado su afán por tener perfectas calificaciones. También está intentando eliminar el estigma de buscar ayuda para la salud mental, algo que ha sentido como parte de la comunidad latina.</p><p>“Tenemos una cultura muy, muy arraigada de que lo que ocurre en nuestra familia, se queda en nuestra familia, y no hay por qué estar contando los asuntos familiares por ahí”, dice ella.</p><p>Pero Roxana sabe que hay otros estudiantes como ella en la escuela, luchando en silencio contra dolorosas realidades. Por eso decidió decir algo durante la reciente clase de educación cívica, tartamudeando un poco mientras compartía su historia.</p><p>“Si yo no hablo, otros tampoco lo harán”, afirmó.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke es reportera senior de Chalkbeat y cubre temas de niñez temprana y alfabetización temprana. Para comunicarte con Ann, escríbele a </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/2/1/23580869/consejeria-gratuita-terapia-adolescente-colorado-salud-mental-yo-importo/Ann SchimkeSDI Productions / Getty Images2019-09-10T21:13:08+00:002023-12-22T21:32:43+00:00<p><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2019/8/28/21121708/here-s-what-colorado-parents-need-to-know-about-getting-and-deciphering-kids-cmas-scores"><i><b>Read in English.</b></i></a></p><p>¿Recuerdas los exámenes que tus hijos tomaron en la primavera? Seguro te están por llegar los resultados, si no es que ya los recibiste.</p><p>Los reportes de los resultados del examen Medidas de Éxito Académico de Colorado, o CMAS por sus siglas en inglés, incluye muchos números y términos que no son muy claros, como “niveles de desempeño.” Aquí hemos juntado varias respuestas a algunas preguntas para ayudarte a mejor entender estos reportes, incluso que es lo que los distritos están requeridos a compartir, cómo interpretar los resultados, y dónde encontrar más información.</p><p>Para encontrar los resultados del 2019 a nivel escolar o de cada distrito, aprovecha <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/co/2019/08/15/find-your-2019-colorado-cmas-scores-and-compare-schools/">nuestra página con un banco de datos</a>. También puedes encontrar nuestra cobertura de estos resultados, <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/co/2019/08/26/colorado-2019-school-district-ratings/">en ingles, aquí</a>.</p><p>¿Tienes alguna otra pregunta sobre los resultados? Mándanos una nota al co.tips@chalkbeat.org y trataremos de encontrar una respuesta.</p><h3>Mi hijo tomó el examen CMAS en la primavera. ¿Hay un requisito de que la escuela me mande un reporte de sus resultados?</h3><p>Sí, la ley estatal requiere que los distritos se aseguren que cada escuela, incluso las charters, distribuyan y expliquen los resultados del examen a sus padres. El asunto de “cuando” o “como” es lo que depende de cada escuela.</p><p>Christina Wirth-Hawkins, directora del desarrollo de exámenes para el Departamento de Educación de Colorado, dijo que aparte del lenguaje general en la ley, el Departamento no tiene mandato de cuando ni algún formato en el cual las escuelas tengan que producir los reportes.</p><p>“No les decimos como o cuándo lo tienen que hacer, pero en realidad debe ser lo más pronto posible,” Wirth-Hawkins dijo.</p><p>El estado le dio versiones electrónicas de los reportes a los distritos en junio y las copias en papel en julio.</p><p>Algunas escuelas ya mandaron copias a los padres, por correo o en las carpetas de los estudiantes. Otras escuelas tienen planes de compartir los reportes en los eventos de regreso a clases, o durante las conferencias entre padres y maestros.</p><p>Algunos distritos también hacen los reportes, en algunos casos en completo, y en algunos casos solo algunos números, disponibles en las aplicaciones como el de Infinite Campus o Empower.</p><h3>¿Cuales estudiantes no recibirán los reportes de resultados del CMAS?</h3><p>Si un padre pidió que sus hijos fueran disculpados del examen, esos estudiantes no recibirán un reporte. Si un estudiante estuvo ausente el día del examen, no respondió a ninguna pregunta, o si respondió a insuficientes preguntas para producir una calificación válida, tampoco recibirán resultados. En algunos casos, si una escuela manejó mal los exámenes o hubo otro incumplimiento del proceso de seguridad, tampoco habrá resultados.</p><h3>¿Que debo hacer si no recibí un reporte de los resultados para mis hijos?</h3><p>Si tus hijos tomaron el examen CMAS en la primavera y no recibiste un reporte de sus resultados, los oficiales estatales recomiendan que los padres llamen a la escuela de sus hijos directamente. Si eso no da resultados, llama al distrito.</p><h3>¿Los reportes son publicados en otro idioma aparte de ingles?</h3><p>En mayor parte, no. Sin embargo, los reportes sí fueron traducidos al español para los 2,900 estudiantes de tercer y cuarto grado que tomaron la versión español del examen de literatura. Los otros 124,000 reportes para los estudiantes de estos grados fueron producidos en ingles.</p><p>En su página de información para padres, el departamento tiene <a href="https://assessments.dpsk12.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/74/Understand-Score-Reports_SPA.pdf">una guia en español</a> (también la puedes ver mas abajo) para los resultados, al igual que una página que explica cómo los padres pueden usar los resultados para apoyar a la educación de sus hijos. También tienen ejemplos de reportes para los resultados de los exámenes de literatura, matemáticas, ciencia y estudios sociales.</p><p>El departamento del estado no ofrece recursos en otro idioma aparte del inglés y español pero algunos distritos si traducen sus reportes a más idiomas. El distrito de Denver, por ejemplo, ofrece cinco documentos del examen CMAS traducidos a vietnamita, amharico, birmania, frances, nepali, ruso y somalí. También tiene versiones en inglés y español.</p><h3>Hay tanta información en el reporte. ¿Por dónde comienzo?</h3><p>Comienza con el nivel de desempeño. En los exámenes de matemática y literatura, hay cinco niveles, y en los exámenes de ciencia y estudios sociales, hay cuatro niveles. En todos los exámenes, la categoría más avanzada es la de “superó las expectativas,” o “exceeds expectations” si es que estas viendo un reporte en inglés. La categoría que le sigue es de “cumplió con las expectativas,” o “meets expectations” en ingles. Los estudiantes que caen en estas dos categorías están trabajando a su nivel adecuado, o aun más avanzados.</p><p>La tercer categoría en todos los exámenes es de “se acercó a las expectativas,” o “approached” o “approaching expectations” en inglés. Estudiantes con calificaciones en esta categoría puede que necesitan más apoyo para llegar a su nivel adecuado, pero no están muy atrasados. (Más acerca de esto abajo.) En el examen de matemática y literatura este año, aproximadamente 25% de los estudiantes en el estado están en esta categoría.</p><p>Para los exámenes de matemática y literatura, la categoría que le sigue a la más baja es de “cumplió parcialmente con las expectativas,” o “partially met expectations” en inglés. Esta categoría significa que los estudiantes tienen poco entendimiento de lo que deben saber a su nivel de acuerdo a su año escolar. Finalmente, esta la categoría de “todavía no cumple con las expectativas,” o “did not yet meet expectations” en inglés. Un resultado en esta categoría quiere decir que estos estudiantes necesitan mucho apoyo para poder llegar a su nivel adecuado.</p><p>En el 2019 entre 10% y 20% de los estudiantes en Colorado terminaron en esta última categoría en los exámenes de matemática y literatura, dependiendo del año escolar. (“Cumplo parcialmente con las expectativas” es la categoría más baja en los exámenes de ciencia y estudios sociales.)</p><p>Los reportes también enseñan cómo se comparan tus hijos a otros estudiantes en su escuela y su distrito, al igual que alrededor del estado. Eso es lo que intenta demostrar el “rango percentil” o “percentile” en inglés. El reporte también demuestra cuántos puntos recibe tu hijo en cada sección del examen.</p><p>Oficiales del estado y de los distritos también quieren que los padres recuerden que estos resultados suponen ser solo una reflección de lo que saben los estudiantes en un momento y no necesariamente reflejan todas sus habilidades. Aun así los resultados y los niveles de desempeño sí ofrecen una forma de ver si los estudiantes han dominado las habilidades requeridas por el estado para asegurar que estén listos para la universidad o alguna carrera al graduarse de la escuela.</p><h3>Mi hijo siempre ha recibido calificaciones en el rango percentil de 50 o más alto en los exámenes nacionales de literatura y matemáticas que usa nuestro distrito, pero en el examen de CMAS cae a la categoría de “se acercó a las expectativas.” ¿Esta pues mi hijo a nivel o no?</h3><p>Hay varios puntos que aclarar aquí. Primero, el examen CMAS específicamente esta basado en las expectativas académicas de Colorado. Otros exámenes, aunque se usen aquí, no se enfocan en materia específica a Colorado.</p><p>Los exámenes de CMAS son evaluaciones con referencia a criterio, lo cual quiere decir que los resultados están basados en si un estudiante cumplió con un estándar, en este caso, las expectativas para cada nivel escolar. Un resultado en la categoría de “se acerco” quiere decir que tu hijo no cumplió con el estándar.</p><p>Muchos exámenes, incluso el CMAS, le dan la oportunidad a los padres de ver, en varios modos, como están haciendo sus hijos. Entonces comparar una parte de este examen con otro examen puede ser una comparación de cosas muy diferentes.</p><p>Un rango percentil de un examen que administra tu distrito te da una forma de ver como esta haciendo tu hijo solo en comparación a otros estudiantes que tomaron el mismo examen, pero no revela si tu hijo cumplió con las expectativas del estado. Un rango percentil de 50%, por ejemplo, significa que tu hijo esta haciendo igual o mejor que el 50% de los otros estudiantes que tomaron el examen.</p><p>Los oficiales del estado y de los distritos avisan que los padres que están preocupados por los resultados de sus hijos en CMAS deben hablar con los maestros de sus hijos. Pero vale la pena recordar que un resultado en la categoría de “se acercó” no necesariamente indica un problema serio.</p><p>“No es que esos niños no sepan cosas,” Wirth-Hawkins dijo. “Saben mucha información, pero simplemente no están cruzando esta barra.”</p><p>Matt Flores, el director académico del distrito de Jeffco, dijo que no tiene nada de malo hablar con los maestros de sus hijos, pero “nunca permitiría que un resultado de ‘se acercó’ se considere una emergencia.”</p><h3>Mi hijo recibió un cero en la porción de escritura en el CMAS. ¿Eso quiere decir que no escribió nada?</h3><p>No necesariamente. Hay algunas posibilidades aquí. Tu hijo puede haber respondido a una pregunta con una oración genérica en lugar de un párrafo más largo que tuviera detalles claves del texto que leyó. O quizás tu hijo escribió suficiente, pero su respuesta estuvo sin relación al tema y llena de errores.</p><p>De cualquier forma, muchos estudiantes en Colorado batallan con el examen de escritura. Los oficiales del Departamento de Educación dicen que no cuentan el número de estudiantes que recibieron un cero en el examen “a este momento” pero algunos distritos le han ofrecido estos números a Chalkbeat. En el 2018, los oficiales del distrito de Denver reportaron que 21% de sus estudiantes — más de 8,000 de 40,000 — recibieron ceros en el sub examen de escritura. El mismo año, oficiales del distrito de <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/co/2018/09/19/aurora-is-rolling-out-new-curriculum-to-catch-up-with-how-teachers-teach-writing/">Aurora encontraron que 40% de sus estudiantes</a> que tomaron el examen recibieron un cero en ciertas secciones del sub examen de escritura.</p><p>Para aprender más acerca de cómo se anota el examen de escritura, te podría ayudar el ver algunas preguntas que publicó el grupo PARCC. (Las preguntas de CMAS son muy parecidas a las de PARCC y se anotan en manera similar.)</p><p>Aquí esta un ejemplo de escritura de un estudiante en el examen de literatura del tercer grado, que resultó en un zero. En respuesta a una pregunta que pedía que los estudiantes explicaran cómo es que los dibujos y palabras en un cuento ofrecen detalles sobre la ubicación del cuento, un estudiante respondió: “The pictures and details provide you an iben of what the karitors are doing and how they are toking.”</p><p>La respuesta traducida, probablemente, hubiera dicho: “Los dibujos y detalles ofrecen una idea de lo que los personajes están haciendo y como están hablando,” pero hay varias palabras mal escritas y la respuesta es muy corta. De acuerdo a la explicación de la anotación, el estudiante no demostró comprensión, no usó evidencia del cuento, ni uso lenguaje para expresar sus ideas claramente.</p><p>Visita esta pagina para ver más ejemplos de muestras de lo que escriben estudiantes y sus resultados.</p><h3>¿Los resultados de mi hijo en el CMAS afectan sus calificaciones o determinarán si se puede avanzar al próximo nivel?</h3><p>No. Los resultados de CMAS no afectan las boletas de calificaciones, decisiones de no avanzar a un estudiante, ni las clasificaciones de los estudiantes en una clase.</p><p>“Esto es dato entre mucha evidencia que los maestros… usan para determinar cómo están progresando los estudiantes,” dijo Flores.</p><p>En el asunto de no avanzar a un estudiante, él dijo, “nunca quisiéramos usar solo un punto de datos para hacer ese tipo de decisión de altas estacas.”</p><p>Aunque es posible que algunos estudiantes que normalmente muestran buen desempeño, puedan tener un mal día en el cual fallan el examen CMAS, en general, los bajos resultados de CMAS reflejan problemas académicos que llevan mucho tiempo.</p><p>“Si un estudiante esta atrasado, deberíamos saber eso mucho antes del CMAS,” dijo Mat Aubuchon, director de educación primaria en el distrito de Westminster, al norte de Denver. Resultados bajos de CMAS, “deben verificar algo que ya sabemos y no algo que llega como sorpresa.”</p><p><i>Traducción por Yesenia Robles</i></p><p><div id="GB70IW" class="embed"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 141.4214%;"><iframe src="https://docs.google.com/viewer?embedded=true&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.documentcloud.org%2Fdocuments%2F6398067%2FUnderstand-Score-Reports-SPA.pdf" style="border: 0; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></p><p><br/></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2019/9/10/21108796/lo-que-los-padres-de-colorado-deben-saber-cuando-reciban-y-traten-de-descifrar-los-resultados-de-cma/Ann Schimke2021-05-11T01:18:22+00:002023-12-22T21:31:44+00:00<h5>Read in English</h5><p>Michelle Chambers tuvo un maestro de octavo grado que la empujó a inscribirse en un programa avanzado de secundaria. En noveno grado, tras meses de lucha, otro maestro le insistió que se rindiera.</p><p>Pero Chambers no lo hizo. En cambio, fue una de las 35 estudiantes que completaron el programa, convirtiéndose más tarde en la primera de su familia en graduarse en la universidad.</p><p>“Entiendo... cómo se sintió que un maestro creyera en mí y lo que sentí al esforzarme más allá de lo que imaginaba”, dijo Chambers, ahora subdirectora del programa de primaria en línea en el Distrito Escolar de Cherry Creek, al sureste de Denver.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/4fcRnIbEsm03s6FxlXdOljsOChU=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/XQT7V7XQWRH6NJV6UZ5TKGHY3Y.jpg" alt="Dra. Michelle Chambers" height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Dra. Michelle Chambers</figcaption></figure><p>Chambers, una de las dos administradoras nombradas como Asistente de Director de Escuela Primaria del Año 2021 en Colorado, ayudó recientemente a iniciar un programa de mentoría para otras líderes educativas latinas a través de la <a href="http://www.co-alas.org/post.aspx?pid=3375">Asociación de Administradores y Superintendentes Latinos de Colorado.</a></p><p>Ella habló con Chalkbeat sobre cómo la pandemia cambió las relaciones entre padres y maestros, por qué el aprendizaje en línea perdurará, y qué consejo de su mentor ella tomó muy en serio.</p><p><i>Esta entrevista ha sido levemente editada para acortarla y hacerla más precisa.</i></p><h3>¿Cuál fue su primer trabajo en educación y qué despertó su interés por este campo?</h3><p>De niña, invitaba regularmente a mis primos a “jugar” a la escuela, y yo era siempre la maestra. Mi maestra de primaria favorita fue la Sra. Lane. Ella hizo que el segundo grado fuera tan mágico que recuerdo haber llorado al tener que dejar su salón para ir al tercer grado. Esta maestra fue tan influyente que cuando di clases en segundo grado, hice muchas de las mismas actividades, incluido leer <i>Charlie and the Chocolate Factory</i>, ver la película original para celebrar, y hacer barras de chocolate individuales con un auténtico billete dorado para cada estudiante.</p><p>Mi primer trabajo en educación fue como maestra de segundo grado en el Distrito de Cherry Creek. Luego fui maestra de cuarto grado, especialista en el programa <i>Gifted and Talented </i>(para estudiantes brillantes y talentosos), entrenadora de diferenciación en primaria y asistente de director de escuela.</p><h3>¿Qué le llevó a ser la primera de su familia en graduarse de universidad? ¿Qué desafíos enfrentó en el camino?</h3><p>Aunque me encantaba aprender, no me resultaba fácil. También sentía ansiedad por los exámenes. Desde Kinder hasta la secundaria, tomé los cursos básicos, a menudo necesitaba apoyo adicional y obtuve bajas calificaciones en los exámenes estandarizados. Durante el octavo grado, mi maestro de estudios sociales vio algo en mí y me propuso para el programa de IB, o Bachillerato Internacional. Para mi sorpresa, me aceptaron.</p><p>Durante mi primer año, tuve problemas con el álgebra. Por meses iba a la oficina de mi maestro todos los días a la hora de la comida. También pasaba cuatro horas cada sábado en un <i>Sylvan Learning Center</i>. Después de ocho meses, mi maestra de matemáticas me dijo que, aunque me esforzaba, no creía que tuviera lo que se requiere para completar su curso o el programa de IB. Me dijo: “No puedes hacerlo, y deberías renunciar.”</p><p>Pero en lugar de renunciar, perseveré. El verano siguiente me matriculé en un curso de álgebra en una universidad comunitaria local y adquirí los conocimientos necesarios para continuar. Mi grupo de IB fue el primero de mi preparatoria, y empezó con 75 estudiantes de noveno grado. Yo estuve entre los 35 que se graduaron de esa primera cohorte. Como resultado de mis experiencias, entiendo lo que es luchar, lo que se siente cuando un maestro cree en ti, y lo que se siente al esforzarte más allá de lo que imaginabas.</p><h3>Bajo su liderazgo, el Distrito lanzó una nueva escuela primaria en línea. Los estudiantes más pequeños a veces tienen problemas para aprender a distancia, ¿cómo resolvieron eso?</h3><p>El verano pasado, miles de familias seleccionaron que sus hijos asistieran a la escuela en línea. Rápidamente nos dimos cuenta de que todos los estudiantes, especialmente los de primaria, participaban más durante las lecciones interactivas que tenían conexiones personales y basadas en el mundo real. Como resultado, empezamos a investigar aplicaciones que los maestros pudieran utilizar para asegurar que los estudiantes tuvieran oportunidad de compartir lo que piensan y tener voz. En general, nuestros estudiantes de primaria han mostrado una increíble disposición para aprender en línea.</p><h3>¿Hay alguna lección a distancia que hayas visto a un maestro dar en línea que te pareció especialmente creativa o innovadora?</h3><p>Para hacer que una lección sobre los enlaces numéricos (operaciones sencillas de suma) fuera divertida y atractiva para los estudiantes de Kinder, una maestra creó un “monstruo” de enlaces numéricos Como recompensa, los estudiantes fueron invitados a ayudar a la maestra seleccionando diferentes números para “darle de comer al monstruo” Mientras la maestra le daba de comer al monstruo, los estudiantes y ella hacían los sonidos del monstruo al comer. Todos, hasta yo misma, nos reímos mirando al monstruo comer los números.</p><h3>En un ambiente en línea, los padres o cuidadores pueden escuchar las lecciones de sus hijos. ¿Cuál es el impacto de esto?</h3><p>Uno de los muchos regalos de este año escolar fue lo mucho que cambió la relación entre los educadores y los padres para convertirse en una verdadera colaboración. En lugar de reunirse únicamente durante las reuniones programadas de padres y maestros, muchos de ellos encontraron tiempo, por la flexibilidad del horario en línea, para reunirse cuando fuera necesario durante todo el año escolar. Las reuniones entre padres y maestros también eran diferenten en línea, ya que muchos padres estaban familiarizados con la instrucción diaria y ayudaban a sus hijos a completar las tareas.</p><h3>¿Cree que la educación será diferente después de la pandemia? Y si es así, ¿cómo?</h3><p>Creo que el aprendizaje en línea y mixto formará parte de nuestro mundo de alguna manera. Muchos educadores y familias han mencionado lo mucho que les gusta la flexibilidad que les ofrece el aprendizaje en línea. Los maestros y padres han comentado que disfrutan cómo sus hijos pueden concentrarse en el aprendizaje con menos oportunidades de exhibir comportamientos sociales que interrumpen la clase.</p><h3>Cuéntenos un momento memorable -bueno o malo- en el que el contacto con la familia de un estudiante cambió su perspectiva.</h3><p>Como educadora principiante, me enfoqué en establecer relaciones significativas con los estudiantes dentro de las paredes del salón. Pronto descubrí que mis relaciones con las familias de los estudiantes eran fundamentales. Después de conocer y pasar tiempo con la familia de un estudiante de cuarto grado durante las reuniones para establecer objetivos, en las conferencias de padres y maestros, y mientras el estudiante asistía a sus actividades extracurriculares, encontré maneras de apoyar a toda la familia. También fui maestra de su hermano menor, invité a su hermana mayor a completar sus horas de trabajo voluntario en mi clase y ayudé a su mamá a explorar oportunidades profesionales.</p><h3>¿Qué estás leyendo en tu tiempo libre?</h3><p>Como delegada de Cherry Creek ante la Asociación de Administradores y Superintendentes Latinos de Colorado, participo en un grupo de líderes latinos. El grupo está leyendo el libro “<a href="http://www.juanabordas.com/books-and-resources/the-power-of-latino-leadership.html">The Power of Latino Leadership” de Juana Bordas</a>. El contenido incluye aprender más sobre principios de liderazgo culturalmente específicos, como por ejemplo, Conciencia - conocerte a ti mismo y estar consciente de tu realidad; De Colores - inclusión y diversidad; Juntos - cuidar a comunidad colectivamente; y Gozar la Vida - liderazgo que celebra la vida.</p><h3>¿Cuál es el mejor consejo sobre liderazgo educativo que ha recibido?</h3><p>Cuando estaba adquiriendo confianza para compartir mi voz como educadora, un querido mentor compartió unas sencillas pero profundas palabras de sabiduría: “Michelle, sólo recuerda que si nadie lo dice, ¿quién lo hará?”</p><p>A partir de ese momento, juré que utilizaría mi voz para defender a los estudiantes, al personal y a las familias. Poco después, me encontré en una reunión de equipo en la que se debatía sobre el rigor de la enseñanza. Expresé mi convicción de que podíamos ofrecer más profundidad y complejidad, y que los estudiantes son capaces de cumplir nuestras expectativas. Aunque algunos de mis colegas decían que ya estamos haciendo suficiente y que ya le damos a los estudiantes todo lo que pueden recibir, yo seguí defendiendo mi postura de que todavía hay oportunidad para ofrecerle una mejor educación a cada estudiante.</p><p><i>Traducción por Milly Suazo</i></p><p><br/></p><p><br/></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2021/5/10/22429801/esta-administradora-de-colorado-adopta-las-lecciones-de-liderazgo-de-la-cultura-latina/Ann Schimke2022-08-23T21:05:55+00:002023-12-22T21:28:58+00:00<p><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/8/11/23302116/colorado-school-child-care-water-lead-testing-law"><i><b>Read in English.</b></i></a></p><p>Una ley estatal nueva requerirá que aproximadamente 5,800 escuelas primarias y centros para cuidado de niños en Colorado hagan pruebas de plomo en el agua e instalen filtros, o que hagan las reparaciones correspondientes si encuentran niveles altos de plomo.</p><p>Las escuelas y los centros para cuidado de niños tendrán hasta el 31 de mayo para hacerle pruebas al agua, y tendrán que hacer reparaciones si el nivel de plomo es más de 5 partes por mil millones. Ese límite es el <a href="https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/bottled-water-everywhere-keeping-it-safe">mismo límite establecido por el gobierno federal</a> para el agua embotellada, pero menos que el usado previamente por la mayoría de los distritos escolares de Colorado.</p><p><a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb22-1358">Esta ley</a>, que incluye unos $21 millones para pruebas y reparaciones, representa la primera vez que Colorado ha establecido regulaciones para los niveles de plomo en el agua potable de las escuelas y los centros para cuidado de niños. Fue aprobada a la misma vez que <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/environment-and-natural-resources/state-and-federal-efforts-to-address-lead-in-drinking-water.aspx">un número creciente de estados han aprobado leyes</a> para resolver el problema de exposición a plomo en los niños después de la <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/2/15/10991626/flint-water-crisis">crisis de agua potable que ocurrió en el 2014 en Flint, Michigan</a>.</p><p><aside id="17WOky" class="sidebar float-right"><p id="GNyueX"><strong>Lo que debes saber acerca de la </strong><a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb22-1358"><strong>ley de plomo en Colorado</strong></a></p><p id="8gsDEm">• Las escuelas primarias y los centros de cuidado de niños de Colorado tendrán que hacerle pruebas de plomo a todas las fuentes de agua potable antes del 31 de mayo de 2023.</p><p id="d6Sszr">• Si el nivel de plomo supera 5 partes por mil millones — un límite nuevo y más estricto — las escuelas y los proveedores de cuidado de niños tendrán que reparar la plomería o instalar filtros.</p><p id="9XOjDx">• Las escuelas y los centros de cuidado de niños tendrán que notificarles los resultados de las pruebas a los padres, y decir qué van a hacer para corregir los problemas.</p><p id="8La8OL">• La ley incluye unos $21 millones para pagar por pruebas y reparaciones en las escuelas y los centros de cuidado de niños. Las escuelas Intermedias serán elegibles para obtener fondos si queda algún restante.</p><p id="j58UxG">• La exposición al plomo puede causar problemas de habla, atención y conducta en los niños, y el agua potable es solo una de las fuentes de exposición a plomo posibles.</p><p id="uMcX4k">• Otras fuentes son las pinturas que tienen plomo, el polvo de pinturas que tienen plomo, y artículos importados como ollas de cocina, especias, dulces o joyería.</p></aside></p><p>Una ley estatal nueva requerirá que aproximadamente 5,800 escuelas primarias y centros para cuidado de niños en Colorado hagan pruebas de plomo en el agua e instalen filtros, o que hagan las reparaciones correspondientes si encuentran niveles altos de plomo.</p><p>Las escuelas y los centros para cuidado de niños tendrán hasta el 31 de mayo para hacerle pruebas al agua, y tendrán que hacer reparaciones si el nivel de plomo es más de 5 partes por mil millones. Ese límite es el <a href="https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/bottled-water-everywhere-keeping-it-safe">mismo límite establecido por el gobierno federal</a> para el agua embotellada, pero menos que el usado previamente por la mayoría de los distritos escolares de Colorado.</p><p><a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb22-1358">Esta ley</a>, que incluye unos $21 millones para pruebas y reparaciones, representa la primera vez que Colorado ha establecido regulaciones para los niveles de plomo en el agua potable de las escuelas y los centros para cuidado de niños. Fue aprobada a la misma vez que <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/environment-and-natural-resources/state-and-federal-efforts-to-address-lead-in-drinking-water.aspx">un número creciente de estados han aprobado leyes</a> para resolver el problema de exposición a plomo en los niños después de la <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/2/15/10991626/flint-water-crisis">crisis de agua potable que ocurrió en el 2014 en Flint, Michigan</a>.</p><p>El plomo es una neurotoxina dañina que puede causar discapacidades de aprendizaje y problemas de comportamiento, y hasta un nivel bajo de exposición puede afectar el coeficiente de inteligencia (IQ) de un niño. Los niveles de plomo en los niños de Estados Unidos han <a href="https://www.epa.gov/americaschildrenenvironment/biomonitoring-lead">bajado drásticamente desde la década de 1970</a>, pero hay estudios que han demostrado que en muchos niños todavía se puede detectar la presencia de plomo.</p><p>Un estudio de 2021 publicado en la <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2784260?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sendto_localnewslettertest&stream=top%20_ga=2.89094685.721440482.1660241236-1302700858.1659454942">revista médica JAMA Pediatrics</a> encontró que un 72% de los niños menores de 6 años en Colorado que pasaron por pruebas tenían niveles detectables de plomo en la sangre — pero <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2021/07/12/denver-blood-lead-levels-testing-water/">a muchos niños del estado nunca se les hacen pruebas</a>.</p><p>Generalmente, los legisladores, funcionarios escolares y defensores de Colorado alabaron la ley nueva por tomar medidas para asegurar que los estudiantes tengan agua potable segura en la escuela o el centro de cuidado, pero para algunas personas la ley no llegó tan lejos como ellas esperaban.</p><p>Jaquikeyah Fields, directora de comunicaciones en <i>Colorado People’s Alliance</i> (un grupo de justicia racial que ayudó a darle forma al proyecto de ley), describió la ley como un gran logro que puede servir como puerta a otras leyes futuras sobre el mismo tema.</p><p>“Pienso que el objetivo era lograr más”, dijo ella, pero de todos modos “es bastante buena”.</p><p>Bob Lawson, director ejecutivo de manejo de instalaciones y construcción en el Distrito Escolar Pueblo 60 (de 15,000 estudiantes), dijo que está complacido porque la ley establece un límite claro de plomo para agua en las escuelas.</p><p>“Al menos han hecho algo para establecer la norma que debemos seguir”, dijo él. “Eso es grande porque Colorado no tenía nada”.</p><p>Elin Betanzo, especialista en agua que ayudó a <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/columnists/rochelle-riley/2016/02/06/long-friendship-put-spotlight-flint-water-crisis/79774098/">descubrir la crisis en Flint</a>, dijo que es bueno tener legislación para asegurar que las escuelas tengan agua potable segura, pero que instalar filtros inmediatamente es mejor estrategia que hacerle pruebas a las fuentes de agua para luego corregir cualquier problema. Ella dijo que es de amplio conocimiento que el agua potable de las escuelas a menudo contiene niveles de plomo detectables.</p><p>Eso se debe en parte a que las plomerías vendidas como “libres de plomo” todavía tienen permitido contener una pequeña cantidad de plomo.</p><p>“El agua es un solvente universal. Cuando tiene contacto con plomo, ese plomo entra al agua”, dijo Betanzo, fundadora de la empresa consultora Safe Water Engineering, de Detroit.</p><p>“Quizás no sea hoy ni mañana... pero si hay plomo presente, tarde o temprano estará en el agua”.</p><h2>Leyes en evolución</h2><p>La nueva ley sobre plomo de Colorado cambió bastante desde que fue introducida, en parte por la resistencia de algunos lideres de escuelas y educación temprana. La versión final tiene menos requisitos, tanto en cantidad como en rigurosidad, que las primeras versiones.</p><p>El proyecto de ley original hubiese requerido que las escuelas y los programas de cuidado de niños instalaran filto en todas las fuentes de agua potable, instalaran una estación para llenar botellas de agua filtrada por cada 100 estudiantes, y condujeran pruebas de plomo anuales en el agua potable. Todas las fuentes de agua con un nivel de plomo más alto de 1 parte por mil millones tendrían que ser corregidas, y se hubiesen requerido letreros nuevos y otras notificaciones.</p><p>El límite de 1 parte por cada mil millones es el recomendado por la <a href="https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/138/1/e20161493/52600/Prevention-of-Childhood-Lead-Toxicity?autologincheck=redirected">Academia Americana de Pediatria para las fuentes de agua</a>, pero pocos estados lo han adoptado. En vez de eso, la mayoría que ha aprobado leyes recientes ha establecido el límite en 5 o 10 partes por mil millones. El límite de Maine es 4 partes por cada mil millones.</p><p>Los grupos que representan a proveedores de cuidado de niños opusieron el proyecto de ley, diciendo que las reglas propuestas serían onerosas y demasiado costosas.</p><p>Dawn Alexander, directora ejecutiva de Early Childhood Education Association of Colorado, dijo que sería injusto imponerle estándares estrictos a los establecimientos de cuidado de niños, porque muchos casos de envenenamiento con plomo se originan en los hogares de los niños, que no están sujetos a esas reglas. Durante su trabajo anterior en el departamento de salud del condado de Wed, ella encontró que los investigadores usualmente descubrían que los altos niveles de plomo eran causados por pintura de plomo en la residencia de los niños.</p><p>“Simplemente no tiene sentido tener estas… imposiciones en negocios que ya están teniendo dificultades, ya que realmente no son la fuente que está generando esos problemas extremos de salud en los niños de nuestro estado”.</p><p>Alexander dijo que está complacida con la versión final de la ley: “Realmente es una ley mucho más razonable”.</p><p>Los proveedores de cuidado de niños en el hogar con licencia podrán optar por no cumplir los requisitos nuevos.</p><p>Mark Anderson, pediatra en Denver Health, piensa que la ley es buena, especialmente cuando se trata de los fondos para ayudar a las escuelas y a los centros de cuidado a cubrir el costo de las pruebas y las reparaciones.</p><p>“Si el costo ya no es una inquietud, no veo ninguna razón para no eliminar el plomo del agua”, dijo.</p><p>Por otro lado, Anderson señaló que el agua no es la fuente principal del alto nivel de plomo en los niños de Colorado.</p><p>“Uno tendría que tomar muchísima agua para exponerse si la concentración es 15 [partes por mil millones] o menos”, él dijo.</p><p>Anderson, que es parte de una <a href="https://www.denverhealth.org/services/community-health/pediatric-environmental-health-specialty-unit/health-professionals">red regional de expertos en salud ambiental de los niños</a>, dijo que en su mayoría, los niveles altos de plomo en niños surgen de exposición a pintura con plomo, polvo de pinturas con plomo, o una categoría que el llama “productos importados” y que incluye ollas y artículos para cocinar, especias o dulces de otros países.</p><p><a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2784260">Los investigadores</a> han encontrado que los niños que viven en códigos postales con poblaciones predominantemente negras o hispanas tienen más probabilidad de tener un nivel de plomo alto que los niños que viven en códigos postales cuyos residentes son predominantemente de raza blanca.</p><h2>Esfuerzos en las escuelas después del caso de Flint</h2><p>Después de la crisis de agua en Flint, algunos distritos escolares de Colorado empezaron voluntariamente a hacerle pruebas al agua y corregir cuando los niveles de plomo alcanzaban 15 o más partes por mil millones — el nivel usado en ese momento por la Agencia de Protección Ambiental para que las compañías de agua tomaran acción.</p><p>A partir de 2017, algunos distritos de Colorado aprovecharon un programa estatal voluntario de <i>grants</i> que paga por pruebas de plomo en las escuelas, pero el programa no cubría los costos de reparación y no fue usado ampliamente.</p><p>Los funcionarios del distrito escolar de Denver, el más grande de Colorado, empezaron a usar el estándar de 15 partes por mil millones, y luego cambiaron a un límite de 10 partes por mil millones en 2019. Durante los últimos seis años, el distrito reemplazó 264 sistemas de plomería, e instaló 83 filtros en fuentes de agua.</p><p>Sin embargo, la ley nueva requerirá trabajo adicional porque hubo pruebas anteriores que encontraron unas 150 fuentes de agua con niveles por encima del límite nuevo, pero por debajo del anterior.</p><p>Joni Rix, gerente del programa ambiental del distrito, dijo que aunque algunas de esas fuentes están en escuelas intermedias y secundarias (que no son el enfoque de la ley nueva), el distrito les va a instalar filtros.</p><p>Esas reparaciones, dijo ella, costarán “bastante dinero” — aproximadamente $1,000 cada una para instalarles un filtro inicialmente, y luego $70 en mantenimiento anual.</p><p>La Representante del Estado Emily Sirota, demócrata de Denver y una de las auspiciadoras de la legislación, dijo que quienes prepararon la ley usaron estimados altos al momento de asignar los fondos de recuperación de COVID a la ley nueva. Los funcionarios de salud del estado dijeron que esperan cubrir la mayor parte posible de los costos de pruebas y remediación, pero que los detalles están por verse.</p><p>En el distrito Pueblo 60, cinco escuelas obtendrán reparaciones este mes para cumplir con el límite nuevo de 5 partes por mil millones. Aunque los funcionarios del distrito les hicieron pruebas a todas las fuentes de agua en el 2017 y 2018, usaron el límite de 10 partes por mil millones para determinar dónde se harían reparaciones.</p><p>Los funcionarios en el distrito Mesa County Valley, en el oeste de Colorado, hicieron reparaciones en cinco de las 42 escuelas después de participar en el programa estatal voluntario de <i>grants</i> hace varios años. Aparte de los edificios en los que se instalaron plomerías nuevas o estaciones para llenar botellas, ninguna escuela tuvo un nivel de plomo más alto del límite nuevo de 5 partes por mil millones.</p><p>Desde entonces, el distrito ha construido dos escuelas nuevas pero no ha recibido instrucciones de los funcionarios de salud del estado en cuanto a si se requiere hacer pruebas de plomo.</p><p>“Si ellos quieren que hagamos pruebas en esos lugares nosotros con mucho gusto lo haremos, pero no veo por qué nosotros debamos hacerlo”, dijo Eddie Mort, coordinador de mantenimiento del distrito.</p><p>Una portavoz del Departamento de Salud Pública y Ambiente de Colorado, que supervisa la implementación de la ley nueva, dijo que no se ha decidido todavía si las escuelas o centros de cuidado de niños que hicieron pruebas de agua en los años recientes tendrán que hacer una serie nueva de pruebas.</p><p>“La decisión final podría ser que no habrá una solución ‘unitalla’ para todas las escuelas del estado que hicieron pruebas previamente”, dijo en un email.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke es reportera senior en Chalkbeat y cubre temas de niñez temprana y alfabetización temprana. Para comunicarte con Ann, envíale un mensaje a aschimke@chalkbeat.org.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2022/8/23/23318896/pruebas-de-plomo-en-agua-son-requisito-ahora-para-escuelas-y-centros-de-cuidado/Ann Schimke2023-03-02T22:03:34+00:002023-12-22T21:22:12+00:00<p><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/2/22/23610935/free-meals-colorado-school-lunch-proposition-ff-denver-douglas-academy-mesa-district-49-update"><i><b>Read in English.</b></i></a></p><p><i>Chalkbeat Colorado es un noticiero local sin fines de lucro que informa sobre las escuelas públicas en Denver y otros distritos. </i><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/en-espanol"><i>Suscríbete a nuestro boletín gratis por email en español</i></a><i> para recibir lo último en noticias sobre educación.</i></p><p>La mayoría de los distritos escolares de Colorado, entre ellos los 10 más grandes del estado, planifican ofrecerles comidas gratuitas a todos los estudiantes el próximo año a través de un nuevo programa estatal aprobado por los votantes el pasado noviembre.</p><p>Tres distritos grandes que estaban <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/12/2/23490749/free-meals-colorado-school-lunch-proposition-ff-denver-jeffco-douglas-aurora">indecisos</a> a principios de diciembre — Denver, Douglas County y Academy 20 — le informaron a Chalkbeat que participarán en el programa, llamado <a href="https://www.cde.state.co.us/nutrition/healthymealsforallguide"><i>Healthy School Meals For All</i></a>.</p><p>El programa nuevo, financiado con un impuesto para las personas con ingresos altos, hará que Colorado sea uno de los pocos estados que les ofrecerán comidas escolares gratuitas a todos los estudiantes, una medida que, según sus defensores, alimentará a más niños hambrientos y eliminará el estigma actual asociado con recibir comidas escolares gratuitas. California y Maine pusieron en marcha programas universales de comida permanentes este año escolar, y algunos otros estados, como Nevada, Vermont y Massachusetts, están ofreciendo este tipo de programa al menos hasta el final del año escolar actual.</p><p>La creciente demanda de comidas gratuitas en las escuelas empezó después de dos años escolares en los que el gobierno federal eliminó temporalmente los requisitos de ingresos para recibir comidas a precio reducido, lo cual permitió que las escuelas de todo el país ofrecieran desayunos y almuerzos gratuitos a todos los estudiantes durante gran parte de la pandemia. Los requisitos volvieron a entrar en vigor el pasado verano.</p><p>Aunque el programa de comidas universales de Colorado es voluntario para los distritos escolares, la mayoría ha informado que optará por participar. Una encuesta realizada por Chalkbeat en dos docenas de distritos, en su mayoría grandes y medianos, reveló que 21 tienen planes de participar, y uno de ellos (Colorado Springs 11) tiene planes de ofrecer comidas escolares gratuitas el próximo año a través de un mecanismo de financiamiento diferente. Dos distritos, Mesa County Valley 51, basado en Grand Junction, y el Distrito 49, en Peyton, todavía no han decidido.</p><p>Otra encuesta reciente de los 178 distritos escolares del estado hecha por la <i>Colorado School Nutrition Association</i> reveló que unos 130 de los 140 distritos que contestaron la encuesta tienen planes de ofrecer comidas gratuitas el año que viene.</p><p>“De todos ellos, unos 10 han dicho que no están seguros”, dijo Erika Edwards, presidente de política pública y legislativa de la asociación. “Creo que nos estamos acercando bastante a que la gran mayoría diga que sí”.</p><p>En noviembre, los electores de Colorado <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/11/8/23448263/proposition-ff-colorado-school-lunch-midterm-elections-2022-election-results">aprobaron fácilmente la Propuesta FF</a>, una nueva medida tributaria que recaudará más de $100 millones al año para pagar por comidas escolares gratuitas reduciendo las deducciones de impuestos disponibles para los hogares que ganan $300,000 dólares o más.</p><p>Para participar en el programa universal de comidas gratuitas, los distritos escolares de Colorado tendrán que maximizar la cantidad de dólares federales para comidas que reciben solicitando un programa llamado <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2016/7/19/21099177/free-lunch-coming-to-more-colorado-kids-who-attend-high-poverty-schools"><i>Community Eligibility Provision</i></a>. Este programa nacional ayuda a cubrir el costo de las comidas gratuitas universales en las escuelas que tienen una gran proporción de estudiantes cuyas familias reciben ciertos beneficios del gobierno, como por ejemplo asistencia alimentaria o Asistencia Temporal a Familias Necesitadas (TANF). Las familias de esas escuelas no tienen que llenar solicitudes para obtener comidas gratuitas o a precio reducido.</p><p>Pero incluso las escuelas de Colorado que no califiquen para el programa <i>Community Eligibility Provision </i>podrán ofrecerles comidas gratuitas a todos los estudiantes aprovechando los fondos de la Propuesta FF. Las familias en esas escuelas seguirán teniendo que llenar solicitudes para recibir comidas con subsidio.</p><p>Edwards dijo que los distritos escolares que no han decidido si van a ofrecer comidas gratis el próximo año tienden a estar en una de dos categorías. Los distritos rurales más pequeños tienen preguntas sobre la logística del programa <i>Community Eligibility</i>, mientras que los distritos metropolitanos más grandes tienen preguntas sobre cómo Colorado planifica darles fondos adicionales a las escuelas con grandes poblaciones de estudiantes de hogares de pocos ingresos, dijo.</p><p>Conocido como financiamiento de riesgo (<i>at-risk funding</i>), el dinero se ha distribuido según el número de estudiantes que llenan formularios para recibir comidas con subsidio federal. Colorado está avanzando hacia otras medidas, pero hasta que se complete el cambio, a los distritos les preocupa perder dinero si menos familias llenan los formularios cuando el almuerzo sea gratuito para todos los estudiantes.</p><p>Edwards dijo que la asociación de nutrición apoya el programa nuevo y planifica ofrecer capacitación y otras opciones para ayudar a los distritos que quieran participar.</p><p>“Creo que es la culminación de todo lo que un profesional de alimentación escolar desea que ocurra”, dijo.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke es reportera senior de Chalkbeat y cubre temas relacionados con la niñez y la alfabetización tempranas. Para comunicarte con Ann, envíale un mensaje a aschimke@chalkbeat.org.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/3/2/23622436/almuerzo-escolar-gratuito-que-distritos-escolares-colorado-tienen-planes-para-ofrecerlo/Ann Schimke2023-09-28T23:41:13+00:002023-12-22T21:20:00+00:00<p><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/9/19/23881384/westminster-school-board-election-slate-2023"><i><b>Read in English.</b></i></a></p><p>En las primeras elecciones competitivas en seis años, seis candidatos están postulándose para tres puestos vacantes en el consejo escolar del distrito con 8,000 estudiantes de Westminster.</p><p>Uno de los directores actuales, Christine Martinez, busca la reelección. Dos de los otros, el presidente del consejo Ken Cianco y el vicepresidente Max Math, ya no se postularán pues ya alcanzaron el límite en su mandato. Esto significa que los votantes elegirán a por lo menos dos, y posiblemente tres, directores nuevos para el consejo de cinco integrantes en las elecciones del 7 de noviembre.</p><p>Martinez se unió a las candidatas Audrey Yanos y Mary Beth Murphy para postularse en <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/votemmyforwps/home">un grupo</a> que tiene el respaldo del sindicato de maestros del distrito. En general, dicen que el distrito está avanzando en la dirección correcta y debe mantener esa trayectoria.</p><p>Los otros tres candidatos — Anthony Sisneros y el equipo formado por el matrimonio Charles y Brenda Gallegos — también están postulándose como <a href="https://abcforwps.com/">grupo</a>. Buscan realizar cambios, como mejorar los logros de los estudiantes y crear más oportunidades para que se escuche a los padres y que estos participen.</p><p>Los integrantes del consejo escolar de Westminster se eligen con base en una representación general (<i>at large</i>, en inglés). Esto significa que los candidatos representan a todo el distrito, no a una área específica. Los tres candidatos que reciban el mayor número de votos ganarán un puesto.</p><p>Las elecciones para el consejo sucederán en un momento de transición para el distrito escolar suburbano ubicado al norte de Denver, con la superintendenta Pamela Swanson, quien ha ocupado su puesto por largo tiempo, programada para dejarlo al final del año escolar. No se sabe bien si el consejo escolar actual nombrará a su sucesor antes de las elecciones de noviembre o dejará que el nuevo consejo tome la decisión.</p><p>Al igual que muchos distritos escolares en Colorado, Westminster enfrenta una reducción en la cantidad de estudiantes inscritos a la vez que una menor tasa de nacimientos y mayores costos en la vivienda obligan a más familias a abandonar el área metropolitana. Entre 2016 y 2021, el distrito perdió a más de 1,400 estudiantes, una reducción del 15 por ciento.</p><p>La Liga de Mujeres Votantes ha programado provisionalmente un foro de candidatos para el consejo el miércoles, 4 de octubre, a las 7 p.m. en el Westminster Grange Hall, 3935 W. 73rd Ave. El distrito planea transmitir el evento en vivo por internet.</p><p>Aquí te ofrecemos más detalles sobre los seis candidatos:</p><h2>Grupo ABC para WPS</h2><p><b>Brenda Gallegos</b> se describe a sí misma como una madre preocupada, no una política. Dijo que llegó el momento de tener un consejo escolar con nuevas voces y más debate. Actualmente, “siento como que estamos girando las ruedas en el lodo,” dijo. “Tenemos a la misma gente. Tenemos las mismas ideas”.</p><p>Gallegos, quien trabaja en una clínica óptica, tienes tres hijas y un hijo. Dos de sus hijas estudian en el distrito. Aumentar la seguridad en las escuelas es una de sus prioridades. Dijo que quiere tener agentes armados de seguridad en las escuelas de kindergarten a 8º grado del distrito y asegurar que haya más supervisión de los pasillos y lugares de reunión en las <i>high schools</i> del distrito.</p><p>Como otros integrantes de este grupo de candidatos, Gallegos dijo que quiere asegurar que el distrito escuche e involucre a los padres. Cuando una de sus hijas tuvo desafíos con la lectura en la primaria, dijo que los educadores en Westminster ignoraron sus inquietudes, lo cual ocasionó que decidiera cambiar temporalmente a su hija al distrito escolar vecino de Jeffco donde la niña recibió una evaluación y un plan educativo especial.</p><p>Como hispanohablante, Gallegos dijo que podría servir como facilitadora entre el consejo y los padres que hablan español en el distrito.</p><p>“Se necesita de todos”, dijo. “Usemos a todos”.</p><p><b>Charles Gallegos </b>dijo que mejorar los logros de los estudiantes y aumentar la participación de los padres son la principales razones por las que está postulándose como candidato al consejo escolar.</p><p>Como oculista y veterano de la marina, se graduó de Westminster High School y fue el primero en su familia en asistir a la universidad. Tiene tres hijas y un hijo. Dos de sus hijas estudian en el distrito.</p><p>Dijo que respalda el sistema basado en aptitudes del distrito, en el cual los estudiantes dominan un tema antes de avanzar al siguiente, pero dijo que demasiados estudiantes siguen teniendo dificultades.</p><p>“Si eres un padre y [haces una búsqueda en Google] sobre el desempeño, encontrarás calificaciones que son muy muy malas, tan malas que frustran”, dijo. “¿Por qué tenemos todavía tantos estudiantes atrasados?”</p><p>Gallegos dijo que quiere ayudar a establecer organizaciones más fuertes de padres y maestros en todo el distrito. En estos momentos, dijo que es “impredecible”, con organizaciones de padres y maestros sólidas en algunas escuelas y grupos que apenas funcionan en otras escuelas.</p><p><b>Anthony Sisneros </b>está postulándose por segunda vez al consejo escolar, después de perder las elecciones en 2011. Dijo que si lo eligen, buscará asegurar que los estudiantes con discapacidades reciban las mismas opciones escolares que otros estudiantes y pondrá presión para que se haga una búsqueda a nivel nacional del próximo superintendente.</p><p>Sisneros se graduó de Westminster High School y es subinterventor de la Fundación MSU Denver. Tiene tres hijos, incluido un niño con síndrome de Down que ocupó un papel central en una queja presentada por la familia Sisneros contra el distrito después de que al niño le <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/9/14/23351851/colorado-school-choice-system-discrimination-complaint">negaran un lugar en la escuela preferida de la familia</a>. La Oficina de Derechos Civiles del Departamento de Educación de EE. UU. emitió un fallo a favor del distrito en diciembre de 2022, pero Sisneros dijo que su familia apeló la decisión. Mientras tanto, su hijo estudia en una escuela privada.</p><p>“Durante todos estos dolores de cabeza de tratar de encontrar una escuela para mi hijo, fácilmente hubiera podido poner un letrero de ‘se vende’ y mudarme”, dijo. “Estoy aquí para luchar por los niños y las familias que se parecen a las mías”.</p><p>Sisneros dijo que si lo eligen, quiere cerrar un vacío legal que dice ha permitido que un integrante actual del consejo, quien es un arquitecto, reciba contratos lucrativos del distrito. Sisneros describió esta situación como un conflicto de intereses.</p><p>Representantes del distrito dijeron que el distrito ha cumplido las normas del consejo al otorgarle contratos a DAO Architecture, un estudio de arquitectura que le pertenece a Dan Orecchio, integrante del consejo. También dijeron que Orecchio se ha abstenido de votar en contratos con su firma y presentó una divulgación por conflicto de intereses ante la oficina de la Secretaría de Estado de Colorado diciendo que planea seguir trabajando con el distrito después de su elección.</p><h2>Grupo MMY para WPS</h2><p><b>Christine Martinez, </b>integrante actual del consejo, dijo que se está postulando nuevamente para continuar la labor que inició durante su primer mandato, incluido ayudar al distrito a recuperarse de COVID y seleccionar a un nuevo superintendente. Dijo que se siente orgullosa de la decisión del consejo al poco tiempo de que empezara la pandemia para que los estudiantes regresaran al aprendizaje presencial a principios del año escolar 2020-21.</p><p>Martinez se graduó de Westminster High School y es vicepresidenta de una compañía local de bienes raíces, hija de dos maestros retirados del distrito y madre de un hijo que está estudiando 7º grado en el distrito.</p><p>Martinez dijo que quiere promover y compartir todas las cosas positivas que están sucediendo en el distrito. Mencionó un reciente viaje a Corea del Sur que tuvieron algunos estudiantes de <i>high school</i> del distrito para participar en un torneo de “fútbol con drones”, una colaboración de NASA con estudiantes de ingeniería aeroespacial y cinematografía, y la transformación planeada de <a href="https://www.westminsterpublicschools.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=1&ModuleInstanceID=10128&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=28897&PageID=1">una exescuela de educación media en un centro de estudios profesionales y técnicos</a>.</p><p>Martinez considera la reducción en estudiantes inscritos como el mayor obstáculo que el distrito enfrenta. Dijo que es importante que regresen los estudiantes que se han ido y también atraer a nuevos estudiantes.</p><p><b>Mary Beth Murphy </b>es una maestra retirada que dijo que no viene con motivaciones personales más allá de asegurar que los estudiantes reciban la mejor educación pública posible.</p><p>“No estoy enojada por nada”, dijo. “No me estoy postulando basada en una campaña de quejas. Realmente creo en la educación pública. A eso he dedicado mi vida”.</p><p>Murphy es la directora de la Unidad UniServ de Central Adams, una organización que apoya a cuatro sindicatos locales de maestros. Se retiró el año pasado después de más de 30 años en el distrito de Mapleton, más recientemente como maestra de matemáticas. Tiene cuatro hijos adultos, dos de los cuales estudiaron en el distrito escolar de Westminster.</p><p>La falta de fondos escolares y escasez de maestros figuran entre los mayores desafíos que el distrito de Westminster enfrenta, dijo.</p><p>Murphy dijo que no ha pensado mucho en la selección de un nuevo superintendente, pero dijo que espera que sea una persona con buenas habilidades de liderazgo y comunicación, honesta y directa.</p><p><b>Audrey Yanos</b> dijo que como chicana y la primera en su familia en terminar <i>high school</i> y asistir a la universidad, representa a la comunidad.</p><p>“Conozco el sendero por el que están caminando nuestros estudiantes”, dijo.</p><p>Yanos, supervisora de operaciones en una agencia de salud sin fines de lucro, asistió a la escuela de kindergarten a 12º grado en los cercanos distritos de Adams 12 y Adams 14. Tiene tres hijos en escuelas de Westminster—uno en una escuela primaria, otro en una escuela media y otro en <i>high school</i>. Trabajó como voluntaria en un comité que respaldó la medida de impuestos para las escuelas en 2018 y ha participado activamente en las organizaciones de padres y maestros de las escuelas de sus hijos.</p><p>“Amo nuestro distrito escolar”, dijo. “Hemos tenido experiencias muy positivas con nuestro distrito escolar, y ha sido así en cada nivel”.</p><p>Si la eligen, quiere continuar educando a la comunidad sobre el sistema basado en aptitudes del distrito, en el cual a los estudiantes los agrupan según el contenido que hayan dominado en lugar de por grado.</p><p>Yanos dijo que el distrito se está dirigiendo en la dirección correcta y que su mayor desafío es la transición que se aproxima con un nuevo superintendente.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke es una reportera principal para Chalkbeat, cubriendo temas sobre la primera infancia y lectoescritura temprana. Comunícate con Ann por correo electrónico a </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/9/28/23895166/elecciones-consejo-escolar-westminster-seis-candidatos/Ann Schimke2022-09-21T21:42:42+00:002023-12-22T21:07:40+00:00<p><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/9/13/23351968/colorado-universal-preschool-eligibility-rules-20-hours"><i><b>Read in English.</b></i></a></p><p><i>Chalkbeat Colorado es un noticiero local sin fines de lucro que informa sobre las escuelas públicas en Denver y otros distritos. </i><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/en-espanol"><i>Suscríbete a nuestro boletín gratis por email en español</i></a><i> para recibir lo último en noticias sobre educación.</i></p><p>Los niños de familias de bajos y hasta medios ingresos de Colorado probablemente serán elegibles el próximo año para 20 horas semanales de preescolar gratis. Esto es dos veces las 10 horas semanales garantizadas para todos los niños de 4 años según <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2022a_1295_signed.pdf">la ley estatal sobre el programa preescolar.</a></p><p>Los niños que hablan español u otros idiomas en el hogar, o que tengan discapacidades, también serán elegibles para recibir las horas de preescolar adicionales. De igual manera, serán elegibles los niños sin hogar, los que estén en hogares de crianza (<i>foster care</i>) o que no vivan con sus padres por otras razones. Por ejemplo, es posible que sean elegibles los niños que estén siendo criados por sus abuelos.</p><p>Cuando los legisladores y líderes de educación en la niñez temprana presentaron por primera vez el preescolar universal, dijeron que todos los niños de 4 años obtendrían por lo menos 10 horas semanales, pero que habría más horas para los niños de más necesidad. Lo que no quedó claro fue quién recibiría las horas adicionales, ni cuántas horas serían.</p><p>Ahora se están recibiendo las respuestas a esas preguntas.</p><p>Colorado está proponiendo que las familias con ingresos de hasta un 270% del límite federal de pobreza (aproximadamente $75,000 para una familia de cuatro) califiquen para obtener las horas de preescolar adicionales. Ese nivel de ingresos es mucho más alto que el límite del programa preescolar actual.</p><p>La media de ingresos en Colorado es $75,231 según los <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/CO/BZA210220">datos del Censo de EE.UU</a>.</p><p>Kelly Altizer, a cargo del grupo que supervisa las iniciativas de preescolar universal en el Contado de Adams, dijo que el aumento en la elegibilidad “para mi, es una noticia genial.”</p><p>Además, señaló que el aumento en el límite de ingresos permitirá que una mayoría de familias en el distrito Westminster, donde fue administradora, califique para las 20 horas de preescolar.</p><p>Todavía falta que las reglas sean finalizadas por Lisa Roy, jefe del Departamento de Niñez Temprana, pero se espera que ella acepte la recomendación.</p><p>El programa de preescolar existente del estado está en su último año y será reemplazado por el programa universal en el otoño de 2023. El programa actual les brinda servicio a unos 21,000 estudiantes (en su mayoría de 4 años) provenientes de familias de pocos ingresos o que tienen otros factores de riesgo, como por ejemplo retrasos en el habla o destrezas sociales deficientes.</p><p>El programa preescolar nuevo, que podría matricular una cantidad triple de estudiantes, se financiará con dinero del programa preescolar actual y fondos de un <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2020/11/3/21548349/proposition-ee-colorado-2020-election-results">impuesto a la nicotina aprobado por los electores de Colorado</a> en 2020.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke es reportera senior de Chalkbeat y cubre temas de niñez temprana y alfabetización temprana. Para comunicarte con Ann, envíale un mensaje a </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2022/9/21/23365513/colorado-preescolar-gratis-mas-ninos-elegibles-horas-adicionales/Ann Schimke2022-12-19T18:09:11+00:002023-12-22T20:59:47+00:00<p><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/12/2/23490749/free-meals-colorado-school-lunch-proposition-ff-denver-jeffco-douglas-aurora"><i><b>Read in English.</b></i></a></p><p><i>Chalkbeat Colorado es un noticiero local sin fines de lucro que informa sobre las escuelas públicas en Denver y otros distritos. </i><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/en-espanol"><i>Suscríbete a nuestro boletín gratis por email en español</i></a><i> para recibir lo último en noticias sobre educación.</i></p><p>Muchos distritos escolares de Colorado, entre ellos Jeffco, Cherry Creek, Aurora y Adams 14, tienen planes de ofrecer comidas gratis a todos los estudiantes a partir del otoño de 2023 con un programa estatal nuevo. Este programa será financiado con un impuesto aprobado por los electores y que afectará solamente a las personas con un alto nivel de ingresos.</p><p>Chalkbeat hizo una encuesta entre dos docenas de distritos, y 16 de ellos planean tener un plan universal de comidas gratis para todos los estudiantes el próximo año. Algunos distritos todavía no han decidido, y estos incluyen dos de los más grandes de Colorado — Denver y Douglas County.</p><p>Brehan Riley, director de nutrición escolar del Departamento de Educación de Colorado, dijo lo siguiente acerca de los funcionarios de los distritos escolares: “Parece que a muchos les interesa, pero todavía no están seguros. Quieren entender el programa un poco más.”</p><p>El programa, llamado <a href="https://www.cde.state.co.us/nutrition/healthymealsforallguide"><i>Healthy School Meals for All</i></a>, tiene como propósito asegurar que los estudiantes obtengan la nutrición necesaria para aprender y eliminar el estigma que a veces se asocia con el método actual que se usa para determinar quién recibirá comidas gratuitas (según los ingresos).</p><p>La iniciativa fue aprobada justo después de dos años en los que el gobierno federal eliminó los requisitos de elegibilidad basada en ingresos, y ahora permite que las escuelas les ofrezcan desayunos y almuerzos gratuitos a todos los estudiantes. Los requisitos volverían a aplicarse este otoño, pero los legisladores y defensores encontraron una manera de volver a tener comidas gratuitas el próximo año <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/5/5/23059355/free-school-lunch-colorado-ballot-measure-healthy-meals-all">pidiéndoles a los electores de Colorado</a> que aprobaran una asignación de fondos nueva con la Propuesta FF.</p><p>Los electores <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/11/8/23448263/proposition-ff-colorado-school-lunch-midterm-elections-2022-election-results">dijeron que sí</a>.</p><p>La medida generará más de $100 millones al año reduciendo las deducciones de impuestos disponibles para las familias con ingresos de $300,000 o más.</p><p>A muchos funcionarios de distrito les entusiasma la idea de alimentar más estudiantes, tal como lo hicieron durante los dos primeros años de la pandemia. Cuando las comidas eran gratis gracias a la eliminación de los requisitos de elegibilidad, los administradores de Boulder Valley vieron un 40% de aumento en la cantidad de estudiantes que comían en la cafetería escolar, el Distrito 27J vio un aumento de 20-30%, y Aurora tuvo un aumento de 7-10%.</p><p>Beth Wallace, directora ejecutiva de servicios de comidas y nutrición, dijo que durante la pandemia 30% más estudiantes estaban comiendo en la escuela.</p><p>“Estamos atendiendo a esas familias que simplemente necesitan esa ayudita adicional”, dijo ella. “Quizás no califican para comidas gratis o a precio reducido, pero son familias trabajadoras que están teniendo dificultad para afrontar todos sus gastos.”</p><p>Algunos padres le han dicho que solamente permiten que sus hijos coman en la escuela dos veces a la semana, cuando el menú incluye sus platos favoritos, porque ellos simplemente no pueden pagar el costo de comer todos los días.</p><p>“Estoy sumamente contenta de poder ayudar a esas familias”, nos dijo.</p><p>Wallace también dijo que, aunque en el sistema actual no hay manera de que los estudiantes sepan quién está comiendo gratis, es fácil notarlo. Cuando su hijo era más pequeño, ella lo alentaba a comer desayuno en la escuela, pero él se negaba diciendo, ‘mamá, no voy a comer desayuno en la escuela. Eso es para los niños que comen gratis.”</p><p>Algunos defensores dicen que ese estigma afecta también a los padres.</p><p>En comunidades pequeñas, conoces a la gente que trabaja en la escuela y quizás no quieras decir, ‘necesitamos esta ayuda’ ”, dijo Ashley Wheeland, directora de política pública de la organización sin fines de lucro <i>Hunger Free Colorado</i>.</p><p>Para participar en el programa universal de comidas gratis, los distritos escolares de Colorado tendrán que maximizar la cantidad de dólares federales que obtienen solicitando un programa llamado <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2016/7/19/21099177/free-lunch-coming-to-more-colorado-kids-who-attend-high-poverty-schools"><i>Community Eligibility Provision</i></a>. Este programa nacional ayuda a cubrir el costo de los programas universales de comidas gratis en las escuelas donde una gran proporción de estudiantes proviene de familias que reciben ciertos beneficios del gobierno, por ejemplo, cupones de alimentos o asistencia financiera con un programa TANF (<i>Temporary Assistance to Needy Families</i>). Las familias en esas escuelas no tendrán que llenar solicitudes para obtener comidas gratis o a precio reducido.</p><p>Actualmente, 107 escuelas de Colorado en 26 distritos ofrecen programas universales de comidas gratis a través del programa <i>Community Eligibility Provision.</i> En distritos como Harrison y Pueblo 60, que participan a nivel de distrito, muy poco cambiará para el próximo año. Esos distritos continuarán ofreciéndoles comidas gratis a todos sus estudiantes.</p><p>No obstante, hasta las escuelas de Colorado que no califican para el programa <i>Community Eligibility Provision</i> podrán ofrecerles comidas gratis a todos los estudiantes el próximo año porque podrán acceder a los fondos provenientes de la Propuesta FF. Las familias todavía tendrán que llenar solicitudes para obtener comidas gratis o a precio reducido.</p><p>Algunos funcionarios de distritos dicen que les preocupa que las familias se confundan si tienen que llenar una solicitud de comida para un hijo, pero no para otro que asiste a una escuela elegible para el programa <i>Community Eligibility Provision.</i></p><p>“Me imagino a un padre pensando ‘no lo entiendo’”, dijo Riley.</p><p>La idea, dijo ella, es que ambas escuelas están maximizando los fondos federales que reciben para las comidas. El detalle es que lo están haciendo de dos maneras distintas.</p><p>Algunos líderes de los servicios de comidas escolares dicen que les preocupa la falta de personal, las interrupciones en la cadena de suministro, y la necesidad de equipo nuevo para acomodar el aumento en la demanda.</p><p>Wallace, que está en Jeffco, dijo que siempre es preocupante tener suficiente espacio para almacenar alimentos y capacidad para cocinar, pero que confía que el distrito podrá hacer que todo funcione porque lo hizo durante la pandemia, cuando había más estudiantes comiendo más comidas en la escuela.</p><p>Ella dijo que, al aumentar el volumen de comidas, los distritos pueden obtener mejores precios en los alimentos. Esto puede resultar en que, aunque aumenten los precios un poco, se pueda tener mejores frutas, como por ejemplo fresas, por más semanas en el año.</p><p>Riley dijo que, con el programa universal de comidas, los distritos también podrán eliminar el inconveniente administrativo de tratar de <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2018/8/21/21105551/after-a-spike-in-unpaid-school-lunches-last-year-denver-takes-steps-to-prevent-a-reprise">tratar de cobrar las cuentas sin pagar</a> — cargos incurridos cuando los estudiantes comen en la escuela pero no son elegibles para comidas gratis y no tienen dinero para pagar en ese momento. Desde que volvieron a aplicarse los requisitos de elegibilidad por ingresos, ella dice que ha escuchado de los administradores de comedores escolares que la deuda está aumentando otra vez.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke es reportera senior en Chalkbeat y cubre temas de niñez temprana y alfabetización temprana. Para comunicarte con Ann, envíale un mensaje a </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2022/12/19/23517154/almuerzo-escolar-gratis-colorado-propuesto-ff-comidas-gratis/Ann Schimke2021-04-02T20:35:20+00:002023-12-22T20:57:31+00:00<p>El distrito escolar de Denver tendrá un programa piloto de pruebas para detectar dislexia este otoño, después de que los padres frustrados las pidieran por años, los grupos de trabajo del distrito las recomendaran, y la pandemia causara un retraso en la educación.</p><p>Y el programa piloto de Denver no es el único. El Distrito Escolar Boulder Valley empezó un programa piloto de pruebas de dislexia en 10 escuelas el otoño pasado y ya ha evaluado a 345 estudiantes de Kinder.</p><p>También es posible que comience un programa piloto estatal en los próximos meses, pero la escasez de solicitantes significa que su futuro es incierto.</p><p>Los funcionarios de educación en Colorado estaban listos para seleccionar cinco escuelas primarias para participar en el programa piloto de un año (con un costo de $92,000) a fines de abril. El viernes, último día para solicitar, solamente cinco escuelas lo habían hecho y los funcionarios de educación están todavía determinando si esas cinco cumplen los requisitos para participar.</p><p>Las nuevas iniciativas para detectar dislexia en Denver y Boulder (además del posible programa piloto del estado) han surgido en medio de un empuje nacional para mejorar la lectura, que incluye prestarles más atención a los estudiantes que tienen discapacidades que dificultan la lectura. Los expertos calculan que la dislexia afecta entre un 5% y 15% de la población. En Colorado, eso podría representar más de 100,000 niños en edad escolar.</p><p>La dislexia es una discapacidad de aprendizaje que dificulta la lectura. Las personas con dislexia tienen problemas para identificar sonidos, descifrar palabras, y deletrearlas.</p><p>“Estos niños no pueden distinguir entre los sonidos ‘<i>eh</i>’ e ‘<i>ih</i>’ de palabras en inglés como como ‘<i>pen</i>’ y ‘<i>pin</i>,’” dijo Robert Frantum-Allen, director de educación especial de las Escuelas Públicas de Denver, y que también sufre de dislexia. “Uno les puede mostrar letras, pero ellos no las entienden porque todas parecen iguales.”</p><p>Los tres programas piloto cubren diferentes grados escolares y usan diferentes herramientas de evaluación. Los programas de Denver y Boulder incluyen evaluaciones en español para los estudiantes que estén aprendiendo inglés, mientras que el programa estatal no las tiene.</p><p>En Denver, los padres han estado por años pidiéndole dos cosas al distrito: Una mejor manera de evaluar a los estudiantes para detectar dislexia, y el uso de métodos basados en ciencia para enseñar a leer.</p><p>En septiembre de 2019, Nicole Wallerstedt le contó a la junta escolar el caso de su hija Finley. El año antes, Finley se había ‘descarrilado por completo’ del tercer grado, dijo su mamá. Tercer grado es cuando muchos estudiantes cambian de ‘aprender a leer’ a ‘leer para aprender’. Finley no pudo hacer la transición y se quedó rezagada.</p><p>Fue un año lleno de lágrimas, ansiedad social, citas de terapia, y días de ausencia en la escuela. Wallerstedt dijo que observó cómo su hija, que siempre había sido bulliciosa y amigable, se retraía en su mundo. Finalmente, un diagnóstico de dislexia hizo que pudiera recibir ayuda y acomodos en la escuela, y logró que Finley regresara a ser como siempre, dijo ella.</p><p>“Imagínense qué tan diferente fuera si a Finley le hubiesen hecho una prueba de detección al salir de Kinder y [su dislexia] se hubiese identificado temprano,” Wallerstedt dijo. “Ella no se hubiese sentido tan mal. Habríamos tenido un plan. Y no hubiese habido ningún estigma.</p><p>“Aparte de que no se habría quedado rezagada en el tercer grado.”</p><h3>‘No hay mala intención’</h3><p>A principios de 2019, un grupo de trabajo de Denver formado por padres, educadores y defensores de las personas con discapacidad <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2019/3/18/21107119/improving-special-education-denver-task-force-suggests-more-screening-less-segregation">había recomendado</a> que todos los estudiantes que entraran en el distrito fueran examinados para detectar predictores de futuros problemas de lectura, incluida la dislexia. Y en abril de 2020, un grupo de trabajo del distrito recomendó que se pusieran a prueba dos herramientas particulares de detección.</p><p>El grupo sugirió que se examinara a todos los alumnos de Kinder y primer grado de 20 escuelas utilizando una herramienta llamada Shaywitz DyslexiaScreen, que al parecer cuesta $1 por estudiante. Esta herramienta, administrada por un maestro, identifica a los estudiantes como “en riesgo” o “sin riesgo” de dislexia.</p><p>El grupo también recomendó que se pruebe un segundo método de detección, más caro, en 10 de las 20 escuelas. La evaluación, conocida como <i>Predictive Assessment of Reading</i>, cuesta $7 por estudiante y se les daría a los estudiantes que tuvieron una puntuación de “riesgo” en la evaluación Shaywitz. La meta sería darles más información a los maestros sobre dónde los estudiantes en riesgo pudieran necesitar ayuda adicional.</p><p>Y algo importante es que la <i>Predictive Assessment of Reading</i> está disponible tanto en inglés como en español, según el primer informe del grupo de trabajo. Eso es crítico para las Escuelas Públicas de Denver, que bajo la orden de un tribunal federal tienen que ofrecer materiales de currículo en ambos idiomas.</p><p>“Ha llegado el momento de iniciar nuestro programa piloto de detección de la dislexia”, escribió Holly Baker Hill, facilitadora del grupo de trabajo y especialista en educación especial del distrito.</p><p>Pero 11 meses más tarde, el programa piloto todavía no ha comenzado. El retraso ha frustrado a los padres y estudiantes.</p><p>En una reunión de la junta escolar celebrada el mes pasado, Forest Hansen, estudiante de segundo grado, dijo que había estado vendiendo mascarillas faciales cosidas por su abuela para recaudar dinero a fin de que Denver pudiera iniciar el proyecto piloto. Forest tiene dislexia, algo que no sabía hasta que su familia pagó por unas pruebas privadas. Con la ayuda de un tutor externo, le va bien en la escuela. Forest dijo que quiere que otros niños reciban ayuda también.</p><p>“Dr. Hill, yo creo que usted ahora está escuchando,” dijo Forest. “Mi mamá le enviará este cheque.”</p><p>El cheque era por la cantidad de $136.</p><p>Los funcionarios del distrito dijeron que ellos nunca abandonaron la idea de un programa de detección de dislexia. Frantum-Allen, director de educación especial de Denver, dijo que la pandemia de COVID-19 (que empezó justo antes de que el grupo hiciera sus recomendaciones) puso el proyecto piloto en pausa.</p><p>“No hay mala intención y no estamos tratando de ocultar nada,” dijo él. “Estamos tratando de lidiar primero y primordialmente con las prioridades de esta crisis.”</p><p>Ahora que los maestros están <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2021/3/2/22310167/most-colorado-educators-have-had-their-first-covid-vaccine-shot">siendo vacunados</a> y las escuelas han reabierto para el aprendizaje en persona, Frantum-Allen dijo que el distrito tiene planes de reanudar el trabajo relacionado con el programa de dislexia, el cual dijo será parte de un proceso más amplio para identificar a los estudiantes con problemas de lectura.</p><p>“Lo veo como una forma de identificar las verdaderas necesidades para poder ayudar a los maestros a satisfacerlas”, dijo Frantum-Allen.</p><h3>Un examen estatal modesto</h3><p>En 2019, los defensores de la dislexia impulsaron una ley estatal que autorizara la detección de la dislexia en todo el estado para los niños con problemas de lectura, pero terminaron respaldando <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2019/3/1/21106944/dyslexia-advocates-want-screening-for-every-struggling-reader-a-colorado-bill-takes-a-first-step">una propuesta más modesta</a> para un programa piloto en cinco escuelas. Se supone que comenzara el pasado otoño, pero se pospuso. Este invierno se abrió un nuevo plazo para solicitar, pero con menos solicitudes de las esperadas, el futuro del piloto está en el aire.</p><p>Si sigue adelante tal como está previsto, los estudiantes de Kinder a tercer grado de las escuelas participantes serán examinados a partir del otoño.</p><p>Un grupo de la Universidad de Oregón dirigirá el proyecto piloto, que además de detectar el riesgo de dislexia en los niños, busca mejorar la calidad de la enseñanza de la lectura y de los programas de intervención mediante un programa desarrollado por la universidad llamado ECRI (<i>Enhanced Core Reading Instruction</i>).</p><p>Nancy Nelson, profesora de investigación de la Universidad de Oregón que está ayudando a dirigir el proyecto piloto, dijo que el objetivo es garantizar que los niños reciban el tipo adecuado de enseñanza de lectura: es decir, explícita y sistemática, con ayuda especial para los niños que tienen dificultades para leer y que está alineada con las lecciones de toda la clase. El proyecto piloto incluirá mucha capacitación para el personal de las escuelas, y posiblemente comience a finales de esta primavera.</p><p>“Pasar por una prueba de detección no significa que un niño va a ser asignado a educación especial,” Nelson dijo.</p><p>De todos modos, el formato del programa piloto tiene la intención de darles a los niños un acceso mucho más temprano a ayudas especializadas en vez de esperar hasta que se hayan rezagado demasiado, dijo ella.</p><p>El piloto incluye un sistema de detección de dos pasos, donde el primero se basa en la prueba de lectura Acadience, que ya está siendo usada en muchas escuelas de Colorado para cumplir con la ley estatal sobre la lectura, la Ley READ.</p><p>Los estudiantes identificados por la prueba Acadience recibirían 30 minutos diarios adicionales de instrucción sobre habilidades básicas de lectura, con lecciones que anticipen lo que se cubrirá al día siguiente durante las lecciones de toda la clase. Los líderes del proyecto calculan que un 20 a 25% de los estudiantes estarán en este grupo, pero la proporción podría ser más alta en algunas escuelas.</p><p>Después de dos meses, los estudiantes que no progresen con las clases adicionales pasarían por una segunda evaluación, esta vez con información proveniente de varios exámenes y fuentes, e incluyendo el historial familiar de dificultad para leer. El personal de la escuela entonces intensificaría la instrucción para los estudiantes identificados.</p><p>Los que todavía no mejoren probablemente calificarán para servicios de educación especial, estando en una categoría general (conforme a una ley federal) conocida como ‘discapacidad específica de aprendizaje’, y que incluye la dislexia. (Las escuelas no diagnostican la dislexia, y no se necesita un diagnóstico oficial para que los estudiantes entren en la categoría de discapacidad de aprendizaje específica.)</p><p>Nelson dijo que entre un 5% y 10% del total de estudiantes en los grados K-3 de la escuela podrían terminar calificando para educación especial.</p><p>El programa piloto del estado solamente incluirá exámenes de lectura en inglés. Nelson dijo que los protocolos del programa piloto requerirán modificarse para funcionar en español u otros idiomas, y que aunque eso es un paso importante, su equipo de trabajo quiere primero demostrar los resultados posibles para los estudiantes que reciban la instrucción en inglés.</p><h3>Todos los niños del Kinder - eventualmente</h3><p>El distrito Boulder Valley comenzó su programa de detección de dislexia el otoño pasado, evaluando a 345 estudiantes de Kinder en 10 escuelas, entre ellas una escuela chárter. Los funcionarios del distrito volverán a examinar una muestra aleatoria de esos niños esta primavera para determinar si el momento del examen durante el año produce alguna diferencia. Hasta entonces, el distrito no dará a conocer el número de estudiantes que resultaron tener características de “alto riesgo” de dislexia en el examen.</p><p>“Todavía estamos definiendo la validez”, dijo Michelle Qazi, directora de lectura de Boulder Valley, señalando que a los padres no se les notificó el pasado otoño si sus hijos estaban en la categoría de alto riesgo, pero se les notificará al final de este año escolar.</p><p>Para la mayoría de los estudiantes, el programa piloto de Boulder utiliza una evaluación gratuita llamada <i>Mississippi Dyslexia Screener</i>. Los niños cuyo primer idioma es español son evaluados con la versión en español de un examen de lectura común combinado con un examen de ortografía de otra evaluación.</p><p>Qazi dijo que los estudiantes que obtengan una puntuación de alto riesgo en el examen de dislexia no necesitarán automáticamente servicios de educación especial. El distrito ya usa un programa de fonética de alta calidad — llamado <i>Fundations</i> — para todos los estudiantes de primaria, dijo. Saber qué estudiantes de Kinder tienen rasgos de dislexia a través del proceso de detección ayudará a los maestros a darles una ayuda más intensiva a los que la necesiten, dijo.</p><p>“Este es un dato más que puede ayudarnos a reducir el número de niños que se quedan rezagados”, dijo Qazi.</p><p>El proyecto piloto de Boulder, de tres años de duración, se ampliará a 22 escuelas el próximo año y al resto de las 37 escuelas de primaria y K-8 del distrito el año siguiente. Qazi dijo que el otoño pasado el distrito capacitó al personal<b> </b>que normalmente administra los exámenes de visión y audición para realizar los exámenes de dislexia. Algunas pruebas de detección se hicieron en persona y otras en línea. El distrito cuenta con un presupuesto de $102,000 para el programa piloto.</p><p><i>Traducción por Milly Suazo.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2021/4/2/22364673/pruebas-dislexia-colorado-busca-identificar-a-los-estudiantes-temprano-denver-boulder/Melanie Asmar, Ann Schimke2023-12-13T23:03:04+00:002023-12-13T23:03:04+00:00<p>With its new universal preschool program, Colorado joins a small but growing group of states that offer tuition-free preschool to all 4-year-olds.</p><p>So far, the program is popular with families, but there have been lots of bumps in the road, including <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/8/17/23835969/colorado-universal-preschool-lawsuit-case-school-districts-students-disabilities/">three lawsuits</a> against the state and the <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vzoB7Vhw6pNMpqDFLY72nUBwnJCasLMX/view">threat of a fourth</a>. Some of the hiccups and headaches are usual new-program fare while others stem from the program’s <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/2/6/23585045/colorado-universal-free-preschool-application-disabilities-special-education-funding/">rushed rollout</a> by a <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2022/6/24/23182056/colorado-early-childhood-director-lisa-roy-universal-preschool/">new state agency</a>.</p><p>Despite the problems, the $322 million program is a big deal. Funded partly with a nicotine tax that<a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2020/11/3/21548349/proposition-ee-colorado-2020-election-results/#:~:text=Proposition%20EE%2C%20nicotine%20tax%20measure%20for%20universal%20preschool%2C%20cruises%20to%20victory&text=Colorado%20voters%20easily%20approved%20a,in%20the%20fall%20of%202023."> Colorado voters passed easily</a>, it’s cutting preschool tuition costs for thousands of families and helping more Colorado children get ready for kindergarten. Nearly 50,000 preschoolers are enrolled this year, more than double the number served in the state’s previous smaller preschool program.</p><p>Universal preschool has long been one of Gov. Jared Polis’ signature initiatives and its launch last August represents the second and harder half of the governor’s ambitious early childhood agenda. <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2019/5/13/21108153/free-full-day-kindergarten-is-coming-here-s-what-colorado-parents-need-to-know/">Free full-day kindergarten</a>, which kicked off in 2019, was the other major component.</p><p>Here’s a closer look at four key issues that have cropped up during the preschool program’s first six months.</p><h2>A surge in demand led to tough decisions — and could again</h2><p>More than 38,000 4-year-olds — 60% of that age group in the state — are enrolled in universal preschool this year. That’s about 8,000 more 4-year-olds than the state expected. In addition, the program includes more than 10,000 3-year-olds with risk factors.</p><p>The surge in demand meant state officials had to spread the money more thinly than planned. Last summer, just weeks before preschool was set to start, <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/8/2/23815102/colorado-universal-full-day-preschool-extra-hours-risk-factors-backtrack/">they told thousands of families</a> that their children wouldn’t get free full-day preschool, only half-day, because there wasn’t enough funding. Some of the students who lost out — low-income students and English language learners — are those who stand to benefit the most from extra preschool.</p><p>The state has already taken steps to remedy this problem for about 3,000 children next year, specifically those living in poverty. A <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/10/26/23932722/colorado-universal-preschool-full-day-rule-change-poverty/">proposed rule</a> would prioritize those 4-year-olds for full-day classes. At the same time, the state expects even more 4-year-olds — as much as 64% of that group — to enroll in universal preschool next year. With next year’s state budget not yet set, the possibility of another surge in demand, and a slew of new rules under consideration, it’s unclear how far the money will go.</p><h2>State leaders promised high-quality preschool. It will take years.</h2><p>One of the casualties in the race to stand up the new preschool program were rules governing program quality. State officials ran out of time to craft those rules, so they told participating preschools last spring to <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/4/7/23674706/colorado-free-preschool-quality-standards-delay/">“keep doing what you’re doing.”</a></p><p>That means preschools are required to meet only basic health and safety standards this year, not other benchmarks of quality, such as small class sizes, highly trained teachers, and strong curriculum. Some participating preschools already embrace high-quality practices, but not all do. That leaves the current universal preschool landscape a mish-mash of superior programs, mediocre programs, and everything in between.</p><p>Experts say quality standards matter because when preschool is done well, it can have short- and long-term benefits for children — boosting academic skills, increasing the likelihood of graduating from high school, and even improving adult job and health outcomes.</p><p>Colorado officials are planning to adopt <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1s3yXGXbb1LwfninG4AwE0o_N6ubZgAQG">some quality rules</a> for the 2024-25 school year and a separate set of rules on preschool staff credentials for the 2025-26 school year. But with some likely to be phased in over time, four or more classes of universal preschoolers may graduate from the program before a binding set of quality requirements take hold.</p><h2>Colorado faces lawsuits as church-state legal landscape changes</h2><p>Although faith-based preschools make up a tiny fraction of Colorado’s universal preschool providers, they’ve played an outsize role in recent legal challenges over the program’s policies.</p><p>Two of three lawsuits the state is facing over universal preschool revolve around a non-discrimination agreement state officials asked participating preschools to sign. The agreement bans discrimination based on various factors, including religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity, but a Christian preschool in Chaffee County and two Catholic preschools in metro Denver sued over the provision last summer.</p><p>In October, <a href="https://www.coloradopolitics.com/news/premium/judge-blocks-colorado-from-enforcing-non-discrimination-policy-against-christian-preschool/article_eba34432-7288-11ee-b0ee-7b14ff8318a6.html?ana=9news">a federal judge blocked Colorado</a> from withholding universal preschool funds or disciplining the Chaffee County preschool even though its policies on employee hiring and bathroom and pronoun use appear to violate the non-discrimination clause.</p><p>The lawsuit by the Catholic preschools, which is set to go to trial in early January, is broader. Like the Chaffee County case, it takes issue with the possibility of hiring staff who don’t reflect the schools’ religious tenets, but it also challenges the state’s mandate to accept all children and families regardless of religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity. The schools argue that enrolling all children conflicts with their religious beliefs and mission to provide a Catholic education.</p><p>There’s likely <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/11/28/potential-religious-education-ban-in-state-funded-preschools/">another battle over religion</a> on the horizon. That’s because of a proposal to ban religious instruction during universal preschool classes starting next fall. The state intended to put that ban into place from the outset, but didn’t follow through — allowing participating faith-based preschools to incorporate religion however they see fit this year. That omission, set Colorado up for a conspicuous mid-stream flip-flop. The conservative group Advance Colorado has <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vzoB7Vhw6pNMpqDFLY72nUBwnJCasLMX/view">already threatened to sue</a> if the state goes through with the proposed ban, citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing public funding for religious education.</p><h2>Class size debate is another symptom of funding challenges</h2><p>This year, universal preschool classes can have up to 24 4-year-olds. That’s higher than most early childhood experts recommend, so the state has <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/10/30/23939834/colorado-universal-preschool-class-size-cap-quality-rules/">proposed capping the number at 20</a> starting next fall. A related rule would require one staff member for every 10 children, down from one per 12 this year.</p><p>But some participating preschools literally banked on having 24 students per class and 12 students per staff member. (The state pays about $6,000 per child for half-day preschool.) If the proposed changes are adopted, these providers stand to lose tens of thousands of dollars next year and some have said they would <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Ll_3UzXH667b-ASfQyjs3gvTV1O-Tli-nB1ykBNg9z4/edit#gid=216716358">pull out of the program</a> altogether.</p><p>The class size dilemma, especially in a field known for razor-thin margins and low pay, is another example of the tension between Colorado’s promise of high-quality preschool-for-all and the reality of limited funding. Although universal preschool’s $322 million price tag sounds like a hefty sum, preschool providers, school districts, and lawmakers have questioned whether it’s enough to support the program Colorado leaders envisioned.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/12/13/colorado-universal-preschool-four-takeaways/Ann SchimkeAnn Schimke2023-12-12T00:20:00+00:002023-12-12T18:58:23+00:00<p>When Jessica May was 11, her family fostered a baby who’d been severely neglected and didn’t make a sound.</p><p>But May’s mother had a plan to get Baby Isabella cooing, babbling, and laughing just like a typical 1-year-old. The whole family lavished her with attention, and eventually, the little girl caught up on every milestone.</p><p>May, who is now a family and consumer sciences teacher at Turner Middle School in Berthoud, Colorado, said her experience with Isabella encapsulates what she loves about her job. These days, she helps students find their voices as they traverse the rocky road from childhood to adolescence.</p><p>All her students are her own “Baby Isabellas,” said May, who teaches lessons on everything from child development to making a budget and doing laundry.</p><p>May, who was recently named Colorado’s 2024 Teacher of the Year, talked with Chalkbeat about growing up with nearly 200 foster siblings, how she helped students cope with a classmate’s death, and what she leads with when she speaks with parents.</p><p><i>This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.</i></p><h3>Was there a moment when you decided to become a teacher?</h3><p>No. I grew up wanting to hang out with all my teachers. I also gave assignments to my dolls and stuffed animals and graded them while they were at recess. The profession simply chose me at a young age.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/m7nGDCHUgbygjH0Jppm00ee7T6s=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/U5IPSIPIXFGRBMZYRE5RTOSV3M.jpg" alt="A portrait of Jessica May, Colorado's 2024 Teacher of the Year." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>A portrait of Jessica May, Colorado's 2024 Teacher of the Year.</figcaption></figure><h3>How did your own school experience influence your approach to teaching?</h3><p>I always loved school and had an innate longing to know my teachers on a personal level by keeping in touch with them. Growing up, I consistently asked them questions about teaching, searching for advice in order to figure out who I wanted to be as a teacher.</p><p>In fact, I still communicate with many of them. My first grade teacher just sent me a congratulations card the other day for my Teacher of the Year award. During my first year of teaching, I was paired with my former junior high school teacher, and now we are best friends!</p><h3>You’ve mentioned that you like to tell students stories to connect lessons with the real world. Can you give an example?</h3><p>My mom was a lifelong foster parent, starting when I was 3 years old. By the time I graduated from the University of Northern Colorado, I had 189 foster brothers and sisters. In that time, I learned a lot from my mom about kids with trauma. One of the stories I tell my students is the story about Baby Isabella.</p><p>When I was 11 years old, my mom told me we were getting a 12-month-old baby girl, but that she was the size of a 6-month-old. She explained that Isabella had learned early that when she cried, no one would respond or come to her aid — not to change her diaper, not to feed her, not to hold her. Because of this, she learned to stop crying. Therefore, she didn’t coo or babble, she couldn’t lift up her head, she couldn’t roll over, and she definitely didn’t crawl or walk.</p><p>Our job, my mom told me and my older sister, was to teach her how to cry again. The plan was to continually hold Isabella during the day and so my mom, sister, and I traded off while we went about our daily lives at home. My mom reminded us to talk to her in “motherese,” make eye contact when we spoke to her, kiss her cheeks, and sing to her. We did this for two weeks straight.</p><p>Then my mom told us “Step 2.” Every time we put Isabella down and she made any type of noise, we were to pick her up. We did this over and over until she finally realized that every time she made a peep, someone would interact with her. She started to coo and babble, she started to gain weight, she could lift up her head, and roll, and army crawl; she’d giggle and smile and squeal. By the time she was adopted at 18 months, Isabella had caught up to all the milestones of the average 18-month-old.</p><p>I explain the connection of this story to my students because they are stuck between being a little elementary kid and a young adult in high school. People, including their families, think they don’t want hugs anymore, that they don’t want to talk or play family board games, and that they want to be left alone. But that’s not accurate. They want to feel seen, heard, and talked to about life.</p><p>The reason I was meant to teach middle school and why I love it so much is because I can teach them how to “cry” again — to find their own voice, and tell others what they want and need.</p><h3>Tell us about a favorite lesson to teach. Where did the idea come from?</h3><p>A few years back, I had a seventh grade student with whom I had a close relationship. I dedicated several hours each week to helping him access content and overcome challenges he faced at home and in his social interactions at school. He tragically took his own life during the school year.</p><p>The loss of the student weighed heavily on my heart as he was the first current student I had ever lost. I knew I had to take immediate action for my students. I contacted the district’s restorative justice representative and requested she co-facilitate Peace Circles for each of my classes the following day. The students desperately needed an outlet to express their emotions and engage in the grieving process with their peers.</p><p>These circles evolved into experiences that profoundly impacted everyone present. They fostered a sense of safety, belonging, healthy emotional expression, and a sense of community. My hope was to make sure my students felt love, acceptance, and peace that day ... and hopefully for a lifetime.</p><h3>Tell us about a memorable time — good or bad — when contact with a student’s family changed your perspective or approach.</h3><p>I think all teachers are nervous about making phone calls home because it can go either way for us. However, I have learned when calling a parent about an issue to always start with why I enjoy their child or what strength they possess. When I start this way, the parent or guardian understands that I’m not out to get their child and I have their best interests at heart. We then have a really wonderful conversation about how I can support their student so they can become their best selves. I’m no longer a nervous wreck when calling home.</p><h3>What are you reading for enjoyment?</h3><p>I’m reading <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-screwtape-letters-c-s-lewis/7945549">“Screwtape Letters”</a> by C.S. Lewis. I’ve read this novel many times, but it continues to blow my mind. He wrote this fictional story in 1942, yet so many of the situations that Screwtape — a demon who is mentoring his nephew — talks about are actually occuring today. It’s also a good reminder to be mindful about my habits, thoughts, and actions on a daily basis.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/12/12/colorado-2024-teacher-of-the-year-jessica-may/Ann SchimkeAnn Schimke2023-12-09T01:05:00+00:002023-12-08T23:05:42+00:00<p><i>Sign up for</i><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/subscribe"><i> Chalkbeat Colorado’s free daily newsletter</i></a><i> to get the latest reporting from us, plus curated news from other Colorado outlets, delivered to your inbox.</i></p><p>Former Colorado Education Commissioner Katy Anthes faced plenty of anger in her old job. That’s motivated her to help school district leaders and educators in Colorado and beyond develop skills that promote conflict resolution and reduce polarization.</p><p>Anthes will work to build those skills in her new role as director of the FORWARD Initiative at the Public Education &amp; Business Coalition, a Denver-based teacher training and advocacy organization. She started Dec. 1.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/JkTzjFH2wnf98THoc07frhQg0qE=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/U5RHGGNFZRGT5IFCN3BNPLDCDE.jpg" alt="Katy Anthes, the former education commissioner of Colorado, is now the director of the FORWARD Initiative at the Public Education & Business Coalition." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Katy Anthes, the former education commissioner of Colorado, is now the director of the FORWARD Initiative at the Public Education & Business Coalition.</figcaption></figure><p>“Part of it is just kind of getting back to some basics around listening, seeing the humanity in others, having curiosity, and being able to pause before you immediately react,” she said. “These are not rocket science, but they are skills we seem to have gotten away from.”</p><p>Anthes, who stepped down as commissioner in July after seven years on the job, said the idea for the initiative came out of the soul-searching she did after leaving the Colorado Department of Education.</p><p>She said she worked with the coalition’s director, Sue Sava, to launch the FORWARD Initiative in the hopes of moving education past some of today’s divisive rhetoric and culture wars. Anthes also works part time for Third Mile Group, an educational consulting firm.</p><p>Initially, FORWARD will consist of two offerings. The first is a <a href="https://www.pebc.org/event/pebcsforward/">book study facilitated by Anthes</a> of “High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped And How We Get Out” by Amanda Ripley. The second is individual or small group coaching sessions led by Anthes. Both are fee-based.</p><p>Anthes said without strong skills to probe disagreements and calm conflicts, superintendents and other education leaders can be forced to spend all their time putting out fires instead of attending to student needs.</p><p>Anthes, who was widely considered a steady and even-handed education commissioner, said she honed her ability to listen thoughtfully and de-escalate conflict during her years at the education department.</p><p>“Those are the skills you have to build,” she said. “They don’t come naturally to us. Especially in this world right now it’s fight or flight.”</p><p>Anthes said when people tagged her in angry Twitter posts as commissioner, she would often invite them to meet for a discussion. Not many took her up on the offer. But she said it signaled that screaming on social media wouldn’t do justice to the complex issues they raised.</p><p>“Social media is not the place for nuance,” she said.</p><p>Anthes said several other national organizations do work similar to the FORWARD Initiative, though they’re not necessarily focused on education. Those groups include <a href="https://startswith.us/">Starts With Us</a>, <a href="https://www.moreincommon.com/">More In Common</a>, <a href="https://www.moralcourage.com/">Moral Courage College</a>, and <a href="https://braverangels.org/">Braver Angels</a>.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/12/08/katy-anthes-wants-to-reduce-polarization-in-education/Ann Schimke2023-12-06T00:23:57+00:002023-12-07T19:20:49+00:00<p>Much of the federal relief aid sent to Colorado’s child care providers during the pandemic helped keep doors open and businesses solvent.</p><p>But one small stream of federal COVID funding — $23 million — was used for innovation in the sector rather than its survival. That money was distributed through the <a href="https://earlymilestones.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/EM-003-Circle-Grant-Report_fa_screen_singles.pdf">CIRCLE Grant program</a> and helped fund more than 200 projects around the state. The projects included weekly bilingual preschool classes for Armenian-American children, a training program for Head Start parents working as classroom aides, and a loan program to help child care employees cover emergency expenses.</p><p>While the grant funding represents a fraction of the $678 million in federal COVID relief sent to Colorado’s early childhood sector, program leaders are proud of the grassroots efforts it sparked.</p><p>“Once again, we are seeing that folks that are closest to the problems have the best solutions,” said Jennifer Stedron, executive director of Early Milestones Colorado, which distributed the CIRCLE grants.</p><p>The yearlong grants ranged from $10,000 to $300,000. Many of them focused on making child care more accessible to families. In some cases, that meant creating new infant and toddler classrooms or sending mobile preschools to underserved neighborhoods. In others, the goal was to better meet specific needs, say, by adding programs for bilingual students or children with disabilities.</p><p>The nonprofit Armenians of Colorado Inc. used its $35,000 CIRCLE grant to pilot a free Saturday preschool class that incorporated both English and Armenian. A dozen children attended the program last spring at the First Baptist Church of Denver, some who didn’t know a word of Armenian and some who spoke only Armenian. They listened to poems and stories in Armenian and also did activities in English, including one on the Easter bunny.</p><p>The idea was to “show the kids you can use both languages to have academic and social interactions,” said Simon Maghakyan, an activist in the Armenian community and a CIRCLE Grant consultant for Armenians of Colorado. “It’s important they see value in both.”</p><p>Some of the children, who ranged in age from 2 to 5, had never attended any kind of preschool, he said. For most, it was “their first introduction to either language in the written form.” The two languages have different alphabets.</p><p>The Armenian community has deep roots in Colorado, with some of the earliest immigrants arriving in the late 1800s. Statewide, there are about 5,000 people of Armenian descent. The Armenian Genocide during the World War I era, as well as more recent displacements, have gradually brought more Armenians to the United States and Colorado.</p><p>But it’s still a relatively small group, and because of assimilation pressures and the dominance of English globally, it can be a struggle to maintain the Armenian language, Maghakyan said. That’s why the Saturday preschool program is important. The CIRCLE grant supplied only enough money to plan and run a three-month pilot, but leaders with the organization hope to find a way to keep it going in the future.</p><p>Besides funding new programming for children, many CIRCLE grant projects focused on supporting the chronically underpaid early childhood workforce with increased wages, training, or other benefits.</p><p>The Denver nonprofit WorkLife Partnership used its CIRCLE grant to offer a program that’s usually available to employers for a fee to child care providers free of charge. The program helps employees quickly access small loans at a lower interest rate than payday lenders would charge.</p><p>The process is simple: Employees struggling with a large or unexpected expense, such as a security deposit, utility bill, or car repair, can request a $1,000 loan through WorkLife with no credit check or collateral requirement. The money lands in their bank account in as little as 24 hours. They then pay back the loan through monthly payroll deductions over the course of a year. With interest and a $20 administrative fee, the total repayment on a $1,000 loan is $1,116.</p><p>Logan Jones, financial services manager for WorkLife, said, “it’s really designed to be an anti-payday loan.” It helps employees, especially those with bad credit, avoid exorbitant interest rates when they’re in crisis.</p><p>He said about 15 employees at two participating Denver area child care centers have taken advantage of the loans, most often for housing costs. Borrowers don’t have to say why they’re seeking the loan, but many do later in voluntary surveys, he said.</p><p>Jones said that although the loan benefit was offered free to child care providers through the CIRCLE grant, many didn’t take advantage of it because there were so many CIRCLE grant opportunities and offers at the same time.</p><p>“It needs to be staggered out longer,” Jones said.</p><p>Stedron, of Early Milestones, agreed that the one-year grant timeline was too short.</p><p>“I wish they could have gone on forever, certainly more than one year,” she said.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/12/06/colorado-pandemic-aid-circle-grants-support-child-care-innovation/Ann SchimkeCourtesy of Armenians of Colorado2023-11-15T00:05:32+00:002023-11-15T02:32:37+00:00<p>Low-income families in Colorado could receive $120 per child to help pay for groceries next summer if state lawmakers agree to tap a federal program aimed at reducing childhood hunger when school is out.</p><p>The legislature begins meeting Friday for a special session to address spiking property taxes after <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/11/7/23949883/proposition-hh-voting-results-elections-2023/">voters rejected Proposition HH</a>. But lawmakers will also consider the summer grocery program because the state must opt in by Jan. 1 to participate in 2024.</p><p>The program has a wonky name — Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer, or Summer EBT — but the idea is simple: Reduce childhood hunger in low-income families when school meal programs are on break or harder to access over the summer. Eligible families would get a card preloaded with money to buy food that is sent to their homes when school’s out.</p><p>Families of up to 350,000 Colorado children would benefit.</p><p>The program would be another step in Colorado’s continuing effort to shrink the number of children who go hungry in the state. Starting this school year, the vast majority of Colorado students <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2022/12/2/23490749/free-meals-colorado-school-lunch-proposition-ff-denver-jeffco-douglas-aurora/">can get free school meals</a> regardless of family income because of a universal meal program approved by voters in 2022.</p><p>A program similar to Summer EBT was in place during the pandemic, but it was optional for school districts, and it expired last summer. The new Summer EBT program would require all districts in the federal government’s National School Lunch Program to participate. In Colorado, that’s every district but Aspen.</p><p>Helping low-income families pay for groceries in the summer reduces childhood food insecurity, increases fruit and vegetable intake, and cuts the amount of sugary beverages children drink, according to <a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/sebt/evidence">federal evaluations of a pilot Summer EBT program in several states</a>.</p><p>Families would be eligible for Summer EBT in 2024 if they have household incomes at or below 185% of the federal poverty level — $55,500 for a family of four — and have children attending preschool through 12th grade in a public school that offers the National School Lunch or Breakfast Program.</p><p>For the state to participate, Colorado lawmakers will have to appropriate about $3.5 million to help administer the program, said Brehan Riley, school nutrition director at the Colorado Department of Education. The federal government would match that amount, plus send $35 million to $42 million directly to qualifying families in the form of benefit cards. The program would be jointly administered by the Colorado Department of Human Services and the education department.</p><p>Riley said children will still be able to get any free summer meals offered through their school district even if their families also receive the Summer EBT benefit.</p><p>“The $120, I think it averages out to $1.33 a day,” she said. “So it’s supposed to supplement” the summer school meals program. Some students can’t get to local schools that offer summer meals because they live too far away or don’t have transportation.</p><p>If state lawmakers approve the Summer EBT program during the special session, which could last just three days, Colorado would join 10 other states planning to participate next summer. They include Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia</p><p>The Colorado State Board of Education voted 7-1 in support of the proposed Summer EBT bill on Tuesday. Board member Debora Scheffel, a Republican who represents a large swath of eastern Colorado, voted no. Board member Steve Durham, also a Republican, was absent.</p><p>If lawmakers approve the Summer EBT bill, Riley said the most important thing parents can do to ensure they’re eligible is fill out the free and reduced-price meal form at their child’s school. In some districts, the form may have a slightly different name, possibly the “family economic data survey.”</p><p>“We are hearing from districts that families haven’t been filling out those forms,” she said. “In order to receive summer EBT benefits, that form has to be in place.”</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/11/15/colorado-special-session-summer-childhood-hunger/Ann Schimkeeyecrave productions2022-04-27T21:19:58+00:002023-11-13T23:48:10+00:00<p>When Colorado launches free preschool for 4-year-olds in 2023, it will join a half dozen other states that already offer universal preschool.</p><p>All of them have encountered the same tricky task Colorado leaders now face as they try to knit together a disparate patchwork of public and private preschools into an equitable and high-quality statewide system. We’ll take a look at some of the lessons learned in four states: Florida, Oklahoma, Vermont, and Wisconsin.</p><p>Some, like Oklahoma, have offered the program for decades, while others, like Vermont — one of the few places to offer free preschool to all 3- and 4-year-olds — have joined the club more recently. Wisconsin officials said they don’t consider their preschool program universal because school districts don’t have to offer the state-funded classes, though 99% do.</p><p>Colorado’s <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/4/25/23041861/colorado-free-universal-preschool-polis-bill-signed">universal preschool program</a> will offer 10 hours a week to all 4-year-olds, with children who have higher needs eligible for more. Funding will come from Colorado’s existing state-funded preschool program, which is for children from low-income families, or who have language delays, or other risk factors, and proceeds from a <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2020/11/3/21548349/proposition-ee-colorado-2020-election-results">voter-approved nicotine tax</a>.</p><p>Advocates in the four states cited ongoing challenges in everything from ensuring high-quality offerings to making part-day preschool work for families, but they also said the programs are generally popular. In all four states, <a href="https://nieer.org/state-preschool-yearbooks/yearbook2020">at least 70% of 4-year-olds</a> participated prior to the pandemic.</p><p>Sherry Carlson, chief program officer at the Vermont advocacy group, Let’s Grow Kids, said the state’s system is not perfect, but “usage is an indication that we’re on the right track.”</p><p><table style="text-align:center;"> <tr> <th>States</th> <th>Year launched</th> <th>Four-year olds enrolled</th> <th>Quality benchmarks met</th> <th>Min. hours/week</th> <th>Bachelor's degree required for preschool teachers</th> </tr> <tr> <td>Florida</td> <td>2005</td> <td>75%</td> <td>2</td> <td>15</td> <td>No</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Oklahoma</td> <td>1998</td> <td>70%</td> <td>9</td> <td>10-30</td> <td>Yes</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Vermont</td> <td>2014</td> <td>76%</td> <td>7</td> <td>10</td> <td>In public school classrooms</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Wisconsin</td> <td>1984</td> <td>70%</td> <td>3</td> <td>10-12</td> <td>Yes</td> </tr> </table> <figcaption> <div class="title">State-funded preschool in four states</div> <div class="caption">Notes: The % of children served reflects this school year or the 2019-20 year. “Quality benchmarks met” is based on 10 standards used by the National Institute for Early Education Research. Oklahoma school districts have the option of providing 2.5 or 6 hours of preschool per day. Wisconsin provided funding for 4-year-old preschool starting in 1927. It was repealed in 1957 and reinstated in 1984. In Florida, families can choose a 540-hour school year program or a 300-hour summer preschool program. </div> </figcaption> </figure></p><h2>The half-day problem</h2><p>Colorado’s plan to offer 10 hours of preschool a week to most children is similar to preschool programs in states like Florida, Vermont, and Wisconsin. The problem is that half-day programs don’t work for a lot of families.</p><p>Professor Beth Graue, director of the Center for Research on Early Childhood Education at the University of Wisconsin Madison, studied Wisconsin parents’ preschool choices and found that many declined to enroll in the program because of the schedule.</p><p>“The half-day format is a nightmare for at least a third of all the parents we surveyed,” she said. “It’s curious to me in today’s day and age that people imagine that a half day would work.“</p><p>When universal preschool originally launched in Florida, the vision was to offer both a 3-hour and a 6-hour preschool day, but there was never enough funding for the longer day, said Madeleine Thakur, president of the advocacy group, The Children’s Movement of Florida. Some schools — those that receive federal funds for low-income students — cover the extra cost of full-day preschool for some students, but the coveted spots are in short supply.</p><p>In Vermont, momentum had been growing to increase the number of state-funded preschool hours beyond the current 10 a week, but the pandemic derailed that discussion, said Carlson.</p><p>“There is a lot of agreement, particularly among working families and schools, that more time would be better,” she said.</p><h2>Teacher qualification conundrum</h2><p>The four states profiled have various requirements for universal preschool teachers — Oklahoma and Wisconsin require them to have bachelor’s degrees, while Florida does not. Vermont is something of a hybrid — requiring bachelor’s degrees for universal preschool teachers in public school settings, but not for all teachers in private settings.</p><p>These differences reflect both ongoing national debate about whether teachers with four-year college degrees provide better preschool experiences than those without, and the reality that such requirements pose a major financial barrier in light of the field’s low pay.</p><p>The National Institute for Early Education Research, which <a href="https://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/YB2021_Full_Report.pdf">ranks states annually on preschool access and funding</a>, includes bachelor’s degree requirements among 10 benchmarks showing whether states have key quality standards in place. Experts say preschool can produce short- and long-term benefits for kids, but only if it’s <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/2/11/22929758/colorado-free-universal-preschool-high-quality-measurement-system">high quality</a>.</p><p>Colorado’s existing preschool program doesn’t require bachelor’s degrees and meets only four of the institute’s 10 benchmarks.</p><p>Carlson, who estimated that 60% of Vermont’s universal preschoolers are served in private settings, said the more lenient degree requirements for those classrooms was one of the concessions made when the program began. The state has put money toward helping preschool teachers further their education, but more needs to be done, she said.</p><p>Carlson’s advice to Colorado: “Be willing to compromise with a plan [that says] this is where we’re starting and we’re going to keep working to get to … where the vision was.”</p><p>Thakur, of Florida, said many wonderful preschool teachers don’t have bachelor’s degrees currently so it shouldn’t be a requirement at the inception of a universal program. Plus, with teachers in private preschool settings often paid much less than public school counterparts, it’s not fair to require the degrees, she said.</p><h2>Who’s got access?</h2><p>The idea behind universal preschool is to serve every child whose parents want a spot, but that can be hard to deliver on a consistent statewide basis.</p><p>Carlson said offering preschool in both public and private settings helps ensure access in Vermont, partly because private centers can often provide wraparound care that meshes with parents’ work schedules and locations. At the same time, some preschoolers with disabilities lose out on special education services if they attend preschool with private providers outside of their school districts, she said.</p><p>The goal should be to “put children and families at the center,” she said. “Then don’t let paperwork or artificial boundaries” get in the way.</p><p>Joe Dorman, CEO at the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy, said reaching rural children has been a struggle in his state. In some cases, it’s because of preschool staff shortages or a dearth of seats, but there are also some families who don’t see the value of preschool, he said.</p><p>“This has been one of our crown jewels,” he said. “It amazes me that people won’t take the time to look at the benefits and see the good that can come from it.”</p><p>Dorman said Colorado should educate parents about the free preschool program before children turn 4.</p><p>“Begin the promotional process early,” he said. “Ensure that families recognize this.”</p><h2>Preschool and K-12: separate or together?</h2><p>In some universal preschool states, school districts are in charge of overseeing the program locally and offer many preschool seats in public school classrooms. These factors make school districts a key player in the universal preschool discussion, but also raise questions about how close the association should be.</p><p>Experts from other states said it’s important that universal preschool be designed around the developmental needs of young children.</p><p>Thakur said Colorado leaders should be careful “not to bring the rigor of the K-12 system down into preschool.”</p><p>“You’ve really got to focus on relationships, making sure children learn how to communicate, cooperate, listen, and follow routines,” she said. “Those are the kinds of things that are a real down payment for the kindergarten teacher.”</p><p>Colorado’s existing preschool program is administered by school districts and 77% of students attend the program in public school classrooms, but planned changes could <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/3/15/22978393/colorado-preschool-expansion-legislation">shake up public schools’ role</a> in universal preschool.</p><p>Graue agreed that preschool should be developmentally appropriate, not narrowly focused on math and literacy, but also noted the downsides of divorcing preschool and K-12 policy.</p><p>During a statewide class size reduction effort in Wisconsin, for example, Graue said kindergarten classes went down to 15 children, but preschool classes in the same buildings were often much larger because they weren’t included in the state initiative.</p><p>In addition, although Wisconsin’s state-funded preschool classrooms in private settings must adhere to class size caps mandated by state child care regulations, public schools aren’t subject to those limits. Instead, each district establishes its own preschool class size rules.</p><p>“That’s the problem of the 4K [Wisconsin preschool] program working in this liminal space between K-12 and the child care system,” Graue said.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2022/4/27/23045070/colorado-free-universal-preschool-lessons-other-states/Ann Schimke2023-09-13T22:22:22+00:002023-11-13T14:57:27+00:00<p><i>Sign up for Chalkbeat’s </i><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/the-starting-line"><i>free monthly newsletter The Starting Line</i></a><i> to keep up with news about early childhood education.</i></p><p>Colorado’s proposed rules on preschool quality set a low bar, could hurt kids, and threaten to leave the state with one of the nation’s weakest public preschool programs, some experts say.</p><p>The <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sQYxn5Ooc04e-Wf2Z3IjguqZn9qowvdBlDrJawCL3Dk/view">draft standards</a> say class sizes will be governed by current licensing rules, which means preschools can have up to 24 4–year-olds in each classroom. The standards also don’t address what degrees or credentials teachers must have. These are among the red flags cited by leaders at the <a href="https://nieer.org/">National Institute for Early Education Research</a>, who reviewed the draft rules at Chalkbeat’s request.</p><p>“It’s very difficult once you create a low-quality system to work your way out of that, because you create a constituency for it,” said W. Steven Barnett, senior co-director of the institute, which is housed at Rutgers University.</p><p>Colorado’s proposed quality rules, which will take effect in fall 2024, are already coming <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/4/7/23674706/colorado-free-preschool-quality-standards-delay">too late for the first class of universal preschoolers</a> — about 38,000 4-year-olds and 9,000 3-year-olds so far this fall. While some of those children may be in top-rated preschools that keep class sizes small, use strong curriculum, and employ highly qualified teachers, many are attending programs that meet only basic health and safety standards.</p><p>This runs counter to what state leaders promised after the passage of <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2020/11/3/21548349/proposition-ee-colorado-2020-election-results">a nicotine tax in 2020</a> to help fund tuition-free preschool for 4-year-olds statewide. They said the new program would provide the kind of high-quality preschool that research shows has positive short- and long-term impacts on children.</p><p>But now, it’s unclear whether the state will make good on that pledge — and if so, how long it will take.</p><p>“In my opinion, this is stuff they should have been nailing down three years ago,” said Meg Franko, director of early childhood initiatives at the University of Denver’s Butler Institute for Families. “It’s frustrating that so much is happening at the last minute.”</p><p>She sees some bright spots in the proposed standards, including that preschools would be required to have an on-site evaluation by the state or another approved evaluator every three years. She also said the standards include features that will bring more consistency so that “parents can feel like they’re getting a similar product no matter where they go.” These include requirements for preschools to have a curriculum, promote child health, and engage with families.</p><p>“I don’t think this totally solves that problem, but I think it starts to help with it,” she said.</p><p>State officials say they are <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1pfVGo87-jQ-QsGjUmYy8_p-Yv7pGOLIfK62L5mM4xRs/viewform?ts=64cbf64a&edit_requested=true">collecting feedback on the proposed quality rules</a> through at least Sept. 22 and that the standards could change before they are adopted in January<b>.</b></p><p>Separate rules for preschool teacher qualifications will take effect in fall 2025, though state officials have already confirmed that teachers will not need a bachelor’s degree as that is enshrined in state law. Those standards are still in the concept phase and no date has been set for their release.</p><p><aside id="VVEAxg" class="sidebar float-right"><h3 id="rucBCz"><strong>Preschool Quality Resources</strong></h3><p id="Cgcdpo"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sQYxn5Ooc04e-Wf2Z3IjguqZn9qowvdBlDrJawCL3Dk/view#heading=h.fo0vvlnbb0xr">Colorado’s proposed quality standards</a></p><p id="8iL9pW"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/16PtXvzf5LaV4TIWjTIpih5cOZ6YXKjNz3sOHLI9Qp2s/view">FAQ on Colorado’s proposed standards</a></p><p id="ongunJ"><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1pfVGo87-jQ-QsGjUmYy8_p-Yv7pGOLIfK62L5mM4xRs/viewform?ts=64cbf64a&edit_requested=true">Give feedback on the proposed standards</a></p><p id="y00Z0V"><a href="https://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/YB2022_Roadmap.pdf">Quality criteria from the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER)</a></p><p id="WuEjJr"><a href="https://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Colorado_YB2022.pdf">NIEER rating of Colorado’s previous preschool program</a></p></aside></p><p>Ian McKenzie, a spokesman for the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, which is running the universal preschool program, said in an email that the draft standards are based on state and national best practices and feedback from more than 670 Coloradans.</p><p>He said the goal was to strike a balance between designing an accessible system that supports the work preschool providers are already doing and lifting them to the next level of quality.</p><p>Given that Colorado has prioritized offering universal preschool in various settings — public schools, private preschools, and state-licensed homes — McKenzie said the state wouldn’t be able to lower staffing ratios beyond what’s currently allowed without hurting private providers, which are small businesses. State child care rules require at least one staff member for every 12 preschoolers, along with a 24-student cap.</p><h2>Low-quality preschool is bad for kids</h2><p>Colorado’s universal preschool program, which offers 10 to 30 hours of class time a week at no cost to families, appears likely to fall short on most of the 10 quality benchmarks used by the research institute at Rutgers. The institute <a href="https://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/YB2022_ExecutiveSummary.pdf">rates state preschool programs annually using its quality checklist</a>. States like Alabama, Mississippi, and Hawaii meet all 10 benchmarks.</p><p>Institute officials estimated that Colorado could meet up to four benchmarks — based on the state’s proposed quality standards — but said they’d need additional information from the state to confirm compliance.</p><p>Even if Colorado’s universal preschool program meets four benchmarks — <a href="https://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Colorado_YB2022.pdf">the same number its previous smaller state-funded preschool met</a> — it’s a lackluster showing for a state that touted high-quality preschool for all.</p><p>McKenzie said the state is addressing the institute’s push for quality in other ways — for example, through early childhood coaching initiatives — outside of the preschool quality standards.</p><p>The institute’s benchmarks are meant to guide state preschool policy, not to gauge quality at individual preschools. Colorado has its own five-level rating system for preschool and child care providers, known as <a href="https://www.coloradoshines.com/">Colorado Shines</a>, but there’s no requirement, including for universal preschool providers, to advance beyond the lowest Level 1 rating, which simply means a program meets state licensing standards.</p><p>Eighty percent of Colorado’s universal preschool providers have one of the lowest two state ratings. The other 20% have one of the top three ratings, <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2019/7/3/21108522/colorado-built-a-system-to-measure-child-care-quality-now-it-wants-more-providers-to-climb-the-ratin">designations considered high-quality</a>.</p><p>Barnett said low-quality classrooms can negatively impact children long term, effects seen in research on early childhood programs in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Quebec.</p><p>He said of Quebec’s child care program, “When they went universal, they went for cheap so they could give it to everybody. Fifteen years later, kids were doing worse in school. They were more likely to be involved in crime and delinquency.”</p><p>“In particular, middle income kids were induced out of relatively good home or out-of-home programs into worse programs because they were free,” Barnett said. “You could see this happening in Colorado.”</p><h2>Advocates differ on Colorado’s proposed quality standards</h2><p>Lauren Corboy, an early childhood analyst for the advocacy group Colorado Children’s Campaign, described the state’s quality standards draft as “really strong” and said it “hits on the most important elements that make a quality program.”</p><p>For example, the standards say preschool should be developmentally appropriate and mentions the importance of play, she said.</p><p>The research institute’s 10 benchmarks represent only one of a variety of ways to measure preschool quality, Corboy said. “The goal is not to pick one set [of standards] and 100% align.”</p><p>Asked about potential class sizes of 24 preschoolers — as is allowed currently and in the draft standards — she said the Campaign has not yet developed talking points on that topic.</p><p>Rebecca Armentrout, executive director of Nebula Early Childhood Collaborative, a nonprofit that provides early childhood coaching and advocacy, said the state’s proposed preschool standards are vague.</p><p>For example, she said the standards call for the creation of a resource bank that includes “approved and vetted” curriculum, but it’s not clear what curriculum will be acceptable, who will vet the curriculum, and whether universal preschool providers will get funding to replace curriculum that doesn’t make the cut.</p><p>Like other early childhood advocates and leaders, including <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/17/23835969/colorado-universal-preschool-lawsuit-case-school-districts-students-disabilities">a group of school districts that recently sued the state over universal preschool</a>, Armentrout worries there’s not enough money to properly run the new program.</p><p>She also expressed frustration over the analogy that state officials have repeated countless times through the universal preschool planning process.</p><p>“How offensive it’s been to hear this entire time, ‘We’re building the plane as we fly it.” said Armentrout. “Why would we trust these quality standards when we’ve heard that so many times?”</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p><p><br/></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/9/13/23871863/colorado-universal-free-preschool-quality-standards-nieer-benchmarks/Ann SchimkeAnn Schimke2023-11-09T22:14:43+00:002023-11-09T22:57:56+00:00<p>Voters in the City of Pueblo soundly rejected a lodging tax increase for child care, while those in the town of Ridgway easily passed a similar tax for affordable housing and child care.</p><p>The win in Ridgway, a popular outdoor recreation destination at the base of the San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado, points to the continued success of lodging tax measures for workforce housing and child care in tourist destinations. Meanwhile the loss in Pueblo, a former industrial city in southern Colorado, raises questions about the appetite for such taxes in communities where tourism isn’t the main draw.</p><p>Ridgway joins around <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/10/31/23941133/colorado-election-pueblo-lodging-tax-funding-child-care-housing-mountain-resort/">10 other other Colorado communities</a>, including Estes Park and Eagle and Chaffee counties, that use taxes on hotel stays in part to support child care. The idea is that local workers power the tourism industry, so visitors should contribute to efforts that support a stable workforce.</p><p>Local leaders in Ridgway hope to use some of the new lodging tax proceeds to operate a child care center within a planned affordable housing project with up to 17 rental units. Construction is set to begin next year.</p><p>“Child care is pretty critical, particularly to the folks who are living in affordable housing, so they can afford to work,” said Kelly Goodin, director of community outreach at the affordable housing nonprofit Home Trust of Ouray County.</p><p>Tuesday’s ballot measure will increase lodging taxes in Ridgway by 2.5%, raising an estimated $100,000 in 2024. The proceeds will go toward tourism, housing, and child care efforts.</p><p>Goodin said the lodging tax revenue will help cover operating costs for the planned child care center, but that other funding sources will be needed as well. The new center will serve infants and toddlers — the most expensive age group to serve because state rules require lower staff-child ratios.</p><p>Colorado counties and local marketing districts, which are created by communities or regions to promote tourism, have been allowed to use lodging taxes to support child care or housing only since a change to state law in 2022. Before that, lodging taxes in these jurisdictions had to be used for tourism efforts. Some Colorado cities and towns have long had the authority to levy a lodging tax to support child care, but few have done so.</p><p>If Pueblo’s ballot measure had passed, it would have increased the lodging tax rate by 1.5%, generating more than $600,000 annually. The proceeds would have provided financial aid to Pueblo families who earn too much to qualify for state child care subsidies but still struggle with the cost of care.</p><p>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at <a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org" target="_blank">aschimke@chalkbeat.org</a>.</p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/11/09/lodging-tax-election-results-child-care-pueblo-ridgway/Ann Schimke2023-11-08T04:56:32+00:002023-11-09T22:28:38+00:00<p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/11/7/23950965/election-results-westminster-school-board-vote/" target="_blank"><i><b>Leer en español</b></i></a></p><p>A slate of three candidates backed by the teachers union was winning the Westminster school board election, according to results Tuesday evening. The slate includes incumbent Christine Martinez and newcomers Audrey Yanos and Mary Beth Murphy.</p><p>Three of five Westminster <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/10/13/23913611/westminster-school-board-voter-guide-november-election-questionnaire">school board seats were up for grabs</a> in this election. It was the first contested board election in the 8,000-student district north of Denver in six years.</p><p>The trailing candidates include three newcomers who also ran as a slate: Anthony Sisneros and husband-and-wife team Charles and Brenda Gallegos.</p><p>The winning candidates were gathered with supporters at Los 3 Garcias restaurant when the preliminary results came in around 7:20 p.m. Tuesday evening. There were “lots of woo-hoos,” said Martinez, who is vice president of a local property management company and the mother of a seventh-grader in the district.</p><p>She said Tuesday’s results show voters agreed with her slate’s belief that the district is moving in the right direction.</p><p>Murphy, a retired teacher who has four adult children, said she heard from many of the voters she texted in recent days that they appreciated how positive the slate’s campaign was.</p><p>“No matter what else came out, we never got down in the mud,” she said.</p><p>Yanos, an operations supervisor at a healthcare nonprofit and the mother of three children in the district, said, “We weren’t a doom and gloom slate,”</p><p>The school district will face a leadership transition in the coming year, with the district’s longtime superintendent, Pam Swanson, set to retire next summer. In October, the board named Deputy Superintendent Jeni Gotto as her successor.</p><p>The next school board will also likely grapple with continuing enrollment declines, which have forced several Denver area districts to consider school closures or consolidations in recent years. Between 2016 and 2021, the district lost more than 1,400 students — a 15% drop.</p><p>Martinez said she’s eager to see <a href="https://www.westminsterpublicschools.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=1&ModuleInstanceID=10128&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=31522&PageID=1#:~:text=The%20Westy%20Futures%20Program%20is,at%20the%20high%20school%20level.">Westy Futures</a>, a sports program for K-8 students, continue, and the <a href="https://www.westminsterpublicschools.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=1&ModuleInstanceID=10128&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=28897&PageID=1">planned conversion of a middle school to new career and technical education space</a> move forward.</p><p>Yanos, an avid gardener, said she wants to help expand the district’s horticulture program with an eye toward incorporating lessons on climate change and sustainability.</p><p>Murphy, who is director of the Central Adams UniServ Unit, an organization that supports four local teachers unions, said she didn’t come to the race with any specific agenda.</p><p>“Every decision I make will be based on what’s best for our kids and community,” she said.</p><p><i>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </i><a href="http://aschimke@chalkbeat.org./"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org.</i></a></p><p><br/></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/11/7/23950965/election-results-westminster-school-board-vote/Ann Schimke2023-11-09T20:57:16+00:002023-11-09T20:57:16+00:00<p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/11/7/23950965/election-results-westminster-school-board-vote/" target="_blank"><i><b>Read in English.</b></i></a></p><p><i>Chalkbeat Colorado es un noticiero local sin fines de lucro que informa sobre las escuelas públicas en Denver y otros distritos. </i><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/en-espanol"><i>Suscríbete a nuestro boletín gratis por email en español</i></a><i> para recibir lo último en noticias sobre educación dos veces al mes.</i></p><p>Un grupo de tres candidatos respaldados por el sindicato de maestros ganaron en las elecciones para el consejo escolar de Westminster, según resultados el martes por la noche. El grupo incluye a la actual integrante Christine Martinez y dos candidatas nuevas, Audrey Yanos y Mary Beth Murphy.</p><p>Tres de los cinco puestos en el consejo escolar de Westminster estaban en juego estas elecciones. Fueron las <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/10/13/23914650/guia-para-votar-westminster-escuelas-candidatos-junta-educacion-consejo-escolar/" target="_blank">primeras elecciones competitivas en seis años</a> en este distrito de 8,000 estudiantes ubicado al norte de Denver.</p><p>Los candidatos rezagados incluyen tres candidatos nuevos que también se postularon como grupo: Anthony Sisneros y el equipo formado por los esposos Charles y Brenda Gallegos.</p><p>Los candidatos ganadores se reunieron con sus partidarios en el restaurante Los 3 Garcias cuando los resultados preliminares se dieron a conocer alrededor de las 7:20 p.m. el martes. Hubo “muchos, ¡qué bueno!”, dijo Martinez, quien es vicepresidenta de una compañía local de administración de propiedades y madre de un estudiante de 7º grado en el distrito.</p><p>Dijo que los resultados del martes muestran que los votantes están de acuerdo con lo que su grupo cree—que el distrito está avanzando en la dirección correcta.</p><p>Murphy, una maestra retirada que tiene cuatro hijos adultos, dijo que muchos votantes a quienes contactó por mensaje de texto en días recientes le dijeron que apreciaban lo positiva que fue la campaña del grupo.</p><p>“Sin importar qué más salió, nunca nos bajamos al lodo”, dijo.</p><p>Yanos, una supervisora de operaciones en una organización no lucrativa que proporciona servicios de salud y madre de tres niños en el distrito, dijo: “No fuimos un grupo pesimista<a href="">[AC1]</a> “.</p><p>El distrito escolar enfrentará una transición de líderes el próximo año cuando la superintendenta de muchos años, Pam Swanson, se retire en el verano. En octubre, el consejo nombró a la superintendenta adjunta, Jeni Gotto como sucesora de Swanson.</p><p>El próximo consejo escolar probablemente también tenga que lidiar con disminuciones en la cantidad de estudiantes inscritos, lo cual ha obligado a varios distritos escolares en el área de Denver a considerar el cierre o consolidaciones de sus escuelas en años recientes. Entre 2016 y 2021, el distrito perdió más de 1,400 estudiantes, una reducción del 15 por ciento.</p><p>Martinez dijo que está ansiosa de ver que <a href="https://www.westminsterpublicschools.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=1&ModuleInstanceID=10128&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=31522&PageID=1#:~:text=The%20Westy%20Futures%20Program%20is,at%20the%20high%20school%20level.">Westy Futures</a>, un programa de deportes para estudiantes de kindergarten a 8º grado, continúe, y que <a href="https://www.westminsterpublicschools.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=1&ModuleInstanceID=10128&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=28897&PageID=1">la conversión planeada de una escuela de educación media a un nuevo espacio para la educación profesional y técnica</a> siga avanzando.</p><p>Yanos, a quien le encanta la jardinería, dijo que quiere ayudar a que se expanda el programa de horticultura en el distrito, con la meta de incorporar lecciones sobre el cambio climático y la sustentabilidad.</p><p>Murphy, quien es directora de la Unidad UniServe en Adams Central, una organización que apoya cuatro sindicatos locales de maestros, dijo que no se unió a la contienda con intenciones políticas específicas.</p><p>“Cada decisión que tome se basará en lo que es lo mejor para nuestros niños y la comunidad”, dijo.</p><p><i>Traducido por Alejandra X. Castañeda</i></p><p><i>Ann Schimke es una reportera principal para Chalkbeat, cubriendo temas sobre la primera infancia y lectoescritura temprana. Comunícate con Ann por correo electrónico a </i><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><i>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</i></a><i>.</i></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/11/09/resultados-electorales-westminster-consejos-escolares/Ann Schimke2023-11-08T03:32:32+00:002023-11-07T23:33:11+00:00<p>Colorado voters easily approved a ballot measure that will send more than $20 million to the state’s new universal preschool program.&nbsp;</p><p>Proposition II (pronounced “eye-eye”) will allow the state to keep all the money raised through <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2020/11/3/21548349/proposition-ee-colorado-2020-election-results">a nicotine tax Colorado voters approved in 2020</a>, even though the tax raised more money than originally predicted. The state is required by the Taxpayers Bill of Rights, commonly called TABOR, to ask voters if it can keep extra revenue generated by taxes — in this case $23.7 million. The state will get to keep any excess revenue in future years as well.&nbsp;</p><p>Prop II had no organized opposition. A similar measure that allowed the state to keep excess marijuana tax revenue above what officials predicted they’d collect passed with nearly 70% of the vote in 2015.&nbsp;</p><p>The additional nicotine tax money will go toward Colorado’s universal preschool program — the same place most of the nicotine tax money from the 2020 ballot measure is already going. The $322 million preschool program is one of Gov. Jared Polis’ signature initiatives.</p><p>Polis said in a statement Tuesday evening, “I am thrilled people voted in favor of providing more funding for our free universal preschool program that is saving families money, and this voter-approved measure will&nbsp;help fund more preschool for kids. Thank you to all voters who made their voices heard, and thank you for continuing Colorado’s clear history of supporting early education.”</p><p>The preschool program <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/23/23843133/colorado-universal-preschool-launch-first-day-auraria-early-learning">launched in August</a> and provides tuition-free classes to about 38,500 4-year-olds and 10,300 3-year-olds this year.&nbsp;While the program has proven popular with families, its rollout has been rocky at times.&nbsp;</p><p>In July, thousands of families who expected tuition-free, full-day preschool <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/2/23815102/colorado-universal-full-day-preschool-extra-hours-risk-factors-backtrack">found out their children would get less</a> because the state didn’t have enough money. In August, <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/17/23835969/colorado-universal-preschool-lawsuit-case-school-districts-students-disabilities">school district officials sued over the program</a>, claiming the state is harming students who have disabilities and breaking funding promises to families and schools.&nbsp;</p><p>Some of the $23.7 million available through Prop II could help solve these problems.&nbsp;</p><p>The money will help pay for additional half-day and full-day preschool spots next year. This year, full-day spots are available to 4-year-olds from lower-income families who also have a second risk factor. Those factors include being an English learner, having a special education plan, being homeless, or being in the foster care system. About 3,600 children are enrolled in free full-day classes this year.&nbsp;</p><p>Next year, state officials want to make free full-day classes <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/10/26/23932722/colorado-universal-preschool-full-day-rule-change-poverty">available to 3,000 additional 4-year-olds</a>, specifically those from very low-income families.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </em><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><em>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em></a>.</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </em><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><em>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em></a>.</p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/11/7/23950710/colorado-prop-ii-voting-results-elections-2023/Ann Schimke2023-11-06T20:28:55+00:002023-11-06T20:28:55+00:00<p><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/10/16/23919301/colorado-shines-preschool-child-care-quality-rating-system"><em><strong>Read in English.</strong></em></a></p><p>Cuando las familias envían a sus hijos pequeños a un centro de cuidado infantil o preescolar, quieren que ellos estén seguros, felices y entretenidos. ¿Cómo pueden saber si un programa está ofreciendo una atención de calidad?&nbsp;</p><p>El sistema de calificación de los centros de cuidado infantil de Colorado es una herramienta que puede ayudar. Las calificaciones son sencillas y se pueden encontrar haciendo una búsqueda rápida en línea. Ten en cuenta que no revelarán todo lo que los padres necesitan saber sobre un programa —&nbsp;<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NwsLCbR8A95atFfY57NkSvZ6XIhM5-8D/view">hacer preguntas y visitar el sitio es importante también</a>&nbsp;— pero son un buen punto de partida.&nbsp;</p><p>Aquí te explicamos cómo funciona el sistema de calificación de los centros de cuidado infantil de Colorado:&nbsp;</p><h2>¿Cómo Colorado califica la calidad de los centros de cuidado infantil?</h2><p>Colorado estableció un sistema de calificación de cinco niveles llamado <a href="https://www.coloradoshines.com/"><em>Colorado Shines</em></a>&nbsp;en 2015.&nbsp;<a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2019/7/3/21108522/colorado-built-a-system-to-measure-child-care-quality-now-it-wants-more-providers-to-climb-the-ratin">Casi todos los centros de cuidado infantil y preescolares con licencia</a>&nbsp;que atienden a niños desde el nacimiento hasta los 5 años tienen una de las calificaciones, y la calificación es válida durante tres años.</p><p>La calificación más baja es el Nivel 1, que indica que un proveedor cuenta con licencia estatal y cumple las normas básicas de salud y seguridad. La calificación más alta es el Nivel 5, y significa que el proveedor ha pasado por&nbsp;<a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2016/1/20/21092548/a-year-after-new-child-care-rating-system-rolls-out-two-centers-nab-top-scores">un proceso intensivo para demostrar que es de alta calidad</a>&nbsp;en todos los aspectos de su programa — desde el currículo y sus prácticas comerciales, hasta la capacitación de los maestros e incluso los esfuerzos por utilizar libros y materiales en el idioma que el niño habla en su hogar.&nbsp;</p><p>Los programas con calificaciones de Nivel 3 y Nivel 4 también se consideran de alta calidad, pero obtuvieron menos puntos que los programas de Nivel 5 en algunas categorías.&nbsp;</p><h2>¿Cómo puedo encontrar la calificación del preescolar o centro de cuidado infantil de mi hijo(a)?</h2><p>Cualquier persona puede buscar las calificaciones de centros de cuidado infantil y preescolares en&nbsp;<a href="https://decl.my.salesforce-sites.com/search">el sitio web del sistema <em>Colorado Shines</em></a>. Puedes buscar un proveedor específico, o todos los proveedores de un área geográfica. Además de la calificación, las listas incluyen horarios, información de contacto y otros detalles sobre los proveedores.</p><p>La versión en español del sitio web se puede ver haciendo clic en el enlace <em>Spanish</em> en la esquina superior derecha de la pantalla. El año que viene, el estado mejorará el sitio web para ofrecer más idiomas.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Los padres también pueden llamar al&nbsp;<a href="https://www.211colorado.org/">línea directa de información 211 del estado</a>&nbsp;para obtener ayuda al buscar un centro de cuidado infantil o saber la calificación de <em>Colorado Shines</em> para un proveedor. Por último, pueden preguntarles directamente a los proveedores qué calificación de <em>Colorado Shines</em> tienen.&nbsp;</p><h2>¿Todos los proveedores de cuidado infantil reciben una calificación?</h2><p>La gran mayoría de los programas con licencia del estado que atienden a niños pequeños tienen una calificación de <em>Colorado Shines</em>. Estos incluyen centros de cuidado infantil (guarderías), preescolares privados, preescolares operados por distritos escolares y programas de cuidado infantil en un hogar. Las excepciones son los preescolares móviles, que ofrecen clases en autobuses adaptados o <em>vans</em>, y los preescolares forestales, que ofrecen sus servicios al aire libre.&nbsp;</p><p>Los proveedores sin licencia tampoco reciben calificaciones de Colorado Shines. Este grupo incluye a niñeras, <em>babysitters</em> y personas que cuidan un grupo pequeño de niños vecinos o parientes en un hogar privado.&nbsp;</p><h2>¿Un proveedor de cuidado infantil que tiene una calificación alta puede haber sido objeto de investigaciones o multas del estado?</h2><p>Sí. Una calificación alta de Colorado Shines significa que el proveedor generalmente usa buenas prácticas de cuidado infantil, pero los padres y empleados pueden presentar quejas si detectan algo alarmante y el estado puede investigar al proveedor basándose en esas quejas u otras inquietudes.&nbsp;</p><p>Los proveedores que estén en libertad condicional pueden mantener su calificación actual de Colorado Shines siempre y cuando estén trabajando para solucionar el problema. Sin embargo, el proveedor puede perder su calificación si viola las normas repetidamente.</p><p>Los padres pueden averiguar si un proveedor con cualquier calificación ha sido objeto de quejas, investigaciones estatales o multas en los últimos tres años haciendo clic en el botón azul <em>View Details</em> en la parte inferior de la pantalla de información del proveedor en Colorado Shines. Ellos pueden ver los reportes de las inspecciones estatales de rutina, y de las inspecciones estatales hechas debido a una queja, una lesión de un menor o por haber recibido una denuncia de maltrato o descuido de un menor.&nbsp;</p><p>Karen Enboden, del Departamento de Niñez Temprana de Colorado, dijo que los padres deben preguntarles a los proveedores sobre cualquier violación identificada por el estado, ya que el proveedor podría darles contexto adicional o explicar cómo se van a asegurar de que no volverá a suceder.&nbsp;</p><p>“No hay pregunta que no se pueda hacer”, dijo ella.&nbsp;</p><h2>¿Un proveedor de cuidado infantil puede tener una calificación baja, pero seguir siendo de alta calidad?</h2><p>Sí. Los proveedores de cuidado infantil no están obligados a subir en la escala de calificaciones en Colorado Shines y pueden decidir que permanecerán en un Nivel 1 o 2 porque&nbsp;<a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2017/5/16/21100585/amid-colorado-s-push-to-get-child-care-providers-to-seek-higher-ratings-some-say-no-thanks">no quieren pasar por todo el proceso</a>&nbsp;requerido para obtener una calificación más alta. Por ejemplo, las calificaciones de Nivel 3-5 requieren que los evaluadores del estado visiten el centro para hacer una revisión en persona.&nbsp;</p><p>Eso no significa que los proveedores de Nivel 1 o 2 no cuiden bien a los niños. Simplemente significa que el estado no ha evaluado la manera en que esos proveedores manejan sus programas, salvo para asegurar que cumplen las normas básicas de salud y seguridad.</p><p>También hay que tener en cuenta que los programas de cuidado infantil nuevos entran automáticamente en el sistema con una calificación de Nivel 1 y puede tomar meses cambiar al Nivel 2 y más de un año para subir a Nivel 3 o superior.<strong>&nbsp;</strong>Eso significa que los programas nuevos podrían parecer de “baja calidad” en la lista, pero es porque no han tenido suficiente tiempo para obtener una calificación más alta.</p><p>Enboden dijo que los padres no deben necesariamente descartar un programa de Nivel 1 si se sienten cómodos después de haberlo visitado.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>“Tenemos muchos programas nuevos en Colorado que van a estar en la lista de Nivel 1, pero es probable que están empezando su camino hacia la calidad”, ella explicó.&nbsp;</p><h2>Si mi proveedor de cuidado infantil tiene una calificación baja en Colorado Shines, ¿en qué otras cosas debo fijarme para determinar si es de calidad?</h2><p>No importa la calificación que tenga un proveedor, es importante visitarlo, observarlo y hacer preguntas antes de matricular a tus hijos. Los padres pueden preguntar cuántos niños hay en el salón de clases, cuánto tiempo se dedica a jugar, qué credenciales tiene el personal y si todos los empleados han pasado por una verificación de antecedentes.&nbsp;</p><p>Esta lista de verificación del estado — disponible en <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NwsLCbR8A95atFfY57NkSvZ6XIhM5-8D/view">inglés</a>&nbsp;y en&nbsp;<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Owvigml6q-5kKRlh6RuT_36DPDEpQUcr/view">español</a>&nbsp;— es un buen resumen de las características en las que te debes fijar y las preguntas que debes hacer al visitar a un posible proveedor de cuidado infantil.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Ann Schimke es reportera senior de Chalkbeat y cubre temas relacionados con la niñez temprana y la alfabetización temprana. Para comunicarte con Ann, envíale un email a aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em></p><p>&nbsp;</p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/11/6/23946499/como-se-califican-los-centros-de-cuidado-infantil-de-colorado/Ann Schimke2023-11-03T23:24:15+00:002023-11-03T23:24:15+00:00<p>The headlines started appearing in July and August: A child care catastrophe was looming.&nbsp;</p><p>Nearly 1,100 Colorado child care programs would shutter and 83,000 young children in the state would lose care after federal COVID aid expired in September, according to projections from a national think tank.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>The numbers were part of <a href="https://tcf.org/content/report/child-care-cliff/">a state-by-state forecast put out by the left-leaning Century Foundation</a> in June, intended to sound the alarm about the impact of lapsing funds — the so-called child care cliff. But Colorado officials say the nightmare scenario described in the report won’t come to pass.</p><p>“This is not at all what we are seeing in any shape or form,” said Mary Alice Cohen, director of the office of program delivery at the Colorado Department of Early Childhood.&nbsp;</p><p>Several factors explain the disconnect between the alarming Century Foundation projections and Colorado’s on-the-ground reality. State officials say they chose to spread COVID relief money for early childhood — about $678 million from three federal packages and $45 million from the state — among many efforts with various expiration dates. At the same time, the <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/23/23843133/colorado-universal-preschool-launch-first-day-auraria-early-learning">state’s new universal preschool program</a> is sending new money into the sector, and some communities are beginning to tap novel funding streams, <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/10/31/23941133/colorado-election-pueblo-lodging-tax-funding-child-care-housing-mountain-resort">like lodging taxes</a>, for child care.</p><p>State leaders also want to continue COVID-era strategies that made the biggest impact.&nbsp;</p><p>“We are going to go after federal grant funding,” said Cohen. “We’re going to work with foundations to see which ones they want to pick up and continue.”</p><p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy/23892133/child-care-daycare-pandemic-emergency-providers">some experts have raised questions</a> about the Century Foundation’s methodology, suggesting the numbers of potential closures are significantly inflated. The group’s analysis relied on a 2022 survey that asked child care providers whether they would have closed during the pandemic without the help of COVID aid. It didn’t ask about the likelihood they’d close after the pandemic ended and the aid expired.&nbsp;</p><p>Julie Kashen, the lead author of the Century Foundation report, during a recent webinar for journalists, hinted that the numbers in the report were meant to push lawmakers to act.</p><p>“Congress pays attention to things that are scary. Like, I wish that wasn’t the way of the world but it is,” she said.&nbsp;</p><p>Kashen went on to say that while mass child care closures are a real possibility, they’re not a foregone conclusion, and that if they occur, they will happen “slowly and over time.”</p><h2>Providers knew COVID aid was short term </h2><p>When the pandemic hit, Jennifer Knott’s child care center in the western Colorado city of Rifle received an influx of COVID aid. The money paid for new handwashing sinks and air filtration systems, gloves, and cleaning supplies. It also helped make up for enrollment losses and covered the cost of the additional staff needed to comply with COVID-era health rules.&nbsp;</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/GFEUEHe8V9mntOkrTasCZvju_Mc=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/AECEI7N26ZFJBDBYCB76IKGDL4.jpg" alt="Jennifer Knott operates child care centers in Rifle and Grand Junction. " height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Jennifer Knott operates child care centers in Rifle and Grand Junction. </figcaption></figure><p>“The funding was instrumental in allowing us to make the adjustments that were required to stay open,” she said.&nbsp;</p><p>But by the time the funding ran out more than a year ago, enrollment was back up and the center had mostly returned to pre-COVID procedures. Knots, who recently opened a center called Adventure Academy in Grand Junction and has plans for a second one on the same site, said while her margins are thin, her finances are stable.</p><p>She wondered if providers facing dire consequences because of expiring COVID aid, “are people that maybe are not running their child care centers efficiently.”</p><p>“I’m not sure why people would be experiencing that,” she said.&nbsp;</p><p>Leaders of some early childhood councils, which are regional groups that support child care businesses, said while providers benefited greatly from federal money, they knew it was temporary.&nbsp;</p><p>“We really haven’t heard the rumblings of, ‘If that goes away, I’m going to close,’” said Stephanie Bivins, director of the Mesa County Partnership for Children and Families, an early childhood council.</p><p>Sarah Romack, executive director of the Chaffee County Early Childhood Council, said local providers have “always known it’s one- or two-time funds.” As those dollars run out, she said, “I don’t think they are gonna beat down our doors, like, “What happened?”</p><p>In addition, nine of 12 providers in the county participate in the universal preschool program, which means a monthly payment from the state at rates that, for some, are about the same or higher than what they charge in tuition.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Romack said along with the influx of COVID aid, the pandemic put a magnifying glass on long-standing problems in child care, a field notorious for low pay and high turnover.&nbsp;</p><p>“We’re starting to have more conversations about compensation and benefits than we ever did before,” she said.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Today, there are glimmers of progress. A Chaffee County lodging tax passed last year will fund a new grant program for child care providers. Local leaders are also talking about building two new child care centers — one in a planned housing development and the other in a housing complex for senior citizens.&nbsp;</p><h2>Child care still doesn’t pay for itself</h2><p>For Mary Nelson, executive director of Denver Cooperative Preschool, the federally funded stabilization grant she received during the pandemic did exactly what it was meant to do — shore up her program during a time of financial uncertainty.&nbsp;</p><p>She used it to offset a rent increase, pay extra cleaning costs, and beef up end-of-year staff bonuses.&nbsp;</p><p>“All of that funding provided a little relief,” she said. “The relief has gone away, but the stress and pressure still exist.”&nbsp;</p><p>The true cost of child care exceeds the amount most parents can pay, and as Nelson found out recently, what the state can pay.&nbsp;</p><p>She’d hoped to participate in the state’s universal preschool program, but the reimbursement rate was too low — it would have caused an annual shortfall of $85,000. As a result, she didn’t join, and ultimately lost some preschool families and their tuition dollars.&nbsp;</p><p>But Nelson doesn’t want to compromise the center’s long-standing priorities, including placing three teachers in every classroom and offering the best staff pay and benefits possible.&nbsp;</p><p>“It sometimes makes me wonder how long we can sustain some of these ideals,” she said.&nbsp;</p><p>Dora Esparza, the director of business services for Denver’s Early Childhood Council, said many child care providers in the city constantly struggle because they’re “basically selling a service at a financial loss.”</p><p>She said of the expiring COVID aid, “I don’t think it’s going to push them over the brink, but I think it’s a return back to being on the brink. That is just the day in the life of [early childhood education] providers.”</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/11/3/23945630/colorado-covid-funding-child-care-cliff-impact/Ann Schimke2023-10-31T23:24:20+00:002023-10-31T23:24:20+00:00<p>When Michelle Oger told staff at her child care center in the mountain town of El Jebel they’d soon be getting a $500 monthly stipend, “Everybody was kind of in disbelief,” she said, “like, ‘Wait, really?’”</p><p>The promise of more money suddenly put new options within reach: Snow tires, car repairs, a vacation with the kids. One full-time teacher who worked at Starbucks on the weekends said she’d finally be able to quit the second job.&nbsp;</p><p>The new stipend for child care employees in Eagle County is funded through a lodging tax, a mechanism that Colorado communities, especially in mountain resort regions, are increasingly tapping to generate new dollars for housing and child care for people who live there. The idea is that local workers power the tourism industry, so visitors should contribute to efforts that support a stable workforce. Such taxes also reframe child care as a larger economic interest rather than just a mom-and-dad issue.</p><p>At least 10 Colorado towns, counties, or local marketing districts currently earmark some of their lodging tax revenues for child care. Besides Eagle County, they include <a href="https://www.bellpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/InTheKnow-LocalBallot-101323.pdf">Summit, Clear Creek and San Juan counties</a>, and towns like Estes Park and Georgetown. In November, two more communities will ask voters to approve lodging tax measures to support child care: the City of Pueblo and the Town of Ridgway in western Colorado.</p><p>“Pueblo is the first non-mountain-resort town in the whole state to pursue this,” said Sarah Martinez, a Pueblo City Council member and the facilitator of a group that has worked for years to find ways to boost child care funding.&nbsp;</p><p>Once an industrial powerhouse in southern Colorado, Pueblo is not primarily a tourist destination. However, it does host several big events each year, including the Colorado State Fair, the Chile and Frijoles Festival, and a hotrod show.&nbsp;</p><p>While most lodging taxes for child care and housing have passed, Martinez worries Pueblo’s vote could be close. Among those opposing the city’s measure is the Pueblo Lodger’s Association.</p><p>If the measure, Question 2A, passes, it would levy a 1.5% tax on hotel and motel stays — about $1.77 a night — that would generate more than $600,000 annually. The proceeds would help Pueblo families who earn too much to qualify for state child care subsidies but still struggle with the cost of care.</p><p>The lodging tax in Ridgway, a Western Colorado town considered the Gateway to the San Juan Mountains, would help pay for an affordable housing project that would include a child care center.</p><p>Colorado counties and local marketing districts, which are created by communities or regions to promote tourism, have been allowed to use lodging taxes to support child care or housing only since a law change in 2022. Before that, lodging taxes in these jurisdictions had to be used for tourism efforts. Some Colorado cities and towns have long had the authority to levy a lodging tax to support child care, but few have done so.</p><p>Josh Mantell, fiscal advocacy and special projects manager at the Bell Policy Center, said he expects to see more communities seek lodging taxes for child care.&nbsp;</p><p>“The state does not have the revenue to properly and adequately fund a lot of what we should consider public priorities, and funding for child care is at the top of that list” he said.&nbsp;</p><p>“It’s great to see communities step forward and do what they need to do,” he said.&nbsp;</p><p>At the same time, he worries about the inequities that may emerge as some communities pass lodging taxes and others don’t or can’t.</p><h2>Millions for child care in ski country</h2><p>The lodging tax Eagle County voters approved in 2022 will raise about $3 million a year for housing and child care. Such funds are typically distributed in the form of grants or other types of financial aid that providers or parents apply for. Each taxing community comes up with a spending plan based on local needs.&nbsp;</p><p>The new $500 monthly stipends will start flowing to full-time child care employees in November. County officials also plan to use the lodging tax proceeds to hire a health consultant to work with local child care programs, offer providers help with mortgage or rental payments, and assist with building improvements that create more infant and toddler seats.</p><p>“What’s so great about lodging taxes is it’s sustainable funding,” said Sam Markovitz, Eagle County’s early childhood initiatives manager.&nbsp;</p><p>Oger, executive director at Blue Lake Preschool in El Jebel as well as another center in neighboring Garfield County, hopes the new stipends will help attract and retain employees. Although her employees in Garfield County don’t qualify for the Eagle County stipends, the center’s board decided to use other funding to ensure they get the same monthly payment as their Eagle County peers.&nbsp;</p><p>Teachers at Blue Lake make $22 to $31 an hour depending on their experience, and aides start at $20 — about the same as the Wendy’s restaurant down the road pays. While the center has a core group of veteran teachers, Oger said there are also employees who cycle through after discovering they don’t enjoy mountain life or can’t afford to live locally.&nbsp;</p><p>Although Blue Lake has raised staff pay three times in three years, Oger said, “It’s still not enough to keep up with the rising costs.”&nbsp;</p><h2>Making child care a viable career</h2><p>It was a big deal when voters in Estes Park’s local marketing district approved a lodging tax increase from 2% to 5.5% for housing and child care, said Carlie Bangs, Estes Park’s housing and child care manager.&nbsp;</p><p>“To feel like the community sees you and is willing to support you … is really impactful,” she said.&nbsp;</p><p>Most of the proceeds from the tax will go toward housing initiatives in the northern Colorado town, which bills itself as the “base camp” for Rocky Mountain National Park. About 12%, or $600,000, will go toward child care.&nbsp;</p><p>In December, centers will get a subsidy of $25,000 to $32,000, and home-based programs can qualify for $4,000. The goal is to ensure that teachers get at least $20 an hour and aides get at least $16 an hour. Additional lodging tax money will go toward tuition assistance for families, and rental, mortgage, or building improvement help for providers.</p><p>Bangs said $600,000 is more than adequate this year, since the town has only three child care centers and three licensed home-base programs. But with about 500 children under 5 in the area, Estes Park needs more child care seats.</p><p>Bangs hopes the influx of lodging tax dollars can help make caring for children a viable option for prospective providers.&nbsp;</p><p>“We want to incentivize people to get licensed,” she said. “We want it to be something they do because they can put food on their table and go on vacation and live a fulfilling life with that career.”&nbsp;</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </em><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><em>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em></a>.</p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/10/31/23941133/colorado-election-pueblo-lodging-tax-funding-child-care-housing-mountain-resort/Ann Schimke2023-10-31T03:27:35+00:002023-10-31T03:27:35+00:00<p><em>Sign up for Chalkbeat’s&nbsp;</em><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/the-starting-line"><em>free monthly newsletter The Starting Line</em></a><em>&nbsp;to keep up with news about early childhood education.</em></p><p>Colorado officials want to cap preschool class sizes in the state’s new universal preschool program at 20 students next year and require at least one staff member for every 10 children in the room.&nbsp;</p><p>These proposed limits represent a notable change from an earlier plan that allowed classes sizes of 24 preschoolers and staff-student ratios of 1 to 12. Both are higher than what leading early childhood groups recommend.&nbsp;</p><p>National experts panned the earlier draft of Colorado’s universal preschool quality rules, saying that the state’s proposal <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/9/13/23871863/colorado-universal-free-preschool-quality-standards-nieer-benchmarks">set a low bar and could lead to bad outcomes for kids.</a> The <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KtrZqkCdulWcwPyebYNfsHnTHo9lLosG/view">new draft rules</a>, released Monday, are set to be finalized next spring and will take effect in the fall of 2024. A state advisory committee will weigh in, but Lisa Roy, executive director of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, will make the final decision.&nbsp;</p><p>The new draft rules reflect the balance state officials are trying to strike between ensuring the high-quality program they promised and making the requirements attainable to a wide range of providers in a low-wage, high-turnover field. Universal preschool is available in lots of settings: school district classrooms, private child care centers, faith-based preschools, and licensed home-based programs.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>State officials launched the $322 million universal preschool program in August <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/4/7/23674706/colorado-free-preschool-quality-standards-delay">without establishing rules on quality</a> in part because they ran out of time. State preschool leaders told providers last spring to “keep doing what you’re doing.” That means wide variations in quality this year for the more than 48,000 children getting tuition-free preschool through the program.&nbsp;</p><p>Some children attend preschools with top scores on the <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/10/16/23919301/colorado-shines-preschool-child-care-quality-rating-system">state’s child care and preschool rating system, Colorado Shines</a>, while others attend low-rated programs. Research shows that high-quality preschool produces positive short- and long-term outcomes for children.&nbsp;</p><p>Colorado’s rules on preschool quality, which will spell out requirements around curriculum, staff training, and child health screenings, will eventually bring more consistency to the universal preschool program, but it could take till 2026 or after to fully phase in all the requirements.</p><p>Aside from the lower class sizes and staff-student ratios, the new draft is largely similar to the first one. As in the original, it generally requires providers to use a curriculum from a resource bank approved by the state. In addition, preschool providers would be subject to on-site evaluations every three years. It also specifically states that faith-based preschools can’t include religious instruction in hours funded by universal preschool — a rule that is not in place this year, according to a spokesman for the Colorado Department of Early Childhood.&nbsp;</p><p>Training requirements for preschool staff are a bit different in the new draft, with employees only required to have completed four hours of training on some topics next year, down from eight in the previous draft rules. The new draft institutes the 8-hour training requirement in either 2025 or 2026 — either the third or fourth year of the program — depending on the training topic.&nbsp;</p><p>The new draft also delays requirements for providers to offer or coordinate health and developmental screenings for preschoolers until the 2025-26 school year.&nbsp;</p><p>The new draft rules don’t address preschool teacher qualifications. A separate set of rules that will take effect in the fall of 2025 will set those requirements.&nbsp;</p><p>The state is <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScR5RwKqDDZz18sD-EhnC2R2tNHFcRB1ALTQZGU4tQWbdTS0A/viewform">collecting feedback</a> on the latest draft of the universal preschool quality rules through at least Nov. 22.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Correction: Due to incorrect information provided by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, an earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the number of children enrolled in universal preschool this year. It is more than 48,000 not 37,000. </em></p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/10/30/23939834/colorado-universal-preschool-class-size-cap-quality-rules/Ann SchimkeAnn Schimke2023-10-28T00:11:45+00:002023-10-28T00:11:45+00:00<p>Growing up, Jessica May saw her mother nurture many foster children over the years —&nbsp;189 to be exact.&nbsp;</p><p>“I got to see her be a mother and a voice for those who didn’t have a voice,” she said.&nbsp;</p><p>May sought to continue that legacy by raising her own voice on behalf of children as a teacher at the front of the classroom.&nbsp;</p><p>“This is my way of doing it,” she said on Friday afternoon after being named Colorado’s 2024 Teacher of the Year in a ceremony at Turner Middle School in Berthoud.&nbsp;</p><p>After speeches in the gym by state and district officials and the promise of an ice cream party for the school, a beaming May headed toward the bleachers where she was deluged by students offering congratulatory hugs.&nbsp;</p><p>The family and consumer science teacher was one of <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/9/15/23875618/colorado-teacher-of-the-year-finalists-2024-middle-school">seven finalists for the award</a>, which is given annually by the Colorado Department of Education and other sponsors. She’ll spend the next year serving as an ambassador of sorts for the state’s teachers and will join the education commissioner’s Teacher Cabinet, a state advisory panel of educators. She’ll also represent Colorado in the National Teacher of the Year competition, visit the White House, and participate in NASA space camp.&nbsp;</p><p>May, who last year taught at Conrad Ball Middle School in Loveland, is in her 21st year teaching middle-schoolers in the Thompson school district. It’s an age group she appreciates. They still like hugs, want stickers, and enjoy playing Twister, but they’re also finding their way to the next stage of life, she said.</p><p>“Middle school is unique because they’re stuck between being elementary little kids and young adults in high school,” she said. “And I’m trying to help them find their voice.”</p><p>May, who has four children of her own, also helps students with life skills that run the gamut from cooking and couponing to personal finance and relationships.&nbsp;</p><p>“Everything that I do, if I can’t hook it to real world relevance, I don’t teach it,” she said.&nbsp;</p><p>Take her rice baby assignment, for example. Students learn about child development (and the challenges of parenting) by using panty hose, five pounds of rice, and a styrofoam head to fabricate a “baby” that will go everywhere with them for two weeks.&nbsp;</p><p>In addition to imparting real-life lessons on students, several speakers at Friday’s awards ceremony noted May’s enthusiasm and her ability to connect with kids.&nbsp;</p><p>“You are emblematic of excellence here in our school district,” Thompson Superintendent Marc Shaffer told May. “I couldn’t be more proud of you.”&nbsp;</p><p>During a short speech, May, who grew up in the northern Colorado district, described herself as “feisty” and pledged to fight for teachers’ needs in her role as teacher of the year. She also told students she loved them.&nbsp;</p><p>“You give us the greatest job on the planet,” she said. “Life is not about money. It is about going for your passion and knowing it in every part of your body.”</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em>.</p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/10/27/23935715/colorado-teacher-of-the-year-2024-jessica-may/Ann SchimkeAnn Schimke2023-10-26T15:00:03+00:002023-10-26T15:00:03+00:00<p>About 3,000 more Colorado 4-year-olds will qualify for free full-day classes through the state’s universal preschool program next year under a draft rule that aims to better serve families in the lowest income bracket.&nbsp;</p><p>The proposed change would make 4-year-olds from families with incomes at or below the federal poverty level — about $30,000 a year for a family of four — eligible for full-day preschool at no cost to their families starting next August. This year, many children in this group lost out on tuition-free full-day classes because of a state funding shortfall. However, if voters approve <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/9/28/23895057/colorado-proposition-ii-election-nicotine-tax-universal-preschool-voter-guide">Prop II on Election Day</a>, the state would get more than $23 million, which could help cover the extra full-day preschool costs next year.</p><p>“This rule would provide crucial support to Colorado’s most vulnerable populations,” said Lisa Roy, executive director of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, in a press release that cited high-quality preschool as a tool against poverty.</p><p>Colorado’s $322 million universal preschool program launched in August and offers free half-day preschool to 4-year-olds statewide, with some eligible for full-day classes. Some 3-year-olds also participate.</p><p>The proposed rule, announced Thursday by the early childhood department, represents the state’s effort to fix a key problem that surfaced last summer during the new <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/23/23843133/colorado-universal-preschool-launch-first-day-auraria-early-learning">preschool program’s tumultuous rollout</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>State officials originally planned to give <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/11/16/23463316/colorado-proposal-boosts-universal-preschool-hours-sets-per-child-funding">full-day preschool to a wide swath of 4-year-olds</a>. That group included children with any of five risk factors, including those from lower-income families — defined as households with earnings up to 270% of the federal poverty level, or about $81,000 a year for a family of four. It also included English learners, children with special education plans, those in foster care, and those who are homeless.</p><p>But in July, just weeks before the first day of school, <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/2/23815102/colorado-universal-full-day-preschool-extra-hours-risk-factors-backtrack">thousands of families were blindsided</a> when they learned the state wouldn’t pay for full-day preschool as they’d expected. More families had applied for the program than state officials expected, triggering stricter eligibility requirements for full-day classes.</p><p>The longer days were thus offered to a much smaller group: children from families who met the income threshold and had a second risk factor. A group of school districts cited this 11th-hour shift among several grievances in their <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/17/23835969/colorado-universal-preschool-lawsuit-case-school-districts-students-disabilities">subsequent lawsuit against the state</a> over universal preschool.&nbsp;</p><p>The tighter eligibility rules meant many children with only a single risk factor, including many from very low-income families, were out of luck. In some cases, school districts decided to cover the cost of the extra hours. In others, parents scraped together the money to pay the difference, settled for the free half-day program, or dropped out altogether.&nbsp;</p><p>The proposed rule is designed to more carefully target children with the greatest needs, a population that research shows stands to benefit the most from quality preschool.&nbsp;</p><p>The rule creates a sixth risk factor — “living in poverty” — that includes any preschooler from a family living at or below the federal poverty level. These children will then automatically fall into the more expansive “low-income” risk factor group, which includes all low and some middle-income families. Together, the two risk factors will make children eligible for full-day classes.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>About 3,600 or 7% of Colorado’s more than 48,000 universal preschoolers are getting tuition-free full-day classes this year. That number could jump to about 6,600 next year under the proposed rule, according to state estimates.</p><p>With funding for universal preschool partly dependent on how much money the state’s nicotine tax brings in and how many children opt in, there’s still a chance the state could face a funding pinch in future years and limit the number of children who get full-day preschool at no cost to their families. However, the proposed rule would give children from the lowest-income families higher priority for full-day funding than they get now.&nbsp;</p><p>In addition, state forecasts on preschool participation and funding for next year indicate there’s enough money to serve the additional 3,000 4-year-olds expected to qualify for full-day classes.</p><p>State officials are <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdokafxSjPd91e_uu2iRa-5RoIQsLg6NqbENgEakihTYpxeFg/viewform">collecting public comment</a> on the proposed rule at least through Nov. 22, and expect to finalize it by the end of January.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Correction: Due to incorrect information provided by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, an earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the number of children enrolled in universal preschool this year. It is more than 48,000 not 37,000. It also incorrectly stated the percentage of universal preschoolers who get full-day preschool this year. It is 7% not 10%. </em></p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em>.</p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/10/26/23932722/colorado-universal-preschool-full-day-rule-change-poverty/Ann Schimke2023-10-16T16:56:42+00:002023-10-16T16:56:42+00:00<p>When families send their young children to child care or preschool, they want them to be safe, happy, and engaged. So how can they figure out if a program is offering high-quality care?&nbsp;</p><p>Colorado’s child care rating system is one tool that can help. The ratings are straightforward and can be accessed through a quick online search. Keep in mind they won’t reveal everything parents need to know about a program&nbsp; — <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NwsLCbR8A95atFfY57NkSvZ6XIhM5-8D/view">asking questions and visiting the site are important too</a> — but they’re a good starting place.&nbsp;</p><p>Here’s a closer look at how Colorado’s child care rating system works:&nbsp;</p><h2>How does Colorado rate child care quality?</h2><p>Colorado launched a five-level quality rating system called <a href="https://www.coloradoshines.com/">Colorado Shines</a> in 2015. <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2019/7/3/21108522/colorado-built-a-system-to-measure-child-care-quality-now-it-wants-more-providers-to-climb-the-ratin">Nearly all licensed child care and preschool providers</a> who serve children from birth to 5 years old have one of the ratings, which are good for three years.</p><p>The lowest rating is Level 1, which indicates that a provider is licensed by the state and meets basic health and safety standards. The highest rating is Level 5, which means the provider has gone through <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2016/1/20/21092548/a-year-after-new-child-care-rating-system-rolls-out-two-centers-nab-top-scores">an intensive process to demonstrate high quality</a> in all aspects of their program — from their curriculum and business practices to teacher training and even efforts to use books and materials in a child’s home language.&nbsp;</p><p>Programs with Level 3 and Level 4 ratings are also considered high quality, but earned fewer points in some categories than their Level 5 counterparts.&nbsp;</p><h2>How can I look up my child’s preschool or child care rating? </h2><p>Anyone can look up child care and preschool ratings on <a href="https://decl.my.salesforce-sites.com//search">the Colorado Shines website</a>. You can search for a specific child care provider or for all providers in a specific geographic area. In addition to the rating, the listings include hours, contact information, and other details about providers.</p><p>You can access a Spanish version of the website by clicking on the “Spanish” link in the top right hand corner of the page. Within the next year, the state will upgrade the website to offer additional languages.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Parents can also call the <a href="https://www.211colorado.org/">state’s 211 hotline</a> for help finding child care or determining a provider’s Colorado Shines rating. Finally, they can ask providers directly what Colorado Shines rating they have.&nbsp;</p><h2>Does every child care provider get a rating? </h2><p>The vast majority of state-licensed programs that serve young children have a Colorado Shines rating. These include child care centers, private preschools, preschools run by school districts, and home-based child care programs. Exceptions include mobile preschools, which offer classes in retrofitted buses or vans, and forest preschools, which offer programming in outdoor locations.&nbsp;</p><p>Unlicensed child care providers also do not receive Colorado Shines ratings. This group includes nannies, babysitters, and people who care for a small number of children who are neighbors or relatives in a home setting.&nbsp;</p><h2>Can a child care provider with a high rating still have been subject to state investigations or penalties?</h2><p>Yes. A high Colorado Shines rating means the program generally uses good child care practices, but parents and or staff members can still lodge complaints if they spot something alarming, and the state can investigate the provider based on those complaints or other concerns.&nbsp;</p><p>Providers who are placed on state probation can keep their existing Colorado Shines rating as long as they are working to fix the problem. However, the rating may be removed after repeated violations.</p><p>Parents can find out if a provider with any rating has been subject to complaints, state investigations, or penalties within the last three years by clicking on the blue “View Details” button at the bottom of the provider’s Colorado Shines listing. They can view reports of routine state inspections, and state inspections triggered by a complaint, a child injury, or a report of child abuse or neglect.&nbsp;</p><p>Karen Enboden, of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, said parents should ask providers about any violations identified by the state because the provider may be able to provide additional context or explain how they’ll ensure it won’t happen again.&nbsp;</p><p>“No question is off limits,” she said.&nbsp;</p><h2>Can a child care provider have a low rating but still be high quality? </h2><p>Yes. Child care providers are not required to move up the ratings ladder in Colorado Shines and may decide to stay at a Level 1 or 2 because they <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2017/5/16/21100585/amid-colorado-s-push-to-get-child-care-providers-to-seek-higher-ratings-some-say-no-thanks">don’t want to jump through the hoops</a> required for higher ratings. For example, Level 3-5 ratings require an on-site review by state evaluators.&nbsp;</p><p>That doesn’t mean Level 1 or 2 providers don’t take good care of children. It simply means the state hasn’t assessed how the providers run their programs other than to ensure they meet basic health and safety rules.</p><p>It’s also worth noting that new child care programs automatically come into the system with a Level 1 rating and it can take months to move to a Level 2 and more than a year to move to a Level 3 or higher.<strong> </strong>That means new programs may look “low-quality” on paper, but it’s because they haven’t had enough time to obtain higher ratings.</p><p>Enboden said parents shouldn’t necessarily shy away from a Level 1 if they feel comfortable after visiting the program.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>“We do have a lot of new programs in Colorado and they are going to be listed as Level 1, but it’s probably because they’re just starting their quality journey,” she said.&nbsp;</p><h2>If my child care provider has a low Colorado Shines rating, what other things should I look for that show quality? </h2><p>No matter what rating a provider has, it’s important to visit, observe, and ask questions before enrolling your child. Parents may want to ask how many children are in the classroom at one time, how much time is dedicated to play, and what credentials staff have and if they all receive background checks.&nbsp;</p><p>This state checklist — available in both <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NwsLCbR8A95atFfY57NkSvZ6XIhM5-8D/view">English</a> and <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Owvigml6q-5kKRlh6RuT_36DPDEpQUcr/view">Spanish</a> — provides a good summary of features to look for and questions to ask when visiting a prospective child care provider.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/10/16/23919301/colorado-shines-preschool-child-care-quality-rating-system/Ann SchimkeAnn Schimke2023-10-13T02:31:17+00:002023-10-13T02:31:17+00:00<p>Attorneys for Gov. Jared Polis and other officials say a lawsuit filed against the state over Colorado’s new universal preschool program is based on a flawed interpretation of special education law and the state constitution.</p><p>That argument came in a <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24029199-20231012-motion-to-dismiss?responsive=1&amp;title=1">motion to dismiss the suit filed Thursday</a> in Denver district court. The motion represents the state’s response to an <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24029201-20230817-pls-complaint?responsive=1&amp;title=1">August lawsuit brought by six Colorado school districts</a> and two statewide education groups claiming the universal preschool program is harming children with disabilities and breaking financial promises to families and school districts.</p><p>The motion to dismiss argues that the plaintiffs disapprove of the state’s choices on how to run the universal preschool program, but that state officials have the latitude to make those choices under the law.</p><p>“Plaintiffs’ concerns should be addressed through the policymaking process, not the judiciary,” the motion states.&nbsp;</p><p>During <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/17/23835969/colorado-universal-preschool-lawsuit-case-school-districts-students-disabilities">a press conference announcing the lawsuit</a> on Aug. 17, several school district leaders said they’d tried to give feedback to state officials during the universal preschool planning process, but were ignored.&nbsp;</p><p>The lawsuit was filed by the Colorado Association of School Executives, the Consortium of Directors of Special Education, and the 27J, Cherry Creek, Harrison, Mapleton, Platte Valley, and Westminster school districts.&nbsp;</p><p>In the suit, the plaintiffs alleged that children would miss out on vital special education services or full-day preschool classes, or would miss preschool altogether, because of problems with the state’s online application and matching system. The lawsuit named Polis, who’s long championed the universal preschool program, and leaders at the Colorado Department of Early Childhood and the Colorado Department of Education as defendants.&nbsp;</p><p>The $322 million universal preschool program, funded partly through a state nicotine tax, launched in August and offers 10 to 30 hours of tuition-free preschool a week to all Colorado 4-year-olds, and 10 hours a week to some 3-year-olds.&nbsp;</p><p>More than 45,000 children are enrolled in the program, including in school district preschools, private preschools, and licensed home-based programs.&nbsp;</p><p>BridgeCare, <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/3/24/23655621/colorado-universal-free-preschool-march-30-computer-match-concerns">the state’s online application and matching system</a>, is at the center of the lawsuit. Starting last winter, preschools listed their offerings on the platform and families used it to apply for a spot. A computer algorithm then matched kids to seats.&nbsp;</p><p>But according to the lawsuit, the system didn’t always work, leading to confusion and frustration. In some cases, it led to preschool matches for students with disabilities that meant school districts couldn’t fulfill the requirements spelled out in federal special education law.&nbsp;</p><p>But Thursday’s motion to dismiss argues that federal special education law makes it the state’s obligation to ensure students with disabilities are properly served — and that school districts’ legal obligations to such students start only after the state matches the children to district preschools.</p><p>The motion also argues that while the Colorado Constitution’s local control provision gives school districts authority over things like instruction and teacher employment, it doesn’t grant them “unmitigated control over how students apply to and are matched in a state-funded preschool program.”</p><p>Finally, the motion asserts that the school district plaintiffs speculated they would see enrollment drop, lose funding, or have to turn preschoolers away on the first day of school, without concrete proof that those things happened.&nbsp;</p><p>At the August press conference on the lawsuit, a Westminster district leader described how the district had been forced to turn away a 3-year-old preschooler that morning.&nbsp;</p><p>The state is facing two other lawsuits over the universal preschool program, both brought by religious preschools claiming that state’s anti-discrimination requirements violate their religious beliefs.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>The state has addressed some of the problems cited by the plaintiffs in the school district lawsuit in recent weeks. For example, in late September, the state began <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/9/29/23896463/universal-preschool-colorado-enrollment-walk-in">allowing preschools to enroll “walk-ins”</a> on the spot instead of making them wait until they’d been matched through the state’s online system, a process that can take days or weeks.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/10/12/23914922/colorado-universal-preschool-lawsuit-case-school-districts-dismissal-jared-polis/Ann Schimke2023-09-29T20:48:09+00:002023-09-29T20:48:09+00:00<p>A recent change to Colorado’s universal preschool rules now permits “walk-in” enrollment, allowing children to start classes more quickly — potentially the same day their families show up at a local preschool.&nbsp;</p><p>The state made the change in late September after some preschool providers complained that they were forced to <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/17/23835969/colorado-universal-preschool-lawsuit-case-school-districts-students-disabilities">turn away families</a> who showed up without having first filled out the online application and received a preschool match through the state’s computer system. Under that process, preschoolers sometimes waited a week or more to start class.</p><p>Now, as long preschools have open spots, children will be able to start the day they walk in or shortly thereafter. Their families still have to fill out the state’s universal preschool application, but generally they’ll be able to do that on the spot, and their child will be placed immediately. Preschools may also require parents to provide key documents, such as the child’s birth certificate, proof of address, and immunization records.</p><p>The rule change is one of the ways state officials have tried to address criticism from some preschool providers, advocates, and lawmakers that the program’s application process is <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/23/23843133/colorado-universal-preschool-launch-first-day-auraria-early-learning">confusing for families</a> and limits how much preschool providers can help them.&nbsp;</p><p>Ian McKenzie, a spokesman for the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, said of the new rule in an email, “We are delighted to show it as a sign of the work [the department] is doing to meet the needs of families throughout the school year.”</p><p>Since the year is already well underway, the new walk-in rule won’t affect most universal preschool families. However, it will help those who have recently relocated or are just finding out about the program.&nbsp;</p><p>Currently, about 38,000 4-year-olds and 9,000 3-year-olds get 10 to 30 hours a week of tuition-free preschool through the new state program — more children than the state initially expected. The program is open to all 4-year-olds statewide. They can attend in public schools, private preschools, child care centers, and state-licensed homes. Three-year-olds with certain risk factors are also eligible for the program, with classes generally provided only in public schools.</p><p>Families can still apply for universal preschool this year, either by filling out <a href="https://upk.colorado.gov/">the online application</a> or going to a <a href="https://upk.colorado.gov/welcome?lang=en">participating preschool provider</a> directly.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/9/29/23896463/universal-preschool-colorado-enrollment-walk-in/Ann Schimke2023-09-28T23:15:01+00:002023-09-28T23:15:01+00:00<p>Should Colorado be allowed to keep $23.7 million raised through a state nicotine tax to help fund preschool? Or should that money be refunded to sellers of nicotine products?&nbsp;</p><p>That’s the gist of <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Colorado_Proposition_II,_Tobacco_and_Nicotine_Product_Tax_Revenue_Measure_(2023)#cite_note-5">Proposition II</a> (pronounced “eye-eye”), <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/blue_book_2023_-_english.pdf">one of two statewide ballot issues</a> voters will consider this election season. If voters approve the measure, the money will go toward the state’s new universal preschool program.&nbsp;</p><p>The preschool program began this fall and serves 38,000 4-year-olds and 9,000 3-year-olds with 10 to 30 hours a week of tuition-free class time. While the program has proven popular with families, its rollout has been rocky at times.&nbsp;</p><p>In July, thousands of families who expected tuition-free full-day preschool <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/2/23815102/colorado-universal-full-day-preschool-extra-hours-risk-factors-backtrack">found out their children would get less</a> because the state didn’t have enough money. In August, <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/17/23835969/colorado-universal-preschool-lawsuit-case-school-districts-students-disabilities">school district officials sued over the program</a>, claiming the state is harming students with disabilities and breaking funding promises to families and schools.&nbsp;</p><p>Some of the $23.7 million up for grabs through the ballot measure could help solve these problems, though there’s not enough to <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/23/23843133/colorado-universal-preschool-launch-first-day-auraria-early-learning">address all of them.</a></p><p>Here’s a closer look at Proposition II.&nbsp;</p><h2>Will Prop II raise taxes? </h2><p>No. It simply allows the state to keep $23.7 million raised through <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2020/11/3/21548349/proposition-ee-colorado-2020-election-results">a nicotine tax Colorado voters approved in 2020</a>. Because the tax raised more money than originally predicted, the state is required by the Taxpayers Bill of Rights, commonly called TABOR, to ask voters if it can keep the extra revenue generated.&nbsp;</p><p>If voters say yes, the state will get to keep any excess revenue in future years as well.&nbsp;</p><p>Voters easily approved <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Colorado_Marijuana_TABOR_Refund_Measure,_Proposition_BB_(2015)">a similar measure in 2015</a> that allowed the state to keep extra marijuana tax revenue.&nbsp;</p><p>If voters reject Prop II, the $23.7 million would be refunded to wholesalers and distributors of nicotine and tobacco products, and the tax rate on nicotine products will go down by 11.5%.</p><h2>How would Prop II money be used? </h2><p>If voters approve Prop II, the money will go toward Colorado’s $322 million universal preschool program — the same place most of the nicotine tax money from the 2020 ballot measure is already going.</p><p>Leaders of the campaign backing Prop II say the additional $23.7 million will help pay for half-day preschool spots next year, as well as for full-day preschool for some children with risk factors. Such children include 4-year-olds who come from lower-income families, English learners, students with special education plans, and those who are homeless or are in the foster care system.&nbsp;</p><h2>Who supports Prop II and who opposes it? </h2><p>Dozens of elected officials, community leaders, and organizations support Prop II, according to leaders of “<a href="https://www.preschoolforallcoloradans.com/">Preschool for all Coloradans</a>,” a campaign backing the ballot measure. Supporters include Children’s Hospital Colorado, the American Lung Association, Colorado Children’s Campaign, Colorado PTA, Great Education Colorado, and Executives Partnering to Invest in Children.</p><p>So far, there’s no organized opposition to Prop II.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/9/28/23895057/colorado-proposition-ii-election-nicotine-tax-universal-preschool-voter-guide/Ann Schimke2023-09-26T19:40:20+00:002023-09-26T19:40:20+00:00<p>A Denver foundation wants to help create tens of thousands of new seats in the state’s charter schools and other settings outside district-run public schools at a time when Colorado’s <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/11/9/23450225/takeaways-enrollment-analysis-schools-closing-jeffco-denver-aurora-census-data">school-age population is shrinking.</a></p><p>The effort, launched by the <a href="https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/education/daniels-scholarship-s-new-metric-patriotism/article_bb1d2524-7ff9-504f-b32f-92951d665a13.html#:~:text=Childears%20said%20the%20Daniels%20Fund,Hanna%20Skandera%2C%20does%20lean%20conservative.">conservative-leaning</a> Daniels Fund last year, is part of a larger initiative foundation leaders are calling the Education Big Bet. The goal is to put 100,000 more students in what the Daniels Fund calls “choice seats” by 2030 in a four-state region that includes Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico.&nbsp;</p><p>Tapping into both the pandemic-era appetite for alternative forms of schooling and worries about COVID’s impact on learning, Daniels Fund leaders say the Big Bet is about meeting the needs of students and families.</p><p>On its face, the creation of so many new seats in charter schools, private schools, and homeschool programs could leave Colorado’s traditional public schools hurting. Many Colorado districts, including <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/3/9/23632625/school-closure-vote-denver-board-fairview-msla-denver-discovery-school">Denver</a>, <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/8/25/23322170/jeffco-school-closure-recommendations-elementary-list">Jeffco</a>, <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/5/18/23116194/aurora-school-closure-sable-paris-blueprint-vote">Aurora</a>, and <a href="https://www.gjsentinel.com/news/western_colorado/d51-school-closures-consolidations-could-happen-as-soon-as-this-fall/article_d9be6414-a96f-11ed-a0fa-8f918f0f14d1.html">Mesa County Valley</a>, are already facing the prospect of closing schools as enrollment declines. A flurry of new schools or seats could intensify the competition for students and put <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2019/6/11/21108318/critics-of-charter-schools-say-they-re-hurting-school-districts-are-they-right">more financial stress on school districts</a>, leading them to shut down some of their own schools.&nbsp;</p><p>But while the foundation’s goal is ambitious, its investment in the Big Bet is modest. In 2022, when the effort launched, the foundation spent $10 million on the initiative in the four-state region — about 20% more than it had spent on K-12 grants the year before.&nbsp;</p><p>The Daniels Fund, which was established with the fortune of the late billionaire cable executive Bill Daniels, is best known for its <a href="https://www.danielsfund.org/scholarships/daniels-scholarship-program/overview">generous college scholarships</a>. Foundation leaders say if the Big Bet is successful, the number of students learning outside district-run public schools will grow from 350,000 to 450,000 across the four states by the end of the decade —&nbsp;a nearly 30% increase.</p><p>Hanna Skandera, the foundation’s president and CEO, said education isn’t one-size-fits-all and that families want options so kids can pursue their passions.</p><p>“There’s nothing more powerful than giving parents and kids the opportunity to have a great education,” she said.&nbsp;</p><p>It’s not yet clear what the Big Bet means for students and schools in Colorado or the other three states. Experts say philanthropic efforts like the Big Bet that promote charter school growth or private school options under the banner of market competition aren’t new, though they also note that most <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2023/9/5/23859890/parents-polling-surveys-schools-american-education-pandemic">parents give their own child’s school good marks</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>A variety of groups have received grants through the Big Bet so far, including a new agriculture-focused charter school north of Denver, a group that gives private school scholarships to lower-income students, and a nonprofit that makes grants to home-school co-ops and tiny private schools, often referred to as microschools.</p><p>The Daniels Fund doesn’t plan to pay for all the new seats its leaders hope to create.</p><p>“We aren’t trying to do this alone,” said Luke Ragland, the fund’s senior vice president of grants. “We’re definitely looking to rally partners.”&nbsp;</p><p>Currently, the foundation has no formal Big Bet partners, but Ragland said potential partners could include other foundations, education entrepreneurs, and even families.&nbsp;</p><p>Jeffrey Henig, a professor of political science and education at Columbia University, said although the Daniels Fund is using private money for the Big Bet, it’s helping create infrastructure that could shift public money and support away from the traditional public school system.&nbsp;</p><p>“Giving some kids a better shot of getting out of their public schools may come with a big price tag in terms of democracy and public accountability,” he said.&nbsp;</p><p>Skandera said critics are taking an unfortunate “zero-sum view of school choice.”&nbsp;</p><p>“Choice programs that help students find a school that meets their unique needs usually helps both that individual student and their public school peers, something backed by significant amounts of research,” Skandera said, citing <a href="https://www.edchoice.org/school-choice/faqs/how-does-school-choice-affect-public-schools-funding-and-resources/">a report from EdChoice</a>.</p><h2>Daniels Fund will focus on charter seats</h2><p>Three-quarters of the 100,000 new choice seats Daniels Fund leaders hope to add over the next six years are slated to be in charter schools. About 40,000 of those will be in Colorado, representing nearly 30% more charter enrollment than there is today.&nbsp;</p><p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2019/6/11/21108318/critics-of-charter-schools-say-they-re-hurting-school-districts-are-they-right">Research shows</a> that expanding charter schools puts financial stress on school districts and may require them to shut down some of their own schools.</p><p>About 15% of Colorado students already attend charter schools — one of the highest rates in the country —&nbsp;and the <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/2/23/22948212/more-students-attend-colorado-charter-schools-but-access-still-isnt-equal">sector has grown steadily for years</a>. But charter schools, which are publicly funded but independently run, sometimes face the same struggles traditional public schools do, <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/3/20/23649119/american-indian-academy-denver-charter-school-closure-indigenous-middle-school">including declining enrollment</a> and <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/1/12/23552984/strive-prep-kepner-denver-charter-closure-vote-school-board">spotty academic performance</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>Still, charter openings often outpace charter closings. Following the closure of two Colorado charter schools at the end of the 2021-22 school year, seven new ones opened in the fall of 2022, according to the Colorado Department of Education.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>The STEAD School, a charter high school in Commerce City north of Denver, is one recent addition to Colorado’s charter school landscape. It opened in 2021 and recently landed a $280,000 Big Bet grant from the Daniels Fund that will help with staff training and curriculum planning over two years. The school — which has a soil and seed lab and takes its students to the National Western Stock Show every January — focuses on agriculture and science.&nbsp;</p><p>Amy Schwartz, the school’s co-founder and board chair, said STEAD leaders always planned to scale up to about 700 students, up from 273 this year in grades 9 through 11. So the Big Bet grant isn’t driving STEAD’s expansion, but without it, “the quality of our curriculum and instruction wouldn’t be where it is,” she said.&nbsp;</p><p>Schwartz said STEAD launched during a period of rapid growth in the Brighton-based 27J district, which authorized the charter school.&nbsp;</p><p>In addition to providing a unique academic focus, the school came at a time when the district “just couldn’t build school buildings fast enough,” she said.&nbsp;</p><p>The STEAD School has the state’s highest green rating this year.&nbsp;</p><p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2023/7/5/23780111/charter-schools-credo-research-performance-test-scores">A recent study</a> found that students in Colorado charter schools made slightly more progress on math and reading tests than similar students in nearby district schools. This aligned with national findings.</p><p>However, there’s significant variation in performance within the charter sector.&nbsp;</p><p>“It’s a mixed picture, and a lot of charter schools don’t do a better job or even as good of a job as traditional public schools,” Henig said.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><h2>Big Bet also pushes for more private seats</h2><p>Daniels Fund leaders hope to send about 23,000 more students to private schools or some version of home schooling in the four-state region over the next six years. In Colorado, the number is 15,000.&nbsp;</p><p>In service to that goal, the foundation is giving money to groups like ACE Scholarship Fund, a Colorado group that gives private school scholarships to lower income families in 12 states. More than 4,000 students in Colorado receive the partial scholarships, with families paying just $2,000 a year in tuition on average, said Norton Rainey, CEO of ACE Scholarships.&nbsp;</p><p>The scholarships are for religious or secular private schools that charge $8,000 to $15,000 a year, not schools that charge $20,000 or more.</p><p>Rainey said the scholarships give families more choices and help private schools fill empty seats.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>“There are quite a few available seats in private schools,” he said&nbsp;</p><p>VELA Education Fund, an Arlington, Virginia-based funder of “small learning environments,’’ also received a Big Bet grant. The nonprofit is using the $750,000 it received last year to give dozens of smaller grants to microschools and homeschool groups, as well as to groups that create curriculum materials or otherwise support private and homeschool programs.</p><p>CEO Meredith Olson said demand has grown every year since VELA launched in 2019, both from individuals who run alternative education programs and “families who are looking for something different for their kids.” Just under half of the programs funded by the nonprofit were founded by people of color and more than 90% serve low- and middle income families, she said.</p><p>In Colorado, VELA has awarded grants to a variety of organizations. Among them are a Denver microschool called <a href="https://www.laluzeducation.org/">La Luz</a> that serves sixth- and seventh-graders and emphasizes field trips and experiential learning, and <a href="https://www.catchastaracademy.org/">Catch a Star Academy</a>, an Aurora microschool that serves third&nbsp; through fifth graders who struggle academically. Both schools are tuition-free, though Catch a Star notes on its website that the tuition assistance is for the 2023-24 school year. It’s unclear if families will have to pay next year.</p><p>Microschools, like other private schools, are not regulated by the state education department or obligated to administer state tests. Skandera, of the Daniels Fund, said foundation staff ask Big Bet grantees to share student achievement outcomes, but acknowledged that they may use different tests or measures. There’s no stipulation that grantees share student achievement with the public, she said.&nbsp;</p><p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2017/7/12/21108235/school-choice-vouchers-system-pros-and-cons-research">Recent studies</a> in other states have found students experience either declines or no improvements in math scores while attending private schools with a voucher. However, some older studies have found more positive effects on longer-run outcomes.</p><p>Kevin Welner, director of the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado Boulder, said in some cases harmful academic effects were on the order of those caused by the pandemic or Hurricane Katrina.&nbsp;</p><p>He also noted that families may choose a private school they like, but the school decides who to admit. That means that students with certain kinds of disabilities, those who have behavior challenges, or those who are part of the LGBTQ+ community may not be welcome.&nbsp;</p><p>It’s important to recognize that the last choice belongs to the school, not the family, he said.</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </em><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><em>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em></a><em>.</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/9/26/23891221/daniels-fund-big-bet-school-choice-charter-private-homeschool-seats/Ann Schimke2023-09-19T23:17:41+00:002023-09-19T23:17:41+00:00<p><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/9/28/23895166/elecciones-consejo-escolar-westminster-seis-candidatos"><em><strong>Leer en español. </strong></em></a></p><p>Six candidates are running for three open school board seats in the 8,000-student Westminster district’s first contested board election in six years.&nbsp;</p><p>One incumbent, Christine Martinez, is running for reelection. Two others, board President Ken Cianco and Vice President Max Math, are term-limited and are not running. That means voters will elect at least two and possibly three newcomers to the five-member board in the Nov. 7 election.&nbsp;</p><p>Martinez has joined with candidates Audrey Yanos and Mary Beth Murphy to run as <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/votemmyforwps/home">a slate</a> that has the backing of the district’s teachers union. Generally, they say the district is headed in the right direction and should stay the course.&nbsp;</p><p>The other three candidates — Anthony Sisneros and husband-and-wife team Charles and Brenda Gallegos — are also running as <a href="https://abcforwps.com/">a slate</a>. They are seeking changes, including to improve student achievement and create more opportunities for parents to be heard and get involved.</p><p>Westminster’s board members are elected on an “at large” basis, which means candidates represent the whole school district, not one specific area. The top three vote-getters will win seats.</p><p>The board race comes at a time of transition for the suburban school district north of Denver, with longtime Superintendent Pamela Swanson set to leave her post at the end of the school year. It’s unclear if the current board will name a successor before the election or leave the decision to the new board.&nbsp;</p><p>Like many Colorado districts, Westminster is also facing declining enrollment as birth rates drop and pricey housing pushes more families outside the metro area. Between 2016 and 2021, the district lost more than 1,400 students — a 15% drop.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>The League of Women Voters has tentatively scheduled a school board candidate forum at 7 p.m. Oct. 4 at Westminster Grange Hall, 3935 W. 73rd Ave. The district plans to livestream the event.&nbsp;</p><p>Here’s a closer look at the six candidates:&nbsp;</p><h2>ABC for WPS Slate </h2><p><strong>Brenda Gallegos</strong> describes herself as a concerned parent, not a politician. She said it’s time for a school board with new voices and more debate. Currently, “I feel like we’re kind of spinning our tires in mud,” she said. “We have the same people. We have the same ideas.”</p><p>Gallegos, who works at a vision clinic, has three daughters and one son. Two of her daughters attend school in the district. Increasing school security is one of her priorities. She said she wants to have school resource officers placed at the district’s K-8 schools and to ensure more oversight of school hallways and gathering places by officers at the district’s high schools.&nbsp;</p><p>Like other members of her slate, Gallegos said she wants to ensure that the district listens to and involves parents. When one of her daughters struggled with reading in elementary school, she said Westminster educators dismissed her concerns, prompting her to move her daughter temporarily to the neighboring Jeffco district, where the girl was tested and given a special education plan.&nbsp;</p><p>As a Spanish speaker, Gallegos said she could serve as a liaison between the board and Spanish-speaking parents in the district.&nbsp;</p><p>“It takes a village,” she said. “Let’s use our village.”&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Charles Gallegos </strong>said improving student achievement and increasing parent engagement are his main reasons for running for school board.&nbsp;</p><p>An optometrist and navy veteran, he graduated from Westminster High School and was the first in his family to attend college. He has three daughters and one son. Two of his daughters attend district schools.&nbsp;</p><p>He said he supports the district’s competency-based system, in which students master a topic before moving to the next one, but said too many students are still struggling.&nbsp;</p><p>“If you’re a parent and (you) Google performance, you’re going to see some scores that are really, really bad, frustratingly bad,” he said. “Why are there still so many students at the bottom?”</p><p>Gallegos said he wants to help build stronger parent teacher organizations throughout the district. Right now, he said it’s “hit and miss,” with robust PTAs at some schools and barely functioning groups at other schools.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Anthony Sisneros </strong>is making his second run for a school board seat, after a loss in 2011. He said if he’s elected, he’ll seek to ensure that students with disabilities get the same school choices as other students and will push for a national search to select the next superintendent.&nbsp;</p><p>A Westminster High School graduate, Sisneros is the assistant controller at the MSU Denver Foundation. He has three children, including a son with Down syndrome who was at the center of a complaint filed by the Sisneros family against the district after the boy was <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/9/14/23351851/colorado-school-choice-system-discrimination-complaint">denied placement at the family’s preferred school</a>. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights ruled in favor of the district in December 2022, but Sisneros said his family has appealed the decision. In the meantime, the son attends a private school.&nbsp;</p><p>“Through all these headaches of trying to find a school for my son, I could have easily put up a for sale sign and moved,” he said. “I’m here to fight for the kids and families that look like mine.”&nbsp;</p><p>Sisneros said that if he’s elected, he wants to close a policy loophole that he alleges has allowed a current board member who is an architect to receive lucrative district contracts. He described it as a conflict of interest.</p><p>District officials said the district has complied with board policies in awarding contracts to DAO Architecture, which board member Dan Orecchio owns. They also said Orecchio has recused himself from votes on contracts with his firm and filed a conflict of interest disclosure with the Colorado Secretary of State’s office saying that he planned to continue doing business with the district after his election.&nbsp;</p><h2>MMY for WPS Slate</h2><p><strong>Christine Martinez, </strong>the incumbent, said she’s running again to continue the work begun during her first term, including helping the district recover from COVID and selecting a new superintendent. She said she’s proud of the board’s decision shortly after COVID hit to bring students back for in-person learning at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year.&nbsp;</p><p>The vice president of a local property management company, Martinez is a Westminster High School graduate, the daughter of two retired district teachers, and the mother of a seventh-grade son who attends school in the district.</p><p>Martinez said she wants to promote and share the many positive things that are going on in district schools. She cited a recent trip to South Korea by district high-schoolers participating in a “drone soccer” tournament, a NASA partnership with aerospace and film students, and the planned transformation of <a href="https://www.westminsterpublicschools.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&amp;DomainID=1&amp;ModuleInstanceID=10128&amp;ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&amp;RenderLoc=0&amp;FlexDataID=28897&amp;PageID=1">a former middle school into a career and technical education hub</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Martinez sees declining enrollment as the biggest challenge facing the district. She said it’s important to bring back students who have left and to recruit new ones as well.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Mary Beth Murphy </strong>is a retired teacher who said she’s not coming in with a specific agenda other than to ensure students get the best free public education possible.&nbsp;</p><p>“I’m not angry about anything,” she said. “I’m not running on a grievance campaign. I really believe in public education. That’s what I’ve dedicated my life to.”&nbsp;</p><p>Murphy is the director of the Central Adams UniServ Unit, an organization that supports four local teachers unions. She retired last year after more than 30 years in the Mapleton district, most recently as a math teacher. She has four adult children, two of whom attended schools in the Westminster district.</p><p>Shortfalls in school funding and teacher shortages are among the biggest challenges facing the Westminster district, she said.&nbsp;</p><p>Murphy said hasn’t thought much about the selection of a new superintendent, but said she hopes for someone who is a good leader and communicator, honest and upfront.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Audrey Yanos</strong> said as a Chicana who was the first in her family to finish high school and attend college, she represents the community.&nbsp;</p><p>“I know what path our students are walking in,” she said.</p><p>Yanos, an operations supervisor at a healthcare nonprofit, attended K-12 schools in the nearby Adams 12 and Adams 14 districts. She has three children in Westminster schools&nbsp;— one each in elementary, middle, and high school. She volunteered on a committee supporting a 2018 school district tax measure and has been active in the PTAs at her children’s schools.&nbsp;</p><p>”I love our school district,” she said. “We’ve had such positive experiences within our school district, and that’s at every level.”&nbsp;</p><p>If elected, she wants to continue educating the community about the district’s competency-based system, in which students are grouped by what content they’ve mastered, not necessarily by grade.</p><p>Yanos said the district is headed in the right direction and that its biggest challenge is the transition that will come with having a new superintendent.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </em><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><em>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em></a><em>.</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/9/19/23881384/westminster-school-board-election-slate-2023/Ann Schimke2023-08-29T20:00:33+00:002023-08-29T20:00:33+00:00<p><em>Sign up for </em><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/the-starting-line"><em>Chalkbeat’s free monthly newsletter The Starting Line</em></a><em> to keep up with news about early childhood education. </em>&nbsp;</p><p>Starting this fall, Colorado is offering 10 to 15 hours of tuition-free preschool to all 4-year-olds as part of the <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/23/23843133/colorado-universal-preschool-launch-first-day-auraria-early-learning">state’s universal preschool program</a>. More than 40,000 families have already applied, but <a href="https://upk.colorado.gov/">the application process is still open</a> and will be available throughout the year.&nbsp;</p><p>But what if you need more class time for your child than just 10 to 15 hours a week?&nbsp;</p><p>There are several ways to get financial help for those extra hours. The universal preschool program will pay for up to 30 hours of preschool a week for some children. They must be from low-income families and fall into one of the following categories: English language learner, homeless, in foster care, or have a special education plan. Simply being from a low-income family is not enough to qualify for 30 hours.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>We’ve compiled a list of other programs that may help cover extra hours of preschool, including Head Start, the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program, and, for Denver residents, the Denver Preschool Program. Summit County also offers tuition assistance for preschoolers, through its <a href="https://www.earlychildhoodoptions.org/paying-for-childcare">Summit Pre-K Program</a>, though the application window generally runs from May 1-31.</p><p>Military families may be eligible for financial help through the <a href="https://public.militarychildcare.csd.disa.mil/mcc-central/mcchome/mccyn">Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood program</a>, which is for families who can’t access military-operated child care programs because of waitlists or the distance from their homes.&nbsp;</p><p>Finally, it’s worth asking your child’s preschool if they offer scholarships or discounts that could help lower the cost of care.</p><p>For questions about universal preschool or adding extra hours, contact the universal preschool help desk at 303-866-5223 or <a href="https://cdec.colorado.gov/universal-preschool-find-my-lco">the local group in your county</a> that is helping run universal preschool.&nbsp;</p><p>Here’s a quick look at some of the programs that can be combined with universal preschool to provide students with full-day classes.&nbsp;</p><h2>Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP)</h2><p><strong>What is it: </strong>A <a href="https://cdec.colorado.gov/colorado-child-care-assistance-program-for-families">state program</a> that helps low-income families pay for child care, including preschool. Parents must be working, looking for work, or attending school.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Who’s eligible:</strong> Families whose children are citizens or legal permanent residents and whose household income is 200% to 270% of the federal poverty line. That’s $60,000 to $81,000 for a family of four. Each county sets its own income criteria, so check <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WzobLnLoxGbN_JfTuw3jUCZV5N7IA_0uvwEkIoMt3Wk/edit#gid=1350122430">here for details</a> based on where you live.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Financial aid:</strong>&nbsp; CCCAP covers most of the cost of child care for qualifying families, with the amount varying based on how much care a child needs above their universal preschool hours. Families who qualify also have to pay a parent fee —&nbsp; a co-pay that varies based on income, family size, and the number of children in child care.</p><p><strong>How to apply:</strong> <a href="https://peak--coloradopeak.force.com/peak/s/benefit-information/benefit-detail?language=en_US&amp;category=early-childhood-programs">Online</a> in English or Spanish, or contact <a href="https://cdhs.colorado.gov/contact-your-county">your county’s department of human services</a>.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>What to know about combining with universal preschool: </strong>Only some preschools participate in the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program. Ask the universal preschool provider you selected if they take CCCAP, or find the provider name in the universal preschool application and click on the “View More Information” link. A pop-up box will tell you more about the provider, including if they take CCCAP or offer other financial help.&nbsp;</p><p>Some families who qualify for CCCAP may not receive assistance because of funding shortfalls — particularly once federal COVID stimulus dollars run out in 2024.&nbsp;</p><h2>Denver Preschool Program </h2><p><strong>What is it: </strong>A <a href="https://dpp.org/?utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_campaign=adtaxi_search&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwrranBhAEEiwAzbhNtaIsUQMoqROIxKLRSrP0Z8nmzExzFRZ1dPQzcXiq74YK3UuDku6TRBoCfG4QAvD_BwE">Denver program</a> that provides sliding-scale tuition help for 4-year-olds in preschool regardless of family income.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Who’s eligible: </strong>Denver residents who have 4-year-old children attending preschool regardless of immigration status.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Financial aid: </strong>Tuition credits range from $36 to $1,227 a month for up to 12 months, and are paid to the school on the family’s behalf.<strong> </strong>Use the<strong> </strong><a href="https://dpp.org/sign-up-for-tuition-support/how-we-calculate-your-tuition-credit/">Denver Preschool Program’s tuition credit calculator</a> to estimate your monthly tuition credit. Credits are based on family size, income, and the quality of the preschool selected.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>How to apply: </strong><a href="https://find.dpp.org/register?action=apply&amp;subsidyProgramId=eefc0e97-4687-4fb2-9c40-9d4f015e8b20">Online</a> any time in English or Spanish, or contact the Denver Preschool Program at (303) 595-4377 or <a href="mailto:info@dpp.org">info@dpp.org</a>. Applications in PDF form are available in Chinese/Mandarin, French, Russian, Vietnamese, Somali, Amharic, and Nepali.</p><p><strong>What to know about combining with universal preschool: </strong>Apply to universal preschool first and once your child is enrolled in a preschool, apply to the Denver Preschool Program. This is necessary because the Denver Preschool Program application requires that families list the preschool their child is attending. Most Denver preschools participating in universal preschool also participate in the Denver Preschool Program, but there are a few that don’t. <a href="https://find.dpp.org/welcome/">Check here</a> to find preschools participating in the Denver Preschool Program.&nbsp;</p><h2>Head Start</h2><p><strong>What is it: </strong>A <a href="https://cdec.colorado.gov/head-start/early-head-start">federally funded program</a> that provides free preschool, health services, and family support to children from low-income families, regardless of immigration status.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Who’s eligible: </strong>Children who are 3 to 5 years old in families with a household income at or below the federal poverty guideline. That’s $30,000 a year for a family of 4. Children who are homeless, in foster care, or whose families receive public assistance are also eligible regardless of income.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Financial aid: </strong>Head Start is a free preschool program that provides part-time or full-time hours to the children it serves.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>How to apply: </strong><a href="https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/">Search here</a> for providers near you and contact the center directly to apply. For help finding a Head Start provider, call 866-763-6481.</p><p><strong>What to know about combining with universal preschool: </strong>Only certain preschool providers offer Head Start. The universal preschool application also shows whether providers participate in Head Start. For help, contact the Head Start provider you’re interested in or <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NETF8pguQxd8L-ewinpDJsGLNehVc_7i3UkiEEL6QXo/view#gid=632419378">the local group</a> that helps run universal preschool.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/8/29/23851135/colorado-universal-preschool-financial-help-extra-hours/Ann Schimke2023-08-23T18:03:20+00:002023-08-23T18:03:20+00:00<p><em>Sign up for </em><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/the-starting-line"><em>Chalkbeat’s free monthly newsletter The Starting Line</em></a><em> to keep up with news about early childhood education. &nbsp;</em></p><p>“Would you rather eat only chocolate or only marshmallows?” teacher Jordan Parsons asked the gaggle of preschoolers sitting on the rug in front of her.&nbsp;</p><p>Most of the 13 kids bounded to the left side of the rug, several gleefully jumping and shrieking at the thought of a marshmallow-only diet. A few chocolate-lovers drifted to the other side of the rug.&nbsp;</p><p>When Parsons asked which group was bigger, a member of Team Marshmallow confirmed the obvious: “This one,” he said brightly.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>It was the first day of preschool at Denver’s Auraria Early Learning Center and part of the rolling launch of universal preschool in Colorado. The new $322 million program offers 10 to 30 hours a week of tuition-free preschool to 4-year-olds statewide and 10 hours to some 3-year-olds.&nbsp;</p><p>Up to 40,000 4-year-olds are expected to participate in the program this school year, double the enrollment of Colorado’s previous state-funded preschool program.</p><p>Many parents and early childhood advocates are excited about the state’s effort to help more families with preschool costs and prepare kids for kindergarten. At the same time, some aspects of universal preschool rollout have been rushed, confusing, and punctuated by eleventh hour changes.&nbsp;</p><p>Thousands of families who had expected the state to cover full-day preschool based on meeting certain criteria <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/2/23815102/colorado-universal-full-day-preschool-extra-hours-risk-factors-backtrack">found out in late July</a> the program would only pay for half-day classes. Most recently, <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/17/23835969/colorado-universal-preschool-lawsuit-case-school-districts-students-disabilities">school district officials sued over the program</a>, claiming the state is harming students with disabilities and breaking funding promises to families and schools. Religious preschools also have sued, alleging that anti-discrimination requirements violate their religious beliefs.&nbsp;</p><p>But on Monday morning, the kids in Parsons’ classroom were unconcerned with legal questions and logistics. They were too busy with playground time, the “Would you rather?” game, and a story about a dinosaur named Penolope who ate her classmates.&nbsp;</p><p>The problems they did have were child-sized: A forgotten water bottle, outdoor playtime cut short by the melting heat, and a few pangs of homesickness that called for a break in the “cozy cove” — a large wooden hideaway stocked with a basket of toys.&nbsp;</p><p>A little girl in a pink and green sundress said her favorite part of preschool is “using scissors” — purple glittery scissors, to be exact.&nbsp;</p><p>A boy who proudly announced he’d just turned 4 in July, said he enjoys drawing — especially rainbows, like the one on his first-day-of-school shirt.</p><p>“I picked it out from Target,” he said of the green top.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/_rN7tMvsXq_8jYRrKTX-F5SR5w8=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/3FSVSOCJR5HRLISXAZ7LH7QRQM.jpg" alt="Preschool students at Auraria Early Learning Center in Denver line up to go outside on their first day of school. " height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Preschool students at Auraria Early Learning Center in Denver line up to go outside on their first day of school. </figcaption></figure><p>For her part, Auraria Early Learning Center Director Emily Nelson said she’s pleased with how universal preschool is shaping up. There have been challenges, but that’s true with any new system, she said.</p><p>“I feel good with where we’re at,” she said. “I feel like parents have the information they need.”&nbsp;</p><p>She’s heard some parents express relief that the state is helping defray tuition costs. Under universal preschool, the state covers the cost of 15 hours a week at the center, dropping monthly full-day tuition from $1,531 to $921. Some parents get additional assistance through campus scholarships or a taxpayer-funded tuition credit program called the Denver Preschool Program.&nbsp;</p><p>Like many providers across Colorado, Nelson had empty universal preschool seats on the first day of school — eight between her two 4-year-old classrooms. Statewide,<a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/4/26/23698429/colorado-universal-free-preschool-number-seats-supply-demand"> about 56,000 4-year-old seats are available</a>, well above the number that will be needed even if more families sign up in the coming months.</p><p>Nelson said having a few open seats is typical at this time of year, especially being on a college campus where classes are also just beginning. The center serves the children of students, faculty, and community members.&nbsp;</p><p>When the semester starts, parents think, ‘Oh child care, I need to figure that piece out,’” she said.&nbsp;</p><p>On Monday, the children at Auraria Early Learning Center had their own challenges to figure out. A ponytailed girl announced during storytime that she felt sad. Then she went into the cozy cove and emerged rejuvenated — ready to get back to her first day.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/8/23/23843133/colorado-universal-preschool-launch-first-day-auraria-early-learning/Ann Schimke2023-08-17T19:05:37+00:002023-08-17T17:16:54+00:00<p><em>Sign up for </em><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/subscribe"><em>Chalkbeat Colorado’s free daily newsletter</em></a><em> to keep up with education news from Denver and around the state. &nbsp;</em></p><p>Six Colorado school districts and two statewide education groups sued the state Thursday, claiming Colorado’s universal preschool program is harming children with disabilities and breaking financial promises to families and school districts.&nbsp;</p><p>The Colorado Association of School Executives, the Consortium of Directors of Special Education, and six districts filed the lawsuit against Gov. Jared Polis, the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, and the Colorado Department of Education in Denver district court on Thursday. The districts include Brighton-based 27J, Cherry Creek, Harrison, Mapleton, Platte Valley, and Westminster.&nbsp;</p><p>The groups allege that children will miss out on vital special education services, full-day preschool classes, or any preschool at all because the state’s online matching system is rife with problems. In several of the plaintiff districts, the first day of preschool was this week, but lots of children were missing from class rosters.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>The Colorado Department of Early Childhood is running the new preschool program, but the Department of Education is in charge of ensuring that preschoolers with disabilities are served according to special education laws. Launching universal preschool has been one of <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/4/25/23041861/colorado-free-universal-preschool-polis-bill-signed">Polis’ signature priorities</a> since he hit the campaign trail in 2018.</p><p>The lawsuit marks the latest and probably most significant bump in the rocky rollout of the preschool program, which offers 10 to 30 hours of tuition-free preschool a week to all 4-year-olds in Colorado and 10 hours to some 3-year-olds. <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/3/28/23661198/free-universal-preschool-colorado-match-date-delayed">Technology problems</a>, poor communication, and <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/2/23815102/colorado-universal-full-day-preschool-extra-hours-risk-factors-backtrack">last-minute changes</a> have left many preschool providers and parents confused and frustrated in the run-up to the program’s launch this month.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>The lawsuit touches on many of the same issues, with one of the school districts’ most pressing concerns being how the matching system functions —&nbsp;or doesn’t.</p><p>Mat Aubuchon, executive director of learning services for the Westminster district north of Denver, described a mother who showed up to preschool Thursday with a three- and a four-year-old —&nbsp;and the school had to turn away the three-year-old because they couldn’t verify the child was correctly placed.</p><p>These problems could have been avoided, superintendents said at a press conference, if district administrators had been included years earlier in the preschool planning process.</p><p>“I’m saddened that we’re here today,” said Cherry Creek Superintendent Christopher Smith. “All we’re asking is to be part of the solution.”</p><p>Thursday’s lawsuit is the third one the state has faced over universal preschool. In June, a <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2023/07/14/christian-pre-school-sues-colorado-hiring-practices-lgbtq-rights-religious-freedom/">Christian preschool in Chaffee County sued</a> the Department of Early Childhood, alleging that a non-discrimination agreement the state requires from universal preschool providers would prevent it from operating in accordance with its religious beliefs. Two <a href="https://becketnewsite.s3.amazonaws.com/20230816151801/St.-Mary-Complaint.pdf">Catholic parishes that operate preschools filed</a> a similar lawsuit on Wednesday.&nbsp;</p><p>But the school districts’ lawsuit touches more directly on one of universal preschool’s stated purposes: to help children who need it most get a strong foundation for school.&nbsp;</p><p>A spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Early Childhood said the department would not comment on pending litigation.</p><p>In an emailed statement, Polis spokesman Conor Cahill lamented that the plaintiffs were distracting from the successes of universal preschool and pledged to defend the program “vigorously” in court.</p><p>“While it’s unfortunate to see different groups of adults attempting to co-opt preschool for themselves, perhaps because they want to not allow gay parents to send their kids to preschool, or they want to favor school district programs over community-based early childhood centers, the voters were clear on their support for parent choice and a universal, mixed delivery system that is independently run, that doesn’t discriminate against anyone and offers free preschool to every child no matter who their parents are,” Cahill said.</p><p>Jeremy Meyer, a spokesman for the Colorado Department of Education, said officials there are still reviewing the complaint.</p><p>“It is important to us to emphasize that CDE fundamentally values serving all students, and we are absolutely committed to ensuring preschool students with disabilities receive all the services they are entitled to under federal law to prepare them for success in school,” he said in an email.</p><h2>A glitchy preschool algorithm creates district headaches</h2><p>The state’s online preschool matching system — called BridgeCare — is at the center of the latest lawsuit. Starting last winter, preschools listed their offerings on the platform and families used it to apply for a spot. A computer algorithm then matched kids to seats.&nbsp;</p><p>But the system doesn’t always work. That’s led to long waits for parents on the state’s helpline, time-consuming manual fixes by regional groups tasked with helping run the new program, and preschool spots that go unfilled despite high local demand, according to the lawsuit.</p><p>In addition, district officials’ access to the platform is so limited they sometimes can’t properly place children with disabilities or even contact their families, according to the lawsuit. As a result, public schools can’t fulfill their legal obligation to such students and their parents, the plaintiffs said.&nbsp;</p><p>The lawsuit describes a last-minute effort in late July to give districts additional access to BridgeCare. In the Harrison district, it yielded days of fruitless back-and-forth between state and district staff about erroneous or missing sign-ups. Although district officials expected 124 students with disabilities to be matched with their classrooms, zero showed up on the list. State officials suggested the district “do some family outreach,” according to the lawsuit.&nbsp;</p><p>“We have failed students and we have failed their families,” Harrison Superintendent Wendy Birhanzel said during the press conference. “They will continue to lose instruction until changes are made.”</p><p>Bret Miles, executive director of the Colorado Association of School Executives, said part of the reason for problems with BridgeCare is that the state didn’t spend the money needed to get a system with more capabilities.</p><p>“They bought a cheaper version of it,” he said.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/gWoG4X_Sp4dYqGoaiN_5NIifBvM=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/TJE2IWOMARHWRETO3XYAPIYGRU.jpg" alt="Bret Miles, executive director of the Colorado Association of School Executives, center, talks about his organization’s lawsuit at a press conference. He was joined by CASE Deputy Director Melissa Gibson, left, and CASE General Counsel Michelle Murphy, right." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Bret Miles, executive director of the Colorado Association of School Executives, center, talks about his organization’s lawsuit at a press conference. He was joined by CASE Deputy Director Melissa Gibson, left, and CASE General Counsel Michelle Murphy, right.</figcaption></figure><p>Besides the matching system, the lawsuit alleges several instances in which state officials rolled back funding pledges, inappropriately diverted money for students with disabilities to the general education preschool fund, or are delaying payments.&nbsp;</p><p>The suit cites a promise by the state to pay for full-day preschool for students from low-income families, or who have one of four other risk factors. <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/2/23815102/colorado-universal-full-day-preschool-extra-hours-risk-factors-backtrack">State officials announced in late July that only a fraction of those students</a> — those from low-income families who also have a second risk factor — are eligible for tuition-free full-day classes.&nbsp;</p><p>The Westminster district north of Denver, where many students come from low-income families, will spend $2 million this year to ensure more than 170 4-year-olds whose families expected full-day classes will get them at no cost, according to the lawsuit. The Harrison district, which also has many students from low-income families, estimated it will have to spend several million dollars to cover full-day preschool for children the state now won’t cover.&nbsp;</p><p>The suit also claims the state reappropriated $38 million that was supposed to be used for preschoolers with disabilities into a pot of general education preschool dollars. In addition, it alleges the state plans to hold back some money until next June that districts need this year.&nbsp;</p><p>Scott Smith, Cherry Creek’s chief financial and operating officer, said when he and other district leaders raised concerns to state officials more than a year ago that there wouldn’t be enough money to fully fund the new preschool program, “We were continually disregarded.”</p><p>“That funding isn’t there and wasn’t there,” he said.</p><p>About 39,000 Colorado 4-year-olds have been matched with a preschool through the universal program so far. Most families were able to choose from a variety of preschool settings, including schools, child care centers, or state-licensed homes, but parents of students with disabilities were not. Such students — about 12% of the total — will generally be served in public schools, which have a legal responsibility to provide services spelled out in each child’s federally mandated special education plan.&nbsp;</p><p>The new $322 million preschool program is funded with proceeds from <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2020/11/3/21548349/proposition-ee-colorado-2020-election-results">a voter-approved nicotine tax</a> and dollars from the state’s previous, smaller preschool program, which was only for students from low-income families or who had other risk factors.</p><p>Through last school year, Colorado preschoolers who had diagnosed disabilities were served through the state’s “early childhood special education” program. School district teams placed the vast majority of those children in classrooms where at least half of students were typically developing kids.&nbsp;</p><p>This year, under the universal preschool program, integrating students with disabilities and their typical peers is still the goal, but the state’s electronic platform has taken over the role district officials used to play. That’s led to some children being matched to settings that don’t make sense or classrooms that don’t have the right balance of children, requiring convoluted change requests that have often further frustrated parents.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/8/17/23835969/colorado-universal-preschool-lawsuit-case-school-districts-students-disabilities/Ann SchimkeChristian K. Lee for Chalkbeat2023-08-16T23:29:52+00:002023-08-16T23:29:52+00:00<p>Leah Williamson, a middle school social worker in the southern Colorado city of Pueblo, says some of her students have gone through more by age 14 than most adults do in a lifetime. They come from the city’s east side, where poverty and crime rates are high.&nbsp;</p><p>They don’t “come from white picket fences, unicorns and glitter, and do not want to be treated as [if] they do,” she said. “They want love and attention.”</p><p>But since many of her students have a hard time trusting people, Williamson, who works at Risley International Academy of Innovation, tries to meet them where they are and get to know them as individuals.&nbsp;</p><p>“Most are extremely proud to be ‘East-siders’ and need people to see them for who they are and where they come from,” she said.&nbsp;</p><p>Williamson, who was named 2023 Trailblazer of the Year by the Colorado School Social Work Association, talked to Chalkbeat about her own school struggles, the effects of the pandemic on students, and her advice for parents who want to help their children with mental health issues.</p><p><em>This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.</em></p><h3>Was there a moment when you decided to become a school social worker? </h3><p>I actually had no intention of being a school social worker or working with kids. While I was completing my master’s degree internship with the counseling agency State of Grace, they placed me in the Pueblo 60 district. I loved it and realized I was able to connect with the kids.&nbsp;</p><p>The district created a school social worker position and hired me to not only take on Risley but to show the need and establish what we can do. I knew then I had an important mission that would have a ripple effect and help every student and family in the district. Showing our worth ultimately led the district to hire nine more school social workers.&nbsp;</p><h3>How did your own school experiences impact you and shape your approach to your job? </h3><p>I was not passionate about school and did not see the value. I was (and still am) horrible at math. It was not something that came easily to me, and I lost confidence in myself. My perspective was If I didn’t do it, I would not fail at it.</p><p>This seems to be the case with a lot of kids. They do not believe in themselves. If I can be that one person that believes in them and gets them to at least try, they generally surprise themselves and realize they <em>can</em> do it. Then they get excited and want more of the feelings of pride and accomplishment. And yes, I do share my story of middle through high school — almost not graduating high school to graduating early, then earning a master’s degree.&nbsp;</p><h3>As we emerge from the pandemic, what kinds of struggles do you see students facing? How do you help them? </h3><p>The struggles are far deeper than being behind academically. Students have lost social and emotional skills, with communities like mine seeing extreme poverty, gang violence, and abuse. These kids need more than a teacher upset with them over a math assignment they didn’t complete. They need adults to understand and <em>care</em> why assignments aren’t complete.</p><p>I work hard to see and hear my students as well as be the connection between them and other adults in the building. I do not pretend students are someone they are not. They are all on the “rough side of town.” They also have goals, dreams, likes, and dislikes.&nbsp;</p><p>I work hard to remove the stigma of mental health l. I encourage students to seek help, whether from me or an outside resource without worrying about what others think or how it looks. I let them know I am here, I care, and seeking support is OK.</p><h3>Do you have suggestions for parents whose children may be facing struggles with mental health?  </h3><p>Talk about it. Do not be ashamed if you, as a parent, have mental health struggles or if your child struggles. Be direct, open, and listen to what they say.&nbsp;</p><p>I encourage parents to get the resources they need, whether it is substance abuse support, mental health support, resources to help with finances, or parenting support. I use the “it takes a village” motto when it comes to raising kids and surviving this world.</p><h3>Tell us about a time when you managed to connect with a challenging student or a student facing a difficult situation. How did you do it?</h3><p>Last school year, I had a student who came from a significantly broken and abusive home. She was angry at everything and everyone. She did not trust anyone. It took time, but I kept showing up. When she would lash out and push me away, I came back —&nbsp; softer and with more compassion. I showed her I was not walking away or giving up on her.&nbsp;</p><p>She still comes to visit me. She now believes she can not only graduate high school but has plans for college. She tells me when she is faced with a decision, she hears my voice.&nbsp;</p><h3>What’s the biggest misconception you’ve encountered about your role in schools?</h3><p>The same misconception that all social workers generally face: We are here to destroy your family and take your kids. This is especially hard if you are working with a family involved with the courts or the Department of Human Services. Showing families that you are an ally is one of the biggest obstacles.&nbsp;</p><p>Sometimes helping staff understand exactly what you do and why can be challenging as well. Many think we are too soft and do not hold kids accountable when in reality, we do more than anyone. It just looks different.</p><h3>Tell us about a memorable time — good or bad — when contact with a student’s family changed your perspective or approach.</h3><p>Last year I also serviced an elementary school. I received a referral for a student who was on the autism spectrum and was extremely selective in who he communicated with. I was warned about his mother and told she was hostile and difficult. After working with her, I came to realize that staying neutral was key. I did not go into it with a bad attitude or assuming the worst. Instead, I offered all the love, support, and resources I could and was able to meet her needs, the needs of the school, and do what was best for the kiddo.&nbsp;</p><h3>What are you reading or listening to for enjoyment?</h3><p>I am currently finishing <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-body-keeps-the-score-brain-mind-and-body-in-the-healing-of-trauma-bessel-van-der-kolk/6679040?gclid=CjwKCAjw5_GmBhBIEiwA5QSMxHny3xpDZ-dlqJstC9R5u_MjvmJyodV-UG0DTR_GR2KuQS6dswzgKRoCLMMQAvD_BwE">“The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma”</a> by Bessel van der Kolk.</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/8/16/23834927/pueblo-school-social-worker-leah-williamson-trailblazer-award/Ann Schimke2023-08-16T00:14:45+00:002023-08-16T00:14:45+00:00<p><em>Sign up for </em><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/the-starting-line"><em>Chalkbeat’s free monthly newsletter The Starting Line</em></a><em> to keep up with news about early childhood education. &nbsp;</em></p><p>Thousands of Colorado families believed their 4-year-olds would get tuition-free full-day preschool through Colorado’s new universal preschool program. In July, they found out it wasn’t true.&nbsp;</p><p>The state didn’t have enough money for every child from a low-income family or with another risk factor to get full-day classes. Instead, only a fraction of them — <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/2/23815102/colorado-universal-full-day-preschool-extra-hours-risk-factors-backtrack">those with low-income status and a second risk factor</a> — would get the longer school day at no cost to their families. The rest had to come up with the extra tuition money themselves, drop down to a half-day program, or bow out altogether.&nbsp;</p><p>It was a blow to families, but also a blow to the $330 million universal preschool program that Gov. Jared Polis has made a signature priority of his tenure. For months, critics have charged that the program’s rollout has been rushed, messy, and confusing.&nbsp;</p><p>In a recent interview with <a href="https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/next/next-with-kyle-clark/colorado-polis-some-parents-universal-pre-k-are-just-looking-for-childcare/73-3c12df5c-de1c-41ff-a562-9a2c25427ac1">9News reporter Marshall Zelinger, Polis tried to explain why some children with risk factors wouldn’t get the 30 hours a week their families thought they were promised.</a>&nbsp;</p><p>He provided a variety of answers: There’s not enough space. Families seeking full-day classes just want child care. Half-day preschool is better for kids.&nbsp;</p><p>So, what’s true?&nbsp;</p><p>Chalkbeat fact-checked some of the claims Polis made about universal preschool. Here’s what we found.&nbsp;</p><h2>Is there enough space?</h2><p><strong>What Gov. Polis said: </strong>“There’s nothing even close to the space for full-day preschool.”</p><p><strong>Fact check:</strong> This is partially true, but misleading. There are more than 24,000 full-day seats offered by Colorado’s universal preschool providers this year, according to April numbers from the state’s Department of Early Childhood. That’s more than enough for the more than 14,000 4-year-olds who have at least one risk factor and whose families were initially told their children would be eligible for tuition-free full-day classes.</p><p>The reason many of those 14,000 children are not being offered full-day preschool as their families expected is because the <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/2/23815102/colorado-universal-full-day-preschool-extra-hours-risk-factors-backtrack">state doesn’t have enough money</a>, not because it doesn’t have enough space. In some cases, full-day classes may be unavailable in a particular preschool or community, but on a statewide basis there are full-day seats available.&nbsp;</p><p>Polis is correct that there’s not enough physical space for full-day preschool for every 4-year-old who will participate in the universal program this year —&nbsp;more than 30,000 kids — but that was never the plan to begin with.</p><h2>Child care vs. preschool </h2><p><strong>What Gov. Polis said: </strong>“Are you saying you want to pick your kid up at 2:30? Or five, right? If they say 2:30, then they’re in it for the full-day preschool because they value that academic experience. If they’re saying five, because I work and I can’t pick up my kid until five, they need a child care solution.”</p><p><strong>Fact check:</strong> This is misleading. Polis’ comments suggest that parents wanted something out of universal preschool that wasn’t being offered, namely child care. But the state has long planned to offer full-day preschool hours to some families, clearly stating that in the application and other messaging. In some cases, the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, which is running the new program, even used the word “care” to describe the extra hours of preschool. (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/COEarlyChildhood/posts/133150566140399?__cft__[0]=AZUYaYUEIPRBEkMiS-z19ck64FdNeq-TuwunuiLm94Qgu5gSHSPDR0v32LKe1-G_IegggANXkfjulP29xOmtdqsUhwF3r1gXRcWqQf-2-QS-S03hVYudQ408NKfLBLPz_Rwz-1tt_VTJHUl3uiorZma64ylTRUgy9S-xTOXEL9te5Y8vjUHZE0zWjvo5tC1daJk&amp;__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R">On Facebook, for example</a>.)&nbsp;</p><p>Finally, giving children educationally enriching experiences and supervising them while parents work aren’t mutually exclusive. It’s also worth noting that preschool classrooms, like infant and toddler classrooms, are governed by state child care rules — so in that sense, preschool is child care.</p><h2>Is half-day preschool best? </h2><p><strong>What Gov. Polis said: “</strong>This is a half-day universal preschool program. That’s what the voters approved. It’s also developmentally appropriate. Kids benefit the most in that 15-to-20-hour range.”&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Fact check:</strong> Not necessarily. <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2019/9/27/21121706/as-colorado-invests-more-in-preschool-a-gold-standard-study-shows-benefits-of-full-day-classes">A 2019 experimental study</a> of preschoolers in the Westminster district north of Denver found that full-day students outperformed half-day students in early literacy, math, physical, and socioemotional development. Full-day students attended for 30 hours a week and half-day students attended for 12 hours a week.&nbsp;</p><p>The study was particularly notable because it used gold-standard methodology, with students randomly assigned to full-day or half-day classes. The authors, including Allison Atteberry, who was then at the University of Colorado Boulder, concluded that the study provided compelling evidence “that a full-day, full-week preschool supports young children’s development, at least among a sample of primarily low-income, Latinx children.”</p><h2>Is universal preschool high-quality? </h2><p><strong>What Gov. Polis said: </strong>“We are funding high-quality preschool.”</p><p><strong>Fact check: </strong>This is not true. While many participating preschools may offer high-caliber programming, state officials are not requiring providers to meet any particular quality standards during the program’s first year. All providers must meet basic health and safety standards, but those have long been necessary to get a state child care license. The<a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/4/7/23674706/colorado-free-preschool-quality-standards-delay"> state told providers in April</a> to “keep doing what you’re doing,” and said rules on quality will be added for the 2024-25 school year.&nbsp;</p><p>Experts say preschool can produce short- and long-term benefits for kids, but only if it’s high quality. Class-size limits, staff credentials, teacher training requirements, and curriculum choice are often among the criteria used to measure preschool quality.&nbsp;</p><p>The universal preschool program has already backed away from class-size rules used in Colorado’s previous targeted preschool program, which was for students with risk factors. The targeted program, which ended in June, capped class sizes at 16 children, while the universal preschool program will allow classes of up to 24.&nbsp;</p><h2>Elementary students get the same hours. Should preschoolers?</h2><p><strong>What Gov. Polis said: </strong>“I view preschool much like I view first grade, second grade, third grade, fourth grade. We don’t give more fourth grade hours to low-income families.”</p><p><strong>Fact check:</strong> This is misleading. It may be true that fourth graders from low-income households don’t get extra hours of school, but they already get six or seven hours of class a day.&nbsp;</p><p>Since the inception of Colorado’s universal preschool program, state leaders have talked about giving students with the highest needs more preschool to help them get ready for kindergarten. <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2022a_1295_signed.pdf">The 2022 law creating universal preschool</a> says to ensure equity, the state “must” invest in extra preschool for children in low-income families. As details of the new program unfolded last year, state officials spelled out what that additional programming would entail: 15 extra hours a week, for a total of 30.&nbsp;</p><p>Colorado has long made a point to provide extra help to children who face barriers to educational success — providing extra funding to their schools or direct support to their families. In fact, until the universal preschool program launched this month, Colorado’s publicly funded preschool program targeted only students from low-income families or who had other risk factors. In short, the state recognizes that some kids need more help than others and routinely crafts policy based on that distinction.&nbsp;</p><h2>Letter informing parents their children won’t get tuition-free full-day preschool</h2><p><div id="t4aSfn" class="html"><iframe src="https://embed.documentcloud.org/documents/23895199-upk-letter/?embed=1&amp;responsive=1&amp;title=1" title="UPK-letter (Hosted by DocumentCloud)" width="700" height="905" style="border: 1px solid #aaa; width: 100%; height: 800px; height: calc(100vh - 100px);" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-forms allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox" ></iframe> </div></p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </em><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><em>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em></a><em>.</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/8/15/23833774/fact-check-polis-colorado-universal-preschool-full-day/Ann Schimke2023-08-07T17:27:09+00:002023-08-07T17:27:09+00:00<p>There were stay-at-home mothers looking for work that matched their children’s school schedules, a former Starbucks barista who had tired of starting at 5 a.m., and a 60-year-old former Molly Maid employee who said housecleaning had become too much.&nbsp;</p><p>All joined the bustle at an Aurora Public Schools job fair just a week before school was set to start and talked to recruiters about positions driving buses, working with preschoolers, preparing meals, or cleaning schools.&nbsp;</p><p>In Colorado and nationwide, acute staffing shortages have made it harder for school districts to deliver basic services. But Aurora hiring representatives were upbeat about the prospect of filling vacancies in the 39,000-student district — if not by the first day of school on Aug. 8, soon after.</p><p>Travis Brown, a lead trainer with the district’s transportation department, said interest from candidates is higher this year than last.</p><p>“Are things still lean? Yeah, they are,” he said. “But there’s definitely a change in the number of folks who are coming out. Job fairs like this would have been desolate a year ago.”&nbsp;</p><p>Last-minute hiring is nothing new for school districts. Many have faced shortages of <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/5/19/23730533/international-teachers-philippines-colorado-springs-harrison-eagle-schools-shortage">special education, math, and science educators</a>, mental health staff, and bus drivers for years. Last school year, 720 teaching positions and 570 classroom aide positions went unfilled across Colorado, according to data from the state’s <a href="https://www.cde.state.co.us/educatortalent/2022-23educatorshortagereport">annual educator shortage survey</a>. Hundreds more jobs were filled through stopgap measures like hiring retired educators or long-term substitutes.&nbsp;</p><p>Cynthia Cobb, Aurora’s early childhood education director, welcomed a steady stream of candidates to her table during the first hour of Tuesday’s job fair, taking down contact information and explaining the credentials needed to work with young children. Her department had 43 positions to fill, a combination of lead teacher and classroom aide jobs.&nbsp;</p><p>Cobb said there are more vacancies than usual, because the district is adding 19 preschool classrooms this fall as part of the state’s new universal preschool program, which provides tuition-free classes to any 4-year-old whose family wants it.&nbsp;</p><p>But like Brown, she said there’s more interest from job seekers, too. That’s due in part to a wage boost that has made Aurora more competitive with neighboring districts, such as Denver and Cherry Creek. Aurora’s starting pay for preschool aides is now $20 an hour, up from $14 last year.&nbsp;</p><p>Noting that she received 75 applications through the job search website Indeed during the past week, she said, “It didn’t happen before.”&nbsp;</p><p>To sweeten the deal, Cobb also let candidates know that she has grant money that can help them pay for early childhood education classes at the Community College of Aurora — on top of <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/4/4/23010605/colorado-universal-preschool-teacher-workforce-free-college-classes">free courses</a> the state is already covering as part of an effort to develop more early childhood teachers.&nbsp;</p><p>Selena Canche, a mother of five, attended the fair to find something with more consistent hours than her part-time package delivery job through Amazon Flex. She hoped for work in one of the district’s cafeterias or early childhood classrooms.&nbsp;</p><p>“Being able to work where my kids go to school is the goal,” she said.&nbsp;</p><p>Renée Le Floch, the former house cleaner, left the fair with the promise of a job interview with the district’s nutrition department the next day. After years of physical work, she hoped to land something less taxing. Plus, she said, working around children is her dream.</p><p>At the booth for the district’s nutrition department — which is hiring for 50 positions — a poster advertised the starting wage at $13.80 an hour. But Bianca Mendoza, a staffing and marketing specialist for the district, quickly noticed it was out of date. The rate is now $15.26 an hour, she said.&nbsp;</p><p>The job is fun, said Mendoza. “You get to love on those kids, feed them, hear their stories.”&nbsp;</p><p>Monica Drees, the former barista, stopped by three tables at the fair, but said a nutrition services job was her top choice. It would offer flexible hours and let her capitalize on her experience in food service.&nbsp;</p><p>Plus, she said, Mendoza “seemed really nice.”</p><p>“I can learn how to do a job,” Drees said, “but mostly I want to like my coworkers.”</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </em><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><em>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em></a><em>. Chalkbeat intern Sara Martin contributed to this report.</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/8/7/23823027/colorado-school-districts-rush-to-fill-job-openings-before-school-starts/Ann Schimke2023-08-02T23:12:28+00:002023-08-02T23:12:28+00:00<p><em>Sign up for&nbsp;</em><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/subscribe"><em>Chalkbeat Colorado’s free daily newsletter</em></a><em>&nbsp;to keep up with education news from Denver and around the state.</em>&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Nikki Spasova expected her 4-year-old son to get free full-day classes through the state’s new universal preschool program since he’s still learning English.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>But just two weeks before Kristian was set to start preschool, Spasova learned that wasn’t the case. Instead, the state program will cover just 15 hours of preschool, the same hours offered to Colorado children who don’t face barriers to success in school.</p><p>Colorado’s universal preschool plan called for children like Kristian to get up to 30 hours a week at no cost to their families, provided there was enough money. It turns out there isn’t.&nbsp;</p><p>In the final weeks before school starts, that shortfall triggered a provision in state law that tightened eligibility requirements so that only children who are low-income and have a second risk factor will receive full-day classes.</p><p>Instead of half of 4-year-olds being offered free full-time preschool, just 13% will.&nbsp;</p><p>Some of the affected children are learning English, like Kristian. Many more are from low-income families —&nbsp;and money for additional child care subsidies is limited, too. Meanwhile, the state is sticking to its plan to offer 15 tuition-free hours to all 4-year-olds, even those from well-to-do families — more hours than required by state law.</p><p>“To cut back on the ones who really need it does not feel fair,” said Jean Doolittle, the owner of Southglenn Montessori Preschool in Centennial where Kristian is enrolled. “Instead of taking a little bit from everybody, they took a lot from those who need it most.”&nbsp;</p><p>The decision illustrates the trade-off Colorado leaders made in designing the new preschool program, which launches this month. Many early childhood advocates cheered Colorado’s move from a preschool program that targets certain kids to one that’s open to all 4-year-olds, but as the program rolls out, some providers are concerned the universal model shortchanges children facing the toughest odds.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Four-year-old Kristian, whose native language is Bulgarian, is among nearly 11,000 Colorado children who won’t be offered tuition-free full-day preschool this fall. The news has left families and providers scrambling with only days or weeks before school starts.</p><p>At least one district — Aurora Public Schools — has decided to cover the cost of full-day preschool for families the state rejected for the extra help.</p><p>But many families will either have to come up with the extra tuition money, switch their child to a half-day program, or bow out altogether.</p><p>For Kristian’s parents, the last-minute switch means they’ll have to pay $428 a month more than they’d planned.&nbsp;</p><p>“We can barely make it,” said Spasova.</p><h2>Preschool funding gets spread more thinly</h2><p>When state officials asked <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2020/11/3/21548349/proposition-ee-colorado-2020-election-results">voters in 2020 to approve a nicotine tax</a> to help pay for universal preschool, they promised 10 tuition-free hours a week to any Colorado 4-year-old whose family wanted it. Last fall, they decided to offer 15. At the same time, state officials planned to provide 30 hours a week to children with the highest needs — those from low-income families, with limited English skills, with a special education plan, are homeless, or are in foster care.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>The state’s online application told parents that extra hours for students with any one of the five risk factors “will be added” after their application is reviewed,</p><p>But when demand for the new program exploded, there wasn’t enough money for everything.</p><p>Dawn Odean, Colorado’s universal preschool director, said <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb22-1295">Colorado’s 2022 preschool law</a> dictated which groups would get prioritized for preschool funding and didn’t guarantee that students with risk factors would get extra hours.&nbsp;</p><p>State officials expected about half of Colorado 4-year-olds — around 30,000 —&nbsp;to participate this year, but is on track to exceed that.&nbsp;</p><p>Conor Cahill, a spokesperson for Gov. Jared Polis, said in an email Wednesday that sign-ups have hit 36,000.&nbsp;</p><p>That’s a number legislative staff worried about as far back as February, estimating it would cost $30 million more than the $322 million budgeted for universal preschool to serve all those additional children, according to <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/fy2023-24_earfig_0.pdf">a budget memo</a>. To avoid too many signups in the first year, they recommended no extra funding for marketing universal preschool. The governor’s office used its own funds to pay for marketing and now touts that the state has surpassed its goals for enrollment in the first year.</p><p>Additionally, Cahill said the governor wants to offer 18 hours of preschool a week to all 4-year-olds by the end of his second term in 2026.&nbsp;</p><p>Odean, when asked how she would respond to families whose children have risk factors and who feel misled, said “that’s a hard one” and that the department is always looking at how they can give families more clarity.</p><p>“Are we getting to our most vulnerable?” she said. “I don’t think we know that at this point, but there is definitely all eyes on that consideration.”&nbsp;</p><p>In the Aurora district, officials expected about 1,200 universal preschool students to qualify for full-day funding because they have a risk factor, but only around 300 met the new criteria. Cynthia Cobb, Aurora’s early childhood education director, said the district will cover the cost of full-day classes for families the state rejected for extra hours.&nbsp;</p><p>“I’m grateful that the district has made the commitment that at this point we’re not changing any of their programming.”&nbsp;</p><p>Like other providers, she said the state application wasn’t clear. Since it indicated that families would get extra preschool hours if they had one risk factor, some families simply checked a single box even if they had multiple risk factors.&nbsp;</p><p>“So they may have said we speak another language at home and I’m done, I’ve got my risk factor,” said Cobb.&nbsp;</p><h2>A pandemic baby faces language struggles</h2><p>When the pandemic hit, Kristian had just turned one. He ended up spending lots of time with his parents on empty playgrounds or family hikes, but little time with people who might have exposed him to conversational English, Spasova said.</p><p>When he started at Doolittle’s home-based child care program a couple years ago, he knew two English words: “OK” and “hi.” Although he was shy, he started making big strides with English after about six months.&nbsp;</p><p>But his English still needs work and Spasova said she doesn’t feel confident enough to do it on her own.&nbsp;</p><p>“His head is jumbled. He will speak half a sentence in English and half a sentence in Bulgarian,” Spasova said. “It’s imperative for him to go to preschool so he can go to kindergarten next year and he will actually know some English.”&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Kristian’s first day of universal preschool at Doolittle’s home was Monday. He’s among five children there who are participating in the state-funded program this year and one of two with a state-recognized risk factor.&nbsp;</p><p>Doolittle said the other family whose child has a risk factor opted for half-day preschool, but not Kristian’s family.&nbsp;</p><p>“That language obstacle is still humongous,” she said. “Him being here more hours is a huge benefit to him.”&nbsp;</p><h2>Low-income families could lose out</h2><p>Most of the 4-year-olds who have a single risk factor — and won’t qualify for 30 free hours of preschool a week — come from families considered low-income.&nbsp;</p><p>Michelle Dalbotten, who heads Step by Step, a Northglenn child care center, said some of her families fall into that category and recently found out their kids will only get 15 tuition-free hours a week.&nbsp;</p><p>“That’s where they may feel duped,” she said.</p><p>Under the universal preschool program, families qualify as low-income if they make less than 270% of the federal poverty level — about $81,000 for a family of four. That threshold means there’s nothing distinguishing very low-income families from families on the cusp of middle income.&nbsp;</p><p>Odean, from the Department of Early Childhood, said officials first need to see which preschoolers show up this fall, and then can use that data to make tweaks for next year.</p><p>She said the state officials could consider lowering the income threshold or establishing multiple tiers within the low-income category.</p><p>Melissa Mares, director of early childhood initiatives for the Colorado Children’s Campaign, said she’s hopeful that low-income families who aren’t offered full-day preschool through the universal program, may be able to use <a href="https://cdec.colorado.gov/colorado-child-care-assistance-program-for-families">state child care subsidies</a> or other funding sources to get the extra hours they need.&nbsp;</p><p>The subsidy application is separate from the universal preschool application this year, but the state plans to combine them in the future, she noted.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>“What we’re hearing from families is they want it to be easy,” she said.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>But Heather O’Hayre, Larimer County’s director of human services, worries that the subsidy program can’t compensate for the shortfall in the universal preschool budget — especially once federal COVID stimulus money runs out in 2024.&nbsp;</p><p>Already, there’s only enough money to provide child care subsidies to about 10% of eligible children, she said.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.</em></p><h2>Letter informing parents their children won’t get tuition-free full-day preschool</h2><p><div id="6cy2qe" class="html"><iframe src="https://embed.documentcloud.org/documents/23895199-upk-letter/?embed=1&amp;responsive=1&amp;title=1" title="UPK-letter (Hosted by DocumentCloud)" width="700" height="905" style="border: 1px solid #aaa; width: 100%; height: 800px; height: calc(100vh - 100px);" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-forms allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox" ></iframe> </div></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/8/2/23815102/colorado-universal-full-day-preschool-extra-hours-risk-factors-backtrack/Ann Schimke2023-07-18T20:40:56+00:002023-07-18T20:40:56+00:00<p>Colorado residents interested in early childhood and five other high-demand careers can get training for free starting this fall at more than a dozen community colleges around the state.&nbsp;</p><p>It’s part of a new <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1246">$40 million state program</a> called <a href="https://cccs.edu/new-students/explore-programs/zero-cost-training-programs/career-advance-colorado/">Career Advance Colorado</a> that’s intended to mint thousands of workers in shortage areas. Besides early childhood education, the program will cover tuition, course materials, and fees for up to two years of training for students studying education, construction, law enforcement, nursing, and fire and forestry.&nbsp;</p><p>“All these fields are in need of great folks to fill jobs that are open today and that are critical for our state’s success,” said <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yEQsjkXvsA">Gov. Jared Polis in a recorded announcement</a> about Career Advance.&nbsp;</p><p>The program is open to new students and those currently enrolled in one of the six target areas. For those already enrolled, the state will pay for their remaining coursework.</p><p>The offer of free training for prospective early childhood employees comes amid an ongoing shortage of child care and preschool teachers that’s led to shuttered classrooms at some centers. The need for qualified staff has become even more pressing as Colorado prepares to launch a major expansion of tuition-free preschool in August. More than 31,000 4-year-olds are expected to participate.</p><p>Career Advance is the latest effort by state policymakers to beef up the<a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/4/4/23010605/colorado-universal-preschool-teacher-workforce-free-college-classes"> anemic pipeline of early childhood teachers</a>. In recent years, the state used COVID stimulus money to pay for two introductory early childhood classes for hundreds of college students. It also offered scholarship and apprenticeship programs for students seeking early childhood credentials.&nbsp;</p><p>In Colorado, where the median preschool teacher wage is around <a href="https://cscce.berkeley.edu/workforce-index-2020/states/colorado/">$15.25 an hour</a>, it’s hard to make a living in the early childhood field. The cost of college classes or student loan debt makes the barrier to entry even higher.&nbsp;</p><p>State officials and advocates recently have taken tentative steps towards addressing the field’s abysmal pay. As part of an effort to pay preschool teachers a living wage, the state pays a higher per-student rate in the new universal preschool program than it pays public schools for each K-12 student. In addition, the state recently unveiled a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OfcyY7HLWM4aPVDWv1yd3VmHFvr60HcO/view">report recommending a series of statewide early childhood salary scales</a> that would significantly boost pay. For example, the suggested rate would be at least $22 an hour for early childhood teachers in metro Denver and some mountain communities. The salary scales are not binding for preschool and child care providers, but show what workers in different regions would need to earn to make a living wage.</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/7/18/23799385/colorado-early-childhood-free-training-career-advance/Ann Schimke2023-06-28T20:48:25+00:002023-06-28T20:48:25+00:00<p><em>Sign up for </em><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/subscribe"><em>Chalkbeat Colorado’s free daily newsletter</em></a><em> to keep up with education news from Denver and around the state.</em> &nbsp;</p><p>It was portrayed as an exciting plan with lofty goals: Two of Denver’s homegrown charter school networks would join forces to strengthen academics, support students’ mental health, and better prepare them for life beyond high school. English learners and students with disabilities would achieve exceptional results.</p><p>The <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/8/3/23291341/strive-prep-rocky-mountain-denver-charter-merger">merger of Rocky Mountain Prep and STRIVE Prep</a>, announced last summer, also would help the organizations survive a host of challenges: declining enrollment, tighter budgets, and more scrutiny of their academic records by a skeptical school board.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>To shepherd the merger, the schools’ leaders chose a charter school executive named Tricia Noyola, who had overseen a major charter expansion in Austin, Texas.</p><p>But the past year has been tense and chaotic, with hundreds of employees from the two networks leaving, an about-face by network leaders on which name the new network will carry, and a chorus of concerns about Noyola’s leadership. Now, with just days until the merger becomes official, it remains to be seen if the two networks will be stronger together or an ill-fated match.&nbsp;</p><p>The new network will take the Rocky Mountain Prep name and serve nearly 5,000 students in preschool through 12th grade across a dozen campuses. It will be the second largest charter network in the city and carry the hopes and dreams of thousands of Denver families, many of them low-income parents of color and immigrant families who fear their children won’t get the education they deserve in district-run schools.&nbsp;</p><p>Meanwhile, STRIVE Prep, once a key player and thought leader in the charter sector, will cease to exist.</p><p>Supporters of Noyola, who has been CEO of both networks for the past eight months though they are still separate organizations, see a Latina leader who comes from the same background as many students, champions student achievement, and brings a strong hand to management decisions.&nbsp;</p><p>Patrick Donovan, chair of the Rocky Mountain Prep board, said Noyola has tremendous expertise in running schools, particularly when it comes to academics and school culture.&nbsp;</p><p>Detractors paint a different picture, describing a leader who rules through fear, drives away experienced educators, and fails to support new teachers. They also see a single-minded pursuit of higher test scores and a diminished focus on student mental health, support for students with disabilities, and programming that elevates student voices, such as middle school speech and debate classes and social justice-themed events for high schoolers.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/KHJlxviSb18u7tDaM1MViOKxr54=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/BLTKI4UCBVDP7AWUHN7GIW7GUA.jpg" alt="Tricia Noyola, CEO of STRIVE Prep and Rocky Mountain Prep" height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Tricia Noyola, CEO of STRIVE Prep and Rocky Mountain Prep</figcaption></figure><p>Under Noyola, who’s on track to earn $340,000 from the two networks this school year —&nbsp; more than any superintendent in Colorado — <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23830295-strive-unionization?responsive=1&amp;title=1">teachers have been urged not to unionize</a> and warned <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23830298-strive-media-warning?responsive=1&amp;title=1">not to talk to the media about the merger.</a>&nbsp;</p><p>“There’s only one reason people want to unionize, and it’s because there’s mistrust and dissatisfaction, and you feel unappreciated,” said Jenny Bisha, whose job as STRIVE Prep’s director of continuous improvement is being cut at the end of June. Bisha has not been involved in any unionization efforts.&nbsp;</p><p>Several educators said their recent experiences at Rocky Mountain Prep or STRIVE Prep schools were so toxic or upsetting, it soured them on charter schools or teaching for good. Two said they counseled families to leave Rocky Mountain Prep because the schools weren’t meeting their children’s needs.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Chalkbeat spoke to more than three dozen people for this story, including current and former employees, network board members, parents, students, and education policy experts. Some asked that their names not be used for fear they could lose their jobs, have trouble getting references, or face retaliation.&nbsp;</p><p>Noyola declined repeated requests for interviews, but provided written answers to questions.&nbsp;</p><p>“I certainly set a high standard and expect everyone to meet it. To do any less would be a disservice to our students and families,“ she wrote. “I may be demanding, but I always strive to be fair.”</p><p>Board members from both networks suggested that Noyola’s critics are holding her to a higher standard than they did the former leaders of STRIVE and Rocky Mountain Prep, both of whom were white men.</p><p>“As a woman of color in this space, sometimes you’re subjected to more criticism than, I think, white men,” said Amber Valdez, vice chair of the STRIVE Prep board. “I think that Tricia came in with a clear vision and made no apologies. She’s not conflict averse, because she wants to get things done.”</p><h2>STRIVE, Rocky Mountain make plans to merge</h2><p>Leaders from STRIVE Prep and Rocky Mountain Prep publicly announced plans to join forces last August, saying the merger would create a cohesive preschool through 12th grade pathway — something they said families had sought for years.&nbsp;</p><p>Rocky Mountain has four elementary schools and STRIVE, since the closing of two middle schools this month, has eight mostly secondary schools.&nbsp;</p><p>Last summer, both organizations were in moments of transition.&nbsp;</p><p>“No [charter] network that I know of came out of a pandemic feeling like they were in a strong position,” said STRIVE Prep founder and former CEO Chris Gibbons.</p><p>Schools were also facing the end of a huge influx of federal COVID stimulus dollars that had helped pay for extra staff and services over the last few years, he said. Budget cuts were inevitable.&nbsp;</p><p>Valdez also said STRIVE families and stakeholders told leaders “that what STRIVE was missing was a clear vision, a clear goal.”</p><p>She and other board members say that’s what Noyola brought to the table.</p><p><div id="HD95tV" class="embed"><iframe title="Charters spread out across Denver metro area" aria-label="Locator maps" id="datawrapper-chart-ah1wB" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/ah1wB/7/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="785" data-external="1"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}(); </script></div></p><p>Noyola had moved to Denver from Austin in spring 2021 to take the helm of Rocky Mountain Prep when founder and CEO James Cryan left.&nbsp;</p><p>In spring 2022, Gibbons <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/5/13/23070151/chris-gibbons-strive-prep-denver-charter-schools">announced he was leaving STRIVE</a> for a job with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. (The foundation is a supporter of Chalkbeat. See a <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/pages/supporters">full list of our funders</a> and <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/pages/ethics">read our ethics policy</a>.)</p><p>Noyola applied to replace Gibbons, proposing that STRIVE and Rocky Mountain Prep merge and that she lead the combined network, according to STRIVE Board member Ulysses Estrada, who chaired the network’s CEO succession task force.&nbsp;</p><p>Gibbons said STRIVE leaders had previously considered the possibility of merging with another charter school or network. Rocky Mountain Prep had gone further, doubling the size of its network by taking over two struggling schools — <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2017/11/3/21103675/rocky-mountain-prep-to-open-third-denver-school-at-site-of-closing-charter">a charter school in Denver</a> and <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2016/6/22/21103166/aurora-school-board-approves-charter-school-being-eyed-as-replacement-for-struggling-elementary">a district-run school in Aurora</a> — by 2018.&nbsp;</p><p>STRIVE Prep and Rocky Mountain Prep serve similar populations, mostly students of color, with many coming from low-income families. About half of Rocky Mountain Prep students and nearly three-quarters of STRIVE students are English learners.&nbsp;</p><p>“Quite frankly, we were evaluating Tricia as any other CEO candidate,” said Estrada. “If we didn’t think Tricia had the right skills to lead STRIVE, we wouldn’t pursue [the merger].”</p><p>By July of 2022, the board decided that Noyola and the merger both were right for STRIVE. The two networks decided she would continue leading Rocky Mountain Prep for another year and become CEO of the united network when the merger was final on July 1, 2023.&nbsp;</p><h2>Denver is a tough market for charter school expansion</h2><p>Experts say the number of charter school mergers around the country has ticked up in recent years, sometimes fueled by the departure of founders who launched networks in the early 2000s, declining enrollment, or financial pressures.&nbsp;</p><p>STRIVE has closed three schools in the last three years, including the <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/10/25/23423634/strive-prep-lake-closure-denver-charter-school-enrollment">Lake</a> and <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/1/12/23552984/strive-prep-kepner-denver-charter-closure-vote-school-board">Kepner</a> campuses earlier this month. Denver has seen a <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2021/3/23/22347026/denver-charter-schools-shifting-politics">spate of other charter school closures</a> and <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2019/6/20/21108353/new-schools-that-want-to-open-in-denver-will-now-have-an-expiration-date">other networks have slowed their growth</a>.</p><blockquote><p>“Sadly, this wasn’t a merging. It was a takeover.”</p></blockquote><p>A <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23850180-denver_merger-considerations?responsive=1&amp;title=1">2021 analysis by the Charter School Growth Fund</a> concluded that if charter networks want to grow in the Denver market, mergers are the only reasonable path. The growth fund, which has provided funding to both STRIVE and Rocky Mountain Prep, helps fund charter school expansion around the nation.&nbsp;</p><p>Gibbons said the step is an important long-term strategy to address <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/11/9/23450225/takeaways-enrollment-analysis-schools-closing-jeffco-denver-aurora-census-data">shrinking enrollment</a>, financial sustainability, and a political climate in Denver that’s become <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2021/3/23/22347026/denver-charter-schools-shifting-politics">less friendly to charter schools</a>.</p><p>As for the recent spate of staff departures and simmering discontent in some quarters, he said, “We always knew this would be a very disruptive strategy in the short term.”&nbsp;</p><h2>Merger prompts major cultural change at STRIVE Prep</h2><p>When leaders from the two charter networks <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22126472-joint-community-letter-strive-prep-and-rmp-unite-aug2022?responsive=1&amp;title=1">unveiled the merger plan</a> last August, they said the new network would bear the STRIVE name. STRIVE leaders tapped the network’s lead attorney, Jessica Johnson, to serve as interim CEO until the union was official.&nbsp;</p><p>But within three months, Johnson was gone — a major personnel change that current and former employees said happened abruptly with no explanation.&nbsp;</p><p>Both Johnson and the network agreed to “communicate to everyone that Ms. Johnson’s departure from STRIVE Prep was voluntary,” according to a copy of Johnson’s severance agreement obtained by Chalkbeat through a public records request. The agreement promised Johnson would receive her interim CEO salary through June 30.&nbsp;</p><p>Johnson declined to comment for this story.</p><p>On November 2, the STRIVE Prep board <a href="https://striveprep.org/strive-prep-welcomes-its-next-leader-tricia-noyola/">named Noyola the new CEO of STRIVE Prep</a>, making her the leader of two different charter school networks simultaneously. She received a base annual salary of $220,000 from Rocky Mountain Prep and, when she took the top job at STRIVE, her monthly consulting fee was upped <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23836417-tn-consulting-agreement-8422?responsive=1&amp;title=1">from $4,000</a> to <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23836418-updated_consulting_agreement_-_t_noyola-11222?responsive=1&amp;title=1">$5,000</a>. In April, that <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23813744-updated_consulting_agreement_-_t_noyola-42023?responsive=1&amp;title=1">consulting fee was doubled to $10,000 a month</a>, retroactive to Oct 1.&nbsp;</p><p>That means Noyola’s pay, including a $24,000 bonus she received from Rocky Mountain Prep this year, totals $340,000. That’s more than the CEO of DSST, Denver’s largest charter school network, or the superintendents of Denver and Jeffco, Colorado’s two largest school districts, earned this year.&nbsp;</p><p><div id="g5u3Y4" class="embed"><iframe title="Pay comparison for school district and charter network leaders" aria-label="Table" id="datawrapper-chart-WSb8a" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/WSb8a/6/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="558" data-external="1"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}(); </script></div></p><p>Noyola wrote, “I was asked to do the job of two individuals when I became CEO of both networks, and my compensation remains lower than that of the combined compensation of both roles.”&nbsp;</p><p>Next school year, Noyola will earn a base salary of $290,000, with the possibility of a bonus.&nbsp;</p><p>In February, <a href="https://striveprep.org/strive-prep-rmp-integration-update/">STRIVE board members announced a reversal</a> on the new network’s name. Rocky Mountain Prep’s name, practices, and standards would replace those of STRIVE. They cited data from a consultant’s report that showed better academic and instructional results at <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1uX67ZcrltzlTLTVcRHLciiJb55T9SRDJnuUe3PsM-rE/edit#slide=id.g1a14773b30a_0_0">Rocky Mountain Prep</a> than <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17c8WG6vCH1GZ4HD5-A7o8TSKQ7vmPg4rZ8bjE3TTCMk/edit#slide=id.g1a7173da060_0_7">STRIVE</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>In 2022, fewer than 10% of students at five STRIVE schools were proficient on state math tests. The same was true in literacy for one STRIVE school. About 30% of all Rocky Mountain Prep students were proficient on math and literacy tests, still below the state average.</p><p>Parent Tracy Hill said her fourth grader has had a good experience at Rocky Mountain Prep–Berkeley since preschool. Keeping the Rocky Mountain Prep name feels like a win.</p><p>But this spring, Hill was surprised to learn from a reporter that the closest STRIVE school — the Lake campus — would close and won’t be an option when her daughter goes to sixth grade.</p><p>“That is a shame, because that’s walking distance from our house,” she said.&nbsp;</p><p>Meanwhile, the name change rocked some STRIVE students and families.&nbsp;</p><p>“Everyone in my neighborhood has probably gone to a STRIVE Prep school,” said Jacobo Gracia-Meza, who graduated from STRIVE Prep–SMART Academy in June and is headed to Colorado State University in the fall.&nbsp;</p><p>“The thought of our name being taken away, it’s also taking the hard work we put in,” he said.</p><p>His parents, meanwhile, are worried about the cost of buying new school uniforms for his younger brother.&nbsp;</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/d0PUx0ax_vA6ZJ0DEzVEngH64qI=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/VWYGGFWYAFGOPCTQZP77ODV3X4.jpg" alt="This summer, STRIVE Prep–SMART will become Rocky Mountain Prep–SMART." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>This summer, STRIVE Prep–SMART will become Rocky Mountain Prep–SMART.</figcaption></figure><h2>Educators see new emphasis on test prep amid merger plans</h2><p>Zion Gezaw, an assistant principal at STRIVE Prep’s Westwood middle school for most of the 2022-23 school year, noticed a shift around the time Noyola was named CEO of STRIVE schools.&nbsp;</p><p>First, it was little things. Teachers were told they had to use the same colors and borders on their bulletin boards. Then rules came down requiring strict adherence to the lessons and pacing in the curriculum.&nbsp;</p><p>The adaptations that Gezaw and the school’s eighth grade English teacher had made to create more culturally responsive and engaging lessons, such as adding the young adult novel “The Poet X,” were no longer acceptable.&nbsp;</p><p>Student grades and interest in those classes plummeted, Gezaw said.&nbsp;</p><p>“They made sure we knew they didn’t like it,” she said. “They would just not do it. They would put their heads down; they would sleep.”&nbsp;</p><p>Jeremy Story, a <a href="https://groundfloormedia.com/team/jeremy-story/">public relations contractor</a> who emailed answers to Chalkbeat on behalf of the networks, said STRIVE schools continued to use their own curriculum, and there were no pacing guides last school year. He didn’t address questions about whether modifications were allowed to make lessons more culturally responsive.&nbsp;</p><p>As a Black educator, Gezaw said she’d been attracted by STRIVE’s focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, but grew disillusioned as the emphasis shifted to test scores and uniformity. She quit in April.&nbsp;</p><p>Some former Rocky Mountain Prep employees say this approach is typical of the network’s philosophy, even with the youngest children, and they’re dismayed to see it spread.&nbsp;</p><p>Ellarie Anderson said when she learned of the merger, she thought, “Wow, we really don’t need more schools becoming like Rocky Mountain Prep.”</p><p>Anderson spent two years at Rocky Mountain Prep, starting a year before Noyola’s arrival. Throughout that time, she said her students, kindergartners and third graders, were expected to sit up straight at their desks, with their hands folded and eyes following the teacher. She said when supervisors observed, they’d count the number of students who met those standards. Those children were considered “engaged.”</p><p>Rocky Mountain Prep officials denied that students are expected to sit this way, with Story writing, “Absolutely not.”&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Anderson also said she was expected to follow rigid lesson plans prescribed by the network.&nbsp;</p><p>“You’d show up every day and read your script to the kids, and if the kids got it or didn’t, it didn’t matter. You just moved on the next day,” she said.</p><p>Story said Rocky Mountain Prep schools do use scripted curriculum, but that teachers can make adjustments based on the needs and best interests of students.&nbsp;</p><p>Annie Nelson, a former fifth grade teacher at Rocky Mountain Prep who left a year ago, said as state tests approached during the 2021-22 school year, she was asked to put more focus on students who were on the cusp of reaching proficiency at the expense of students who were far behind.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>An English teacher at one of STRIVE’s high schools described a change this year that required math and English teachers to drop their regular lessons starting in February to focus on SAT prep until the tests in April.</p><p>“It’s been SAT all day every day for kids, which has not been great,” the teacher said in late March. More kids were missing classes and their behavior was getting worse, he said.&nbsp;</p><p>But Adam Lenzmeier, the vice president of schools for STRIVE, sees test prep in a different light. “The best thing we can do for kids is to position them to go into those assessments with the confidence they deserve,” he said.</p><p>Asked about whether there is a growing emphasis on test prep and test scores, Noyola wrote that test scores are “only one way we measure success,” and that other measures include state ratings, student attendance, and whether students and teachers return each year.&nbsp;</p><h2>STRIVE Prep evolved to focus more on equity</h2><p>The history of STRIVE Prep traces the evolution of Colorado’s charter sector. STRIVE launched in 2006 with a single school called West Denver Prep. The idea was to provide a rigorous alternative to district-run middle schools with low test scores. Gibbons promised the mostly Latino families in southwest Denver eight hours of school per day, no summers off, strict discipline, and a focus on getting their children to college.</p><p>With high test scores and a long wait list, West Denver Prep opened more schools. By the time the network changed its name to STRIVE Prep in 2012, it was growing from four schools to seven. That same year, Rocky Mountain Prep opened its first school in southeast Denver.&nbsp;</p><p>By 2014, test scores at STRIVE’s eight schools began to fall. Gibbons pointed to high teacher turnover, curriculum changes, and too many innovations at once. Around that time, STRIVE began <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2017/5/30/21101083/inside-one-denver-charter-school-operator-s-push-to-serve-all-students">accepting a larger share of students with disabilities</a> than in the past, part of the network’s “equity agenda.”&nbsp;</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/Isc2dh9rPvw5WEocjs9dL9qdle8=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/KRGCRO3S2BEAXD7NH2ZQ7HT7PY.jpg" alt="Josue Bonilla, left, gets a high five from special education teacher Wendi Sussman at STRIVE Prep–Federal in 2016." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Josue Bonilla, left, gets a high five from special education teacher Wendi Sussman at STRIVE Prep–Federal in 2016.</figcaption></figure><p>In many ways, it signaled a shift away from the network’s “no excuses” style origins and a commitment to serving all students.&nbsp;</p><p>Bisha, STRIVE Prep’s director of continuous improvement who oversaw a grant related to special education, worries that Gibbons’ legacy is “being destroyed” through the relentless push for better test scores and the state’s top green rating.</p><p>“Is that the be-all end-all that gives kids equitable access after high school?” she said. “No, it’s not.”</p><p>Some current and former STRIVE employees worry the merger will rob the schools of STRIVE’s unique traits, including its focus on antiracism, its commitment to serving students with disabilities, and its robust college and career readiness programming.&nbsp;</p><p>A current STRIVE employee who helps oversee college and career programs said impending staff cuts will make it impossible for the merged network to continue offering overnight college trips, extensive concurrent enrollment classes, work-based learning, and career and financial aid advising for alumni.</p><p>“College and career readiness is not a priority from this new central team,” the employee said. “Sadly, this wasn’t a merging. It was a takeover.”</p><p>Noyola acknowledged the cuts and said each high school “is now empowered” to lead its own college and career programming.&nbsp;</p><p>Noyola disputed that the focus on students with disabilities and antiracism is diminishing, and said the network’s commitment to both “is greater than it has ever been.”</p><p>Through the changes, Noyola has maintained the support of both boards.</p><p>Estrada, the STRIVE board member who himself attended the network’s first middle school, said it’s misleading to say the network is moving away from its commitment to antiracism.&nbsp;</p><p>“I think our priority as an organization and the most antiracist work we can do is giving each student a college prep education,” he said.</p><h2>Who is Tricia Noyola?</h2><p>Noyola grew up in the Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas and has often talked about being underestimated by her teachers growing up. She has described herself as <a href="https://austinmoms.com/2018/02/21/tricia-noyola/">opinionated and headstrong,</a> and said she fell in love with education while working in an elementary school during college.&nbsp;</p><p>On the <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/joining-forces-a-weekly-update-with-ceo-tricia-noyola/id1654403819">weekly podcasts Noyola records</a> with updates for STRIVE and Rocky Mountain Prep staff, she strikes a conversational tone, discussing movies she plans to see with her husband and children and network goals like getting students to read a million words.</p><p>Noyola started her career at a large <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2018/10/4/21105895/the-big-idea-inside-the-fast-growing-charter-network-you-might-not-know-yet">Texas-based charter network called IDEA Public Schools</a>, which promotes a no excuses, college-for-all philosophy. Prior to her arrival in Colorado two years ago, Noyola helped IDEA grow from four to 16 schools in the Austin area.&nbsp;</p><p>Lenzmeier<strong>,</strong> who started as a STRIVE principal in 2020 and will manage four principals in the new network, said Noyola is uncompromising in what she believes is possible.</p><p>A former army officer, he believes that “Tricia Noyola shares a lot of similarities with the best commanders I worked with.”</p><p>But many STRIVE and Rocky Mountain Prep employees describe her as harsh and intimidating, with little tolerance for dissent. Under her leadership, staff have been fired with little or no notice, and others have been notified of impending job cuts on group Zoom calls that lasted just a few minutes, according to current and former employees.&nbsp;</p><p>“At my campus, staff were very afraid of her,” said one former mental health provider at Rocky Mountain Prep. “I’m very afraid of her. I do not want to be on her list or her radar.”</p><p>Noyola’s <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23831121-tricia-noyola-ceo-evaluation-2122?responsive=1&amp;title=1">most recent performance review from the 2021-22 school year</a> at Rocky Mountain Prep credited her with achieving three of five key goals and praised her for showing “leadership, resolve, and courage to make the necessary changes to achieve student results.” The review urged Noyola to give more attention to how changes are communicated, show more “vulnerability and humility,” and work with the board to avoid the strained relations that sometimes occurred over the previous year.</p><p>Gibbons said he hasn’t followed every change that Noyola has made, but said, “Tricia is coming into this experience with a lot of urgency, appropriately so, around raising results for kids,” he said. “I have tremendous confidence in her.”</p><p>Cryan, the founder and former CEO of Rocky Mountain Prep, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.&nbsp;</p><h2>Hundreds of employees left their jobs before the merger</h2><p>About half of STRIVE Prep staff and two-thirds of Rocky Mountain Prep staff — nearly 400 of 730 total employees — left their jobs between June 2022 and mid April 2023, according to numbers provided by the networks. Districts around the country are grappling with high turnover and teacher burnout, but teachers and staff interviewed by Chalkbeat say the level of turnover reflects a punitive network culture and hurts students.</p><p>Several educators told Chalkbeat the flood of departures meant that students missed out on legally required special education services, English language development instruction, or mental health support. Sometimes, students felt confused or hurt after a trusted teacher disappeared without notice.</p><p>Among the departures, which resulted from resignations, firings, and job cuts, were more than 160 teachers and 40 principals, assistant principals, deans, or principal fellows. STRIVE lost 32&nbsp;high-level central staff — chiefs, directors, and managers —&nbsp;and Rocky Mountain Prep lost 24. The networks lost 18 mental health providers, including social workers, social emotional learning specialists, and a psychologist.&nbsp;</p><p>Eleven STRIVE employees, most of whom are Black or Latino and half of whom were central administrators, have left since last June with severance agreements that awarded them between one and eight months of pay but also banned them from criticizing the network. Chalkbeat obtained the agreements through a public records request. No Rocky Mountain Prep employees received severance pay or signed separation agreements during that period.&nbsp;</p><blockquote><p>“We want teachers in our network who are behind our new mission, all of our values, and our new leadership.”</p></blockquote><p>Noyola attributed some of the turnover to the so-called “Great Resignation,” a pandemic-era trend in which <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2022/9/6/23220508/teachers-leaving-the-profession-quitting-teaching-reasons">many employees, including teachers, left their jobs</a>. More STRIVE administrators left because their network is undergoing bigger changes, she said. Some of the employees who left were in temporary positions, and their departures may have inflated the turnover rate, she added.&nbsp;</p><p>Noyola acknowledged that the networks have suffered from a shortage of special education providers but said her team aims to rectify problems immediately when they are identified. She did not address the claim that English learners have missed language development sessions.</p><p>Valdez, vice chair of the STRIVE board, said, “We knew with the change of leadership … some people were going to leave and that we were okay with that because we want teachers in our network who are behind our new mission, all of our values, and our new leadership.”&nbsp;</p><p>Donovan, the Rocky Mountain Prep board chair, said the board has monitored departures and that turnover is slowing.</p><p>Nelson, the former fifth grade teacher, said the network struggles with teacher retention in part because it recruits young, inexperienced teachers, provides them insufficient support, and holds them to an impossible standard.&nbsp;</p><p>Noyola said the network “has a number of positions whose responsibilities include directly coaching and supporting teachers. I’m confident based on our outcomes that our system is effective.”</p><p>Even as Noyola cut some employees in response to purported budget pressures, she gave generous raises and bonuses to others — a move she said was warranted by the additional work those employees are doing and the value they provide to students.</p><h2>School staff protest their working conditions</h2><p>Throughout fall of 2021, teachers or other staff members at Rocky Mountain Prep–Berkeley seemed to be quitting almost every week, said Meghan Mallon, a former music teacher at the school. Teachers who stayed were constantly juggling extra kids or classes to cover for departed colleagues. For students who were supposed to get daily instruction to improve their English language skills, that meant sometimes missing three or four sessions a week because their teacher was assigned elsewhere, she said.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>In late January 2022, after one lead teacher was told she’d be removed from her position and reassigned elsewhere in the building, Mallon and a colleague organized a one-day sick-out in protest. About a dozen teachers participated, sending an email to Noyola and other Rocky Mountain Prep administrators with a list of the group’s concerns, including the teacher’s abrupt demotion, the missed sessions for students learning English, and the lack of coaching for teachers.&nbsp;</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/R1frmjB0Cu6WA3mEIMmTv-c8HbE=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/EHP2JH3UHJGFDIRUCDOXANGA34.jpg" alt="Cesar Chavez Academy, a struggling single-site charter school, was taken over and became Rocky Mountain Prep–Berkeley in 2018." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Cesar Chavez Academy, a struggling single-site charter school, was taken over and became Rocky Mountain Prep–Berkeley in 2018.</figcaption></figure><p>Mallon and the other main organizer were fired the day of the sick-out, and other participants were given a warning and told they couldn’t talk about it, according to <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23831154-ltr27-ca-290121rocky-mountain-prep?responsive=1&amp;title=1">a charge later filed by Mallon with National Board of Labor Relations</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>A lawyer for Rocky Mountain Prep responded to the labor board’s charge with <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23831156-rmp-objection-to-nlrb-jurisdiction-030222?responsive=1&amp;title=1">a nine-page letter arguing the case should be dismissed</a> because charter schools don’t fall under the labor board’s jurisdiction. The <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23831151-dismissal-letter?responsive=1&amp;title=1">labor relations board ultimately agreed</a> and dismissed the case.</p><h2>Grievances describe ‘worst’ work environment</h2><p>Shortly after Mallon and the other sick-out organizer were fired, Ana de Vries, the principal of the Berkeley campus, <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23831150-adv_grievance_021322?responsive=1&amp;title=1">filed a grievance against Noyola</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>In response to a public records request, Rocky Mountain Prep provided a copy of the grievance that was heavily redacted to protect the privacy of minors. A less redacted copy of the complaint obtained by Chalkbeat contends Noyola used her power to “harass, intimidate, discriminate against, and coerce RMP staff.” It describes a meeting in which Noyola demanded that a teacher “admit her white privilege” as well as wrongdoing unrelated to the reason for the meeting.</p><p>De Vries, who is Latina, said in an interview she felt Noyola’s demands of the teacher were inappropriate. She filed the grievance after Noyola refused to meet with her to discuss the meeting. After she submitted the complaint, she said Noyola cut her out of all communications related to the Berkeley campus.&nbsp;</p><p>It “created the worst environment I’ve ever worked in,” said de Vries, who <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23820470-ana-de-vries-resignation-letter-february-2022-docs?responsive=1&amp;title=1">resigned in February 2022</a> after two and a half years with the network and 12 years in the charter sector.</p><p>Rocky Mountain Prep officials said <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23831152-rmp-response-to-grievancesdocx?responsive=1&amp;title=1">de Vries’ grievance prompted the board to adopt a policy</a> outlining how conflicts should be addressed in select circumstances. (Chalkbeat is not describing the circumstances to protect the privacy of children.)</p><p>In a second grievance, a Berkeley teacher named <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23831148-papiernik_grievance_060222?responsive=1&amp;title=1">Alyssa Papiernik </a>described a culture of fear and constant hostility between Noyola and some employees.</p><p>Papiernik closed by writing, “I dread coming to work everyday ... I am hoping next year Tricia changes her attitude towards her staff.”</p><p>The <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23831152-rmp-response-to-grievancesdocx?responsive=1&amp;title=1">Rocky Mountain Prep board found no substance</a> to Papiernik’s claim.&nbsp;</p><p>A<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23813788-mallory-tozierstrive-prep-ceo-grievance-complaint11202022-1-1?responsive=1&amp;title=1"> third grievance</a> came last November, shortly after Noyola was named CEO of STRIVE Prep and was conducting a series of town hall meetings to introduce herself to STRIVE staff. Mallory Tozier, a white assistant principal at STRIVE’s Smart Academy, described a tense exchange during the question-and-answer period in which she felt Noyola implied she had a white savior complex.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>A staff member of color whose account was included in the grievance echoed Tozier’s account and said Noyola’s reaction “seemed cruel and unnecessary” and “painfully silenced people like me.”&nbsp;</p><p>Chalkbeat obtained Tozier’s grievance through a public records request. STRIVE Prep officials said an investigation found no wrongdoing by Noyola.</p><p>“I doubt there is a principal or CEO in [Denver Public Schools] who hasn’t had a complaint filed against them at some point,” Noyola wrote in response to questions. “Grievances reflect a single point of view, and we have a process that takes every grievance seriously.”</p><h2>Rocky Mountain Prep enters a new era</h2><p>When the new school year starts in August, STRIVE Prep will no longer exist, and Rocky Mountain Prep will have triple the schools it had last year.&nbsp;</p><p>Some current and former staff from both networks have serious misgivings. They say Rocky Mountain Prep’s “rigor and love” slogan now rings hollow.</p><p>But for Noyola and other network leaders, it’s an exciting time.&nbsp;</p><p>They say student achievement is increasing, and almost all families are planning to return next year. Enrollment projections provided by the network suggest K-12 student numbers will hold steady at about 4,700 even with this summer’s closure of two STRIVE schools.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>“The sheer optimism is remarkable,” Rocky Mountain Prep’s Chief of Staff Indrina Kanth said in an email.</p><p>In a recent message to staff, Noyola thanked those who remain and those who have joined her for the “awe-inspiring” results produced this school year.&nbsp;</p><p>“I know this came at costs and sacrifices that each of us made to further the mission,” she wrote.</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at&nbsp;</em><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><em>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em></a><em>.</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/6/28/23775757/denver-charter-schools-strive-prep-rocky-mountain-prep-merger-tricia-noyola/Ann Schimke2023-06-15T23:00:38+00:002023-06-15T23:00:38+00:00<p>The University of Colorado Denver won full state approval Thursday for three teacher preparation program tracks after addressing problems in how it trains aspiring educators to teach children to read.&nbsp;</p><p>The State Board of Education unanimously voted to reauthorize the elementary education, special education, and early childhood education programs nearly a year <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/8/16/23308964/university-of-colorado-denver-teacher-prep-changes-reading-read-act">after granting only partial approval</a> because of weaknesses in reading coursework.&nbsp;</p><p>State officials <a href="https://go.boarddocs.com/co/cde/Board.nsf/files/CS6UBD7B3D88/$file/UCD%20Follow-Up%20Report_%20April%202023.pdf">praised the university</a> for improvements that ensure aspiring teachers understand and can apply key components of science-based reading instruction and don’t receive conflicting information about how to teach reading.</p><p>Thursday’s decision is the latest step in an ongoing state effort to hold Colorado’s teacher preparation programs accountable for properly training future educators how to teach reading. The state began <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2019/3/14/21109333/concerned-about-reading-instruction-state-cracks-down-on-teacher-prep-programs-starting-with-colorad">cracking down on teacher prep programs</a> — specifically their approach to reading instruction — in 2018 as part of a broader push by lawmakers, state education officials, and parents of children with dyslexia to get more students reading at grade level.&nbsp;</p><p>The state’s <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/12/20/23519113/katy-anthes-colorado-education-commissioner-resigning">outgoing education commissioner Katy Anthes</a> received praise for leading the push for more oversight of reading instruction in teacher prep programs.&nbsp;</p><p>“These educator preparation reauthorization items have you written all over them,” Colleen O’Neil, associate commissioner of educator talent at the Colorado Department of Education, said to Anthes during the meeting. “Because what you did was ensure every student knows how to read.”</p><p>Also on Thursday, the state board granted full approval to all majors in the teacher prep program at Colorado Christian University and an alternative prep program offered through East Central BOCES. Both programs were reauthorized on their first try.</p><p>The University of Colorado Denver is one of several teacher prep programs that revamped reading coursework in recent years following poor state reviews. The state’s two largest prep programs, <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2021/5/12/22433210/colorados-largest-teacher-prep-program-full-state-approval-literacy-overhaul">the University of Northern Colorado</a> and <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2021/4/15/22386503/msu-denver-wins-full-state-approval-for-two-majors-after-reading-revamp">Metropolitan State University of Denver</a>, also made changes.&nbsp;</p><p>The reading coursework overhauls seem to have paid off.</p><p>Earlier this week, a national organization gave Colorado major kudos for how its teacher prep programs cover reading instruction, <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/6/12/23758576/colorado-teacher-preparation-program-reading-report-top-state-university-northern-colorado">ranking it No. 1 in the country</a>. Just a few years ago, Colorado was in the middle of the pack.</p><p>In that report from the National Council on Teacher Quality, most of the state’s teacher prep programs earned an A or A+ for elementary education, including the University of Colorado Denver’s undergraduate program, Colorado Christian University’s undergraduate program, and the University of Northern Colorado’s undergraduate and graduate programs. The report didn’t analyze reading coursework in alternative teacher prep programs.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </em><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><em>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em></a><em>. </em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/6/15/23762617/university-colorado-denver-teacher-prep-state-approval-reading/Ann Schimke2023-06-13T04:01:18+00:002023-06-13T04:01:18+00:00<p><em>Sign up for </em><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/subscribe"><em>Chalkbeat Colorado’s free daily newsletter</em></a><em> to keep up with education news from Denver and around the state.</em> &nbsp;</p><p>Colorado is the top state in the nation for how its teacher preparation programs train aspiring educators to teach children to read, <a href="https://www.nctq.org/review/standard/Reading-Foundations">according to a new national report</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>The report, released Tuesday by the National Council on Teacher Quality, praised Colorado for pushing teacher prep programs to improve reading coursework through stricter state oversight. It credited those efforts with moving Colorado from the middle of the pack in the council’s 2020 report to No. 1 in 2023.</p><p>Colorado’s top billing in the council’s report reflects the <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/11/2/23435686/colorado-science-of-reading-curriculum-changes-literacy-denver-adams12-eagle">state’s yearslong campaign</a> to get more students reading on grade level by banning discredited elementary reading curriculum and mandating teacher training aligned with research on how children learn to read. Those efforts sometimes spurred pushback from school district and teacher prep program leaders, but generally the state education department held its ground.</p><p>Heather Peske, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality, said Colorado’s progress in recent years demonstrates that teacher prep programs not only can change their practices, but can do so relatively quickly.&nbsp;</p><p>Nationally, there’s been improvement, but more is needed, she said. “Part of the problem is it’s pockets of progress rather than progress at scale.”&nbsp;</p><p><div id="l2vJGB" class="embed"><iframe title="Colorado teacher prep program grades" aria-label="Table" id="datawrapper-chart-tX0Gl" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/tX0Gl/3/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="706" data-external="1"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}(); </script></div></p><p>Of 15 Colorado teacher prep programs included in the report, about three-quarters received a grade of A or A+ compared with about a quarter of prep programs nationwide. Since this year’s report uses different methodology and takes a deeper dive into universities’ reading coursework than past reports, prep program grades aren’t comparable across years but state rankings are, Peske said.</p><p>Colorado is unusual in the clarity of its standards for reading coursework in teacher prep programs and its willingness to sanction programs that don’t meet those standards, she said. Over the last five years, the State Board of Education has ordered seven teacher prep programs to improve their reading coursework — withholding full state approval until they did.&nbsp;</p><p>The University of Northern Colorado, the state’s largest teacher prep program, was the first program to <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2019/3/14/21109333/concerned-about-reading-instruction-state-cracks-down-on-teacher-prep-programs-starting-with-colorad">face that penalty in 2019</a>. Two years later, it won full state approval, and now, the council’s report has awarded its undergraduate and graduate elementary education programs an A and A+ respectively. The university’s undergrad program was also the only one in Colorado to earn full credit for its approach to reading instruction for English learners.&nbsp;</p><p>Jared Stallones, dean of the University of Northern Colorado’s College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, said, “We really appreciate the reviews that NCTQ has done .... I think it reflects well on the work our faculty have done and revising our programs.”</p><p>He said the university decided to make changes to its reading courses after “some soul searching, and frankly, some critique back and forth between the Department of Education and our faculty.”&nbsp;</p><p>Faculty members created a literacy committee to standardize practices for reading instruction across the university, clustered state reading standards in a few key courses, and gave students a chance to practice applying those standards through a tutoring program offered in a local school district.&nbsp;</p><p>Emily Kahler, who will graduate this summer with a master’s degree in elementary education from the University of Northern Colorado, said she took two core classes that focused on the science of reading.&nbsp;</p><p>When she began substitute teaching in a kindergarten class this spring, she said, “I was able to jump right in and easily figure out where my students were using all the foundations that the program taught me.”&nbsp;</p><p>Mary Bivens, executive director of educator workforce development at the Colorado Department of Education, said state officials found when they began reviewing reading content in teacher prep programs that some faculty members didn’t have deep knowledge about the science of reading — a large body of research about how children learn to read.</p><p>“It just wasn’t there for many of our programs,” she said during a recent webinar put on by the National Council on Teacher Quality.&nbsp;</p><p>Experts agree that learning to read includes five key components, including phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency, and reading comprehension.&nbsp;</p><p>In some cases, prep programs mixed science-aligned and debunked methods, which left students confused, Bivens said. State officials emphasized that science-based methods were “the way” to teach future teachers, not simply one option.&nbsp;</p><p>For the first time this year, the council’s report looked not just at whether prep programs teach scientifically-based approaches, but whether they include disproven methods, such as encouraging children to guess words based on pictures or other clues. Colorado’s prep programs had the second lowest use of such methods in the nation.&nbsp;</p><p>Bivens said when the state first started applying what she described as “gentle pressure” to teacher prep programs to change their reading coursework, some deans and professors resisted, citing academic freedom.&nbsp;</p><p>“The way we addressed it is, you don’t have the academic freedom if you want to be approved as a [teacher] licensure program in Colorado,” she said.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </em><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><em>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em></a><em>.&nbsp;</em></p><p><em>Sara Martin is an intern with Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Sara at smartin@chalkbeat.org.</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/6/12/23758576/colorado-teacher-preparation-program-reading-report-top-state-university-northern-colorado/Ann Schimke2023-05-30T16:24:00+00:002023-05-30T16:24:00+00:00<p><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/5/19/23730533/international-teachers-philippines-colorado-springs-harrison-eagle-schools-shortage"><em><strong>Read in English.</strong></em></a></p><p>El día que Nicole Oyson hizo la entrevista para un puesto de maestra de ciencias en la Carmel Community School de Colorado Springs el pasado julio, se levantó a las 3 a.m. para prepararse, maquillarse y ponerse una blusa y una chaqueta sobre unos pantalones cortos.</p><p>A las 4 a.m. en el pueblo de Mabinay en Filipinas, se unió nerviosa a una videollamada con dos entrevistadores de Colorado, donde ya era media tarde. A las 4:30 a.m. de Filipinas, Oyson tenía una oferta de trabajo.&nbsp;</p><p>“Me quedé en shock”, dijo. “Estaba a punto de llorar cuando la acepté”.&nbsp;</p><p>Oyson es una de los cada vez más numerosos maestros internacionales que están llenando vacantes en algunos distritos escolares de Colorado que enfrentan una escasez de maestros nacionales, especialmente en áreas como matemáticas, ciencias, educación especial y educación bilingüe. Los líderes del Distrito dicen que los educadores internacionales ayudan a cubrir brechas en el cuerpo docente y a ampliar los horizontes culturales de los estudiantes.</p><p>Oyson, que había sido maestra durante cinco años en Filipinas, dijo que cuando llegó a Carmel Community School el pasado septiembre, les mostró a sus estudiantes de octavo grado una presentación en PowerPoint sobre su país: la bandera, la comida, la cultura y las playas.&nbsp;</p><p>Los estudiantes decían: “Si viviera cerca, iría a nadar todos los días”, recuerda Oyson. “Algunos dijeron que nunca habían visto una playa ni el mar en persona”.&nbsp;</p><p>Filipinas está formada por más de 7,000 islas y su población es de unos 114 millones de habitantes.</p><p>Los estudiantes también hicieron muchas preguntas: ¿Cuánto tiempo tardó en viajar a Colorado? ¿Qué tipo de música les gusta a los filipinos? Varios niños querían saber cómo decir palabras y frases en tagalo, uno de los dos idiomas filipinos que habla Oyson.</p><p>“Son muy graciosos”, dijo.</p><p>Christine O’Brien, funcionaria de información pública del distrito de Harrison en Colorado Springs, donde trabaja Oyson y que tiene 12,600 estudiantes, dijo que el distrito empezó a contratar a maestros de Filipinas en año escolar 2015-16, y excepto por una pausa durante la pandemia, lo ha hecho casi todos los años desde entonces.&nbsp;</p><p>“Realmente fue una solución innovadora para resolver la escasez de maestros en esas áreas donde es difícil conseguir personal”, dijo. “No encontrábamos candidatos calificados en esas áreas, no importaba a cuántos eventos de reclutamiento de maestros asistiéramos”.&nbsp;</p><p>O’Brien dijo que la docencia sigue siendo una profesión atractiva en Filipinas y que las universidades gradúan a muchos candidatos calificados. Además, los sueldos de los maestros estadounidenses suelen estar muy por encima de lo que pagan las escuelas en Filipinas.&nbsp;</p><p>Oyson, que ahora está trabajando en su maestría, dice que los maestros principiantes en Filipinas ganan unos $460 mensuales. Aquí ella gana nueve veces esa cantidad.</p><h2>Una vía para intercambio cultural, no para inmigración  </h2><p>Este año, Harrison cuenta con nueve maestros filipinos, y 33 más empezarán en otoño. La mayoría son maestros de matemáticas, ciencias o educación especial, y unos pocos trabajan como patólogos del habla o especialistas en terapia ocupacional. En total, los maestros filipinos representarán alrededor de un 7% de los maestros del distrito el año que viene.</p><p>Como muchos maestros internacionales, Oyson está en Estados Unidos con una visa J-1, destinada a intercambios educativos y laborales, no como una ruta para inmigrar. La visa también está disponible para maestros, estudiantes de medicina, niñeras y consejeros de campamentos de verano. Para los maestros, la visa es válida por tres años, con opción de extenderla a cinco.</p><p>“Se trata de una visa temporal”, dijo Nelson Molina, director ejecutivo de desarrollo de programas en <em>Global Ambassador Programs</em>, la organización que patrocina a personas con visa J-1 a nombre de los distritos. “No es para propósitos migratorios. Es para intercambio cultural”&nbsp;</p><p>Molina dijo que a fin de ser elegible para una visa J-1, los maestros deberán tener un diploma universitario y al menos dos años de experiencia docente a tiempo completo en sus países de origen. A los distritos escolares se les requiere pagarles a los maestros visitantes el mismo salario estándar que reciben los maestros estadounidenses que cuentan con la misma educación y experiencia.</p><p>A nombre de distritos escolares de 10 estados, la organización de Molina patrocina a maestros con visa J-1 de aproximadamente 34 países, entre ellos España, Francia, Inglaterra, Filipinas y México. En Colorado, <em>Global Ambassador Programs</em> trabaja con cuatro distritos, entre ellos Harrison, Fort Lupton, y dos distritos de montaña, Eagle County y Summit.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/YG0S8KmSjZ2bHuztqJgkvqZGp4U=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/U55TQGFY7VHKDFVLUKQ2WULQAA.jpg" alt="Para ser maestra en los Estados Unidos, “tienes que ser fuerte”, dijo Nicole Oyson, una maestra filipina que lleva un año trabajando en una escuela en Colorado Springs." height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Para ser maestra en los Estados Unidos, “tienes que ser fuerte”, dijo Nicole Oyson, una maestra filipina que lleva un año trabajando en una escuela en Colorado Springs.</figcaption></figure><p>El Departamento de Educación de Colorado no lleva cuenta de la cantidad de maestros de Colorado con visa J-1. Ellos pueden solicitar uno de los tres tipos de credenciales estatales, que incluyen una licencia inicial de maestro de tres años, una licencia de maestro profesional de siete años o una “Autorización Provisional de Educador de Intercambio” de un año.</p><p>Adele Wilson, directora de Recursos Humanos del Distrito del Condado de Eagle, con 6,600 estudiantes, dijo que su distrito lleva años contratando a maestros internacionales de países como México, Chile, Colombia, Argentina y España, entre otros. Este año, unos 60 de los 500 maestros del distrito son extranjeros, entre ellos algunos filipinos.</p><p>La mayoría de los maestros internacionales ocupan puestos de enseñanza bilingüe en el Condado de Eagle, donde aproximadamente la mitad de los estudiantes son hispanos y un 30% está aprendiendo inglés.&nbsp;</p><p>“En el estado de Colorado, ha sido tremendamente difícil encontrar maestros bilingües”, dijo Wilson.&nbsp;</p><p>En las ferias de empleo para maestros, en las que los puestos de los distritos escolares suelen estar en orden alfabético, ella dijo que Eagle suele estar junto a los condados de Denver y Douglas, distritos en los que el sueldo es más alto y donde la vivienda, aunque no es barata, puede ser un poco más asequible.</p><p>“El tema de la vivienda es una verdadera barrera para nosotros”, dijo Wilson.&nbsp;</p><p>Para los maestros internacionales, que se quedan unos años y no tienen familia, es un poco más fácil.&nbsp;</p><p>“Generalmente no les molesta vivir en un entorno parecido al de un dormitorio universitario, con compañeros de apartamento”, dijo Wilson.</p><h2>Maestros internacionales enfrentan dinámicas diferentes</h2><p>A muchos maestros internacionales inicialmente les sorprende la conducta en la escuela de los estudiantes de Estados Unidos en comparación con los de sus países de origen.&nbsp;</p><p>“En otros países, un maestro está al mismo nivel que un abogado, que un médico”, dijo Wilson, y añadió que algunos maestros internacionales que trabajan en salones de Estados Unidos “simplemente se quedan atónitos al ver que los niños pueden salirse con la suya en algunas cosas.”</p><p>Esto fue un choque cultural para Oyson cuando llegó por primera vez a Colorado Springs.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>“Es tan diferente a nuestros estudiantes en Filipinas”, dijo ella. “En términos de conducta, nuestros estudiantes no dicen palabrotas por todas partes... Le hacen caso al maestro todo el tiempo, los problemas de conducta allí son mínimos”.</p><p>Durante la primera semana de Oyson en el salón de clases de la Carmel Community School, ella fue muy estricta, relajando las normas gradualmente en la segunda y tercera semana. Dijo que también intentó ver la situación desde otra perspectiva y “entender y abrazar la cultura de los niños”.&nbsp;</p><p>Hoy mantiene vínculos estrechos con algunos de sus estudiantes y está encantada de servir como mentora a los 33 maestros filipinos que llegarán este verano, entre los que se encuentran dos buenos amigos con los que enseñó anteriormente.</p><p>Vivir y enseñar en Estados Unidos no fue fácil al principio. Oyson echaba de menos la humedad de Filipinas, la playa y a su marido, entre otras cosas. Pero también llegó a apreciar la experiencia: salones de clase mejor equipados, gente amigable y viajes por carretera a Denver, Breckenridge, Vail y Sante Fe (Nuevo México).&nbsp;</p><p>“Me encanta estar aquí”, nos dijo. Al mismo tiempo, Oyson está consciente de los retos. “Tienes que ser fuerte. Tienes que adaptarte para dominar en lo que haces”.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Ann Schimke es reportera senior de Chalkbeat y cubre temas relacionados con la niñez y la alfabetización tempranas. Para comunicarte con Ann, envíale un mensaje a aschimke@chalkbeat.org.</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/5/30/23739276/harrison-distrito-colorado-encontro-ayuda-filipinas-escasez-maestros-internacionales-escuelas/Ann Schimke2023-05-19T21:53:34+00:002023-05-19T21:53:34+00:00<p><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/5/30/23739276/harrison-distrito-colorado-encontro-ayuda-filipinas-escasez-maestros-internacionales-escuelas"><em><strong>Leer en español.</strong></em></a></p><p>The day Nicole Oyson interviewed for a science teacher job at Carmel Community School in Colorado Springs last July, she woke at 3 a.m. to get ready, apply makeup, and put on a blouse and blazer over shorts.</p><p>At 4 a.m., from the town of Mabinay in the Philippines, she nervously joined a video call with two interviewers in Colorado, where it was the middle of the afternoon. By 4:30 a.m. her time, Oyson had a job offer.&nbsp;</p><p>“I was shocked,” she said. “I was about to cry when I was accepting it.”&nbsp;</p><p>Oyson is among a growing number of international teachers filling vacancies in some Colorado school districts facing a dearth of homegrown applicants, especially in areas like math, science, special education, and bilingual education. District leaders say international educators help plug holes in the teacher pipeline and expand students’ cultural horizons.</p><p>Oyson, who previously taught for five years in the Philippines, said when she arrived at Carmel Community School last September, she showed her eighth grade students a PowerPoint presentation about her country — the flag, food, culture, and the beaches.&nbsp;</p><p>Students said, “If I lived near that I’d go swimming every day,” Oyson recalled. “Some of them said they’ve never seen a beach or an ocean.”&nbsp;</p><p>The Philippines is composed of more than 7,000 islands and has a population of about 114 million people.</p><p>Students also asked lots of questions: How long did it take to travel to Colorado? What kind of music do Filipinos like? Several kids wanted to know how to say words and phrases in Tagalog, one of two Filipino languages Oyson speaks.</p><p>“They are very funny,” she said.</p><p>Christine O’Brien, public information officer for the 12,600-student Harrison district where Oyson works in Colorado Springs, said the district began hiring teachers from the Philippines in the 2015-16 school year, and aside from a break during the pandemic, has almost every year since.&nbsp;</p><p>“It really was an innovative solution to the teacher shortage in those hard-to-fill areas,” she said. “We weren’t finding qualified candidates in those areas no matter how many teacher recruitment events we went to.”&nbsp;</p><p>O’Brien said teaching is viewed as an attractive profession in the Philippines and universities there turn out many qualified candidates. Plus, American teaching salaries are often well above what Filipino schools pay.&nbsp;</p><p>Oyson, who is now working on her master’s degree, said beginning teachers in the Philippines make about $460 a month. She makes nine times that here.</p><figure><img src="https://www.chalkbeat.org/resizer/YG0S8KmSjZ2bHuztqJgkvqZGp4U=/1440x960/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/civicnewscompany/U55TQGFY7VHKDFVLUKQ2WULQAA.jpg" alt="Nicole Oyson stands in the hallway at Carmel Community School in the Harrison district. " height="960" width="1440"/><figcaption>Nicole Oyson stands in the hallway at Carmel Community School in the Harrison district. </figcaption></figure><h2>A path to cultural exchange, not immigration  </h2><p>This year, Harrison has nine Filipino teachers, with 33 more set to start in the fall. Most of them teach math, science, or special education, with a few serving as speech-language pathologists or occupational therapists. In total, Filipino teachers will make up about 7% of the district’s teacher workforce next year.</p><p>Like many international teachers, Oyson is in the United States on a J-1 visa, which is designated for educational and work exchanges — not as a route to immigration. The visa is also available to professors, medical students, nannies, and camp counselors. For teachers, the visa is good for three years, with the option to extend to five.</p><p>“This is a temporary visa,” said Nelson Molina, executive director of program development at the Global Ambassador Programs, which sponsors J-1 visa holders on behalf of districts. “It’s not for immigration purposes. It’s for cultural exchange.”&nbsp;</p><p>Molina said to be eligible for a J-1 visa, teachers must have a bachelor’s degree and at least two years of full-time teaching experience in their home countries. School districts are required to pay visiting teachers the standard salary given to American teachers with the same education and experience.</p><p>Molina’s organization sponsors J-1 teachers from about 34 countries, including Spain, France, England, the Philippines, and Mexico, on behalf of school districts in 10 states. In Colorado, Global Ambassador Programs works with four districts, including Harrison, Fort Lupton, and two mountain districts, Eagle County and Summit.</p><p>The Colorado Department of Education doesn’t track the number of Colorado teachers with J-1 visas. They can apply for one of three types of state credentials, including a three-year initial teacher license, a seven-year professional teachers license, or a one-year “Exchange Educator Interim Authorization.”</p><p>Adele Wilson, chief human resources officer in the 6,600-student Eagle County district, said her district has hired international teachers for years — from Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Argentina, and Spain, among others. This year, around 60 of the district’s 500 teachers are from abroad, including a few from the Philippines.</p><p>Most international teachers fill bilingual teaching positions in Eagle County, where about half of students are Hispanic and 30% are English learners.&nbsp;</p><p>“In the state of Colorado, it has been tremendously challenging to find bilingual candidates,” said Wilson.&nbsp;</p><p>At teacher job fairs, where school district booths are often arranged alphabetically, she said Eagle is often next to Denver and Douglas County, districts where the pay is higher and where housing — while not cheap — may be somewhat more affordable.</p><p>“The housing piece is a real stumbling block for us,” said Wilson.&nbsp;</p><p>For International teachers, who stay for a few years and don’t have families with them, it’s a little easier.&nbsp;</p><p>“They’re a little more OK with kind of living dorm-style, having roommates,” Wilson said.&nbsp;</p><h2>International teachers face different student dynamics</h2><p>For many international teachers, it’s surprising at first how students in the United States behave in school compared to students in their home countries.&nbsp;</p><p>“In other countries, a teacher is on the same level as an attorney, as a doctor,” said Wilson, adding that some international teachers working in American classrooms are “just flabbergasted that kids can get away with some of the things they get away with.”</p><p>It gave Oyson culture shock when she first arrived in Colorado Springs.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>“It’s just so different from our children in the Philippines,” she said. “In terms of behavior, we don’t have kids that are cursing everywhere … They listen to the teacher all the time, minimal behavior problems over there.”</p><p>During Oyson’s first week in the classroom at Carmel Community School, she was very strict, gradually relaxing the rules in weeks two and three. She said she also tried to look at the situation from a different perspective and ”embrace the culture of the kids.”&nbsp;</p><p>Today, she has close bonds with some of her students and is excited to serve as a mentor to the 33 Filipino teachers arriving this summer, including two good friends she taught with previously.</p><p>Living and teaching in the United States wasn’t easy at first. Oyson was homesick — missing the humidity of the Philippines, the beach, and her husband among other things. But she also grew to appreciate the experience —&nbsp; better-equipped American classrooms, friendly people, and road trips to Denver, Breckenridge, Vail, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.&nbsp;</p><p>“I love it here,” she said. At the same time, Oyson is clear-eyed about the challenges. “You need to be tough. You need to adjust to be a master of what you do.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/5/19/23730533/international-teachers-philippines-colorado-springs-harrison-eagle-schools-shortage/Ann Schimke2023-05-16T21:09:12+00:002023-05-16T21:09:12+00:00<p>Nearly 19,000 Colorado families have accepted their children’s preschool matches for next fall when the state’s new universal preschool program launches.&nbsp;</p><p>It’s the latest milestone in the sometimes chaotic journey toward one of Gov. Jared Polis’ signature priorities: tuition-free preschool for any 4-year-old whose family wants it. State officials expect more than 30,000 4-year-olds, which represents about half of Colorado kids that age, to participate in the program next year.</p><p><aside id="jiYcfz" class="actionbox"><header class="heading">Tuition-Free Preschool</header><p class="description">The second application window closes on May 17 at 5 p.m., and families will find out their matches on June 1. Families can apply for a preschool seat on a rolling basis after that.</p><p><a class="label" href="https://upk.colorado.gov/">Fill out the application here</a></p></aside></p><p>The state’s universal preschool program will be funded in part with a <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2020/11/3/21548349/proposition-ee-colorado-2020-election-results">voter-approved nicotine tax</a> and offered in school district classrooms, private child care centers, church-based preschools, and homes licensed by the state. Children will get 10 to 30 hours a week of tuition-free class time, depending on what schedules are available in their area and whether they come from lower-income families or have other risk factors.&nbsp;</p><p>The 19,000 families that have accepted their preschool matches so far all applied for a universal preschool seat in the first round, which closed at the end of February. The second application window closes Wednesday at 5 p.m. It’s open to families who have not yet applied for universal preschool, families who applied in the first round but didn’t get matched with a provider, and families who declined their first round preschool match.&nbsp;</p><p>More Colorado preschools have opted to participate in the universal program since the first application window closed, so there may be <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/4/26/23698429/colorado-universal-free-preschool-number-seats-supply-demand">choices available now that weren’t available in January and February</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>Families who apply by Wednesday will learn their preschool matches on June 1 and must accept or decline them by June 8. Once families accept their matches, they fill out the standard enrollment paperwork required by their preschool. State officials expect 4-year-olds from about 15,000 additional families to be matched with preschools in the second round.&nbsp;</p><p>After the second round closes, families can still apply for a universal preschool seat on a rolling basis.</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em></p><p><div id="zGAzI8" class="embed"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 2223px; position: relative;"><iframe src="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScgec0nXzG_ofbEHWL-YwCVAW-6ZvDQXXJEgxf0RJJO45C9hw/viewform?usp=sf_link&embedded=true&usp=embed_googleplus" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/5/16/23726007/colorado-free-universal-preschool-first-round-matches/Ann Schimke2023-05-05T20:59:26+00:002023-05-05T20:59:26+00:00<p>In 2019, Minnequa Elementary in Pueblo was on the brink of closing because of low test scores and declining enrollment. Today, the school is off the state’s “watch list,” has the state’s top “green” school rating, and recently won a $50,000 award for exceptional growth in math.</p><p>So, how did a school where only 8% of students scored proficient on state math tests in 2019 change course?</p><p>Principal Katie Harshman says it was a combination of factors, including a good math curriculum, regular coaching for teachers, constant data analysis, and a shift to having some upper elementary teachers focus only on math, while others teach reading and writing. Using state grants and federal money the school receives because it serves many students from low-income families, Minnequa also tapped outside experts, including the Relay Graduate School of Education and a math consulting group called 2Partner.</p><p>Harshman and her team say the yearslong math push has given students a better understanding of key concepts, pushed them daily to articulate how they solve problems, and pumped up their math confidence.</p><p>Minnequa students now post some of the highest rates of academic growth in the state, showing more year-over-year progress on standardized tests than the vast majority of their Colorado peers. Those gains are what earned Minnequa and 11 other Colorado schools <a href="https://www.colorado.gov/governor/news/9696-governor-polis-bipartisan-legislators-announce-historic-investments-data-driven-math">state “Bright Spot” awards</a> this spring — each coming with $50,000 in leftover COVID relief funds.&nbsp;</p><p>Educators and policymakers statewide are pushing to improve math instruction after sharp declines in scores on state and <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2022/9/1/23331852/math-reading-scores-drop-naep-pandemic">national tests during the pandemic</a>. This spring, lawmakers passed <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/3/7/23629086/math-help-colorado-legislature-tutoring-afterschool-learning-loss-common-core-instruction">legislation to offer after-school tutoring in math</a>, expand teacher training, and encourage schools to choose high-quality math curriculum. State leaders also paid to provide a <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/4/12/23679713/zearn-math-colorado-pandemic-recovery-tutoring">digital learning tool called Zearn Math</a> to Colorado schools.</p><p>The work that has unfolded at Minnequa over the last five years illustrates how effective instruction can translate into student achievement.&nbsp;</p><p>Harshman and her colleagues say there’s more to do. While the share of students who are proficient on state math tests has more than tripled to 26% in four years, It’s still below the state average.&nbsp;</p><p>“We’re not done. We’re still going to keep going,” said Leslie Ortega, a fourth grade math teacher at Minnequa.</p><p>Still, after the <a href="https://www.chieftain.com/story/news/education/2019/03/29/teachers-union-head-weighs-in/5583811007/">threat of closure</a>, the school’s progress is gratifying.&nbsp;</p><p>“It’s been like the light at the end of the tunnel,” Ortega said. “It just shows us what we as a whole school can accomplish.”</p><h2>Coaches step in</h2><p>A few weeks before state tests were given this spring, Harshman stood in the back of a fifth grade classroom watching carefully as the teacher reviewed fractions. She noticed that students weren’t answering in full sentences as they should, and as they would be expected to on parts of the upcoming test. Harshman caught the teacher’s eye, brought her hands together and pulled them apart — a reminder that students needed to stretch out their responses into complete thoughts.</p><p>“It’s a very silent signal. It’s nothing dramatic,” she said.&nbsp;</p><p>This kind of real-time coaching — by Harshman, the school’s math coach Christy Vasquez, and outside consultants — has become the norm at Minnequa over the last several years.&nbsp;</p><p>The idea is to provide on-the-spot feedback through a whispered suggestion, a quick side conversation, or a few minutes of co-teaching so teachers can practice immediately.&nbsp;</p><p>“I’m not there to be like, ‘Ah-ha! Gotcha!’ I’m just there for support,” said Vasquez, who started as a teacher at Minnequa six years ago and took the math coach job last year.&nbsp;</p><p>Jeanette Valdez, a fifth grade teacher who grew up in Pueblo and lives just two blocks from Minnequa, said it’s been nerve-wracking at times to have so many people stop into her classroom to observe and coach —&nbsp;sometimes even top district administrators.</p><p>“I told myself that all they’re there for is to make me better and that’s my whole reason for being a teacher,” she said.</p><p>All the feedback — a coach was in her classroom practically every day last year — has helped her improve, she said.&nbsp;</p><p>These days, when students work on math problems independently, she’s in “aggressive monitoring” mode. That means she’s walking through the classroom to watch how students are solving problems and exactly where they’re getting stuck. Previously, she’d watch students work, but wasn’t checking for anything specific.</p><p>“I had to learn to be all up in their business …. and to really hone in on what it is I’m looking for,” she said. <strong>&nbsp;</strong></p><h2>Creating math specialists</h2><p>One of the biggest changes at Minnequa in recent years has been having some teachers in third through fifth grade specialize in math instruction — a practice often called departmentalization.&nbsp;</p><p>That means teachers like Ortega and Valdez teach math to all the students in their respective grades, while colleagues take on literacy instruction.&nbsp;</p><p>“I think it’s the best. I really do,” said Ortega. “I’m able to focus on one subject. I’m able to really dig deep into the math data and the math lessons.”&nbsp;</p><p>She said the switch has also given her more time for planning each day — 80 minutes, up from 40 previously. And while five years ago, she might have spent planning time cleaning her classroom, Ortega said Harshman ushered in a different expectation —&nbsp; that teachers use the time to look at data on each student’s strengths and needs.&nbsp;</p><p>Alongside the departmental structure, consultants have helped teachers organize their daily math block so students are actively doing math most of the time rather than listening to the teacher. That has meant tweaking the school’s math curriculum, EngageNY, which the school adopted about six years ago when it was rated “red,” the state’s lowest rating.</p><p>Vasquez, Minnequa’s math coach, said the curriculum is high quality, but contains a lot of material. Consultants for 2Partner helped teachers identify the most critical parts and pare down the program’s long teacher-led lesson introductions.&nbsp;</p><p>Brianna Mazzella, a consultant with 2Partner who’s worked with Minnequa staff for four years, also dissects Colorado math standards with teachers to ensure they’re covering key pieces and building a solid foundation for the next big skill.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>In April, she met with a fifth grade teacher to talk about long division, a skill students will be expected to master in sixth grade. They talked about the need in the last month of school to ensure students have a conceptual understanding of what division is, the language of division, and how estimation and knowledge of place values can give meaning to the rote rules that students also learn.&nbsp;</p><p>Mazzella said she wasn’t surprised by Minnequa’s math growth on state tests or that it earned a green state rating last fall. She knew how much work teachers did and saw the results in student work.&nbsp;</p><p>With a closure threat like the one Minnequa faced<strong>, </strong>she said,<strong> </strong>“You either rally or you don’t, and that building rallied.”</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at&nbsp;</em><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><em>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em></a><em>.</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/5/5/23712980/minnequa-elementary-math-test-scores-growth-turnaround-pueblo-district/Ann Schimke2023-04-28T22:51:48+00:002023-04-28T22:51:48+00:00<p>Hats had become a battleground in the Harrison school district in Colorado Springs. Teachers tried to enforce the no-hat policy, but students pushed back.&nbsp;</p><p>Eventually, the dress code debate surfaced in one of the meetings Superintendent Wendy Birhanzel holds throughout the year with student advisory groups at every district middle and high school. Students told her they don’t find hats distracting in class and see the accessories as a form of personal expression — something the district normally supports, they said.&nbsp;</p><p>Birhanzel subsequently shared the students’ concerns with various staff groups and everyone agreed: The hat ban needed to go. Such mutually agreeable outcomes are one of the things Birhanzel loves about the student feedback sessions.&nbsp;</p><p>“These meetings are not only one of my favorite parts of the job, they remind me of the power of voice,” she said.&nbsp;</p><p>Birhanzel, who was named the 2023 Colorado Superintendent of the Year by the Colorado Association of School Executives, also talked to Chalkbeat about the district’s efforts to reduce out-of-school suspensions, a silver lining that came out of COVID, and her frustration with state education funding.</p><p><em>This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.</em></p><h3>What was your first education job and what sparked your interest in the field?</h3><p>I started my tenure in education as a first grade teacher in South Central Los Angeles. During this time, inequities in education became very apparent. I taught in an overcrowded school that looked more like a prison than an elementary school. We had barbed wire around our playground, which was strictly concrete and no grass. I also saw classes staffed with multiple substitutes and ongoing turnover of staff. This is when I realized my purpose was to ensure all students regardless of background are provided a high quality education to allow them to be whatever they desire.&nbsp;</p><h3>What is an effort you’ve spearheaded in your district that you’re particularly proud of?</h3><p>One effort that I am proud to have been a part of is our <a href="https://www.dakotafoundation.org/news/2018/7/10/blog-headline-376gb-a3tgh-rfgg4-ht4e2">Dakota Promise Scholarship</a>. I do not believe that any family’s financial situation should be a barrier to them achieving their goals including college or certificate programs. However, for many of our students that has been the case. They can get accepted to amazing programs but can’t attend due to financial barriers. Working closely with Dr. Lance Bolton, president of Pikes Peak State College and an amazing donor, we developed a program to help.&nbsp;</p><p>Graduates from any of our district high schools can attend two years at Pikes Peak State College at no cost, with tuition, fees, books, and academic support covered. Students can earn an associate degree, credits to transfer to a 4-year school, or an industry certificate. In addition, they are provided coaches who help them persist through school and find jobs aligned to their field. Since the program launched in 2020, 225 students have received the scholarships.</p><h3>Under your leadership, discipline referrals have dropped 47% and out-of-school suspensions have dropped 38% in three years. What changes led to this?</h3><p>The simple answer is mindset. However, to make it happen takes a lot of conversation and support. When students struggle with math or reading, we don’t send them home and think they will come back proficient. Students who exhibit challenging behaviors are no different.&nbsp;</p><p>Data has shown us that suspending students doesn’t change behavior, but working through the behavior does. As a district, we have changed our perspective on suspensions. We are looking at alternatives that hold students accountable in a different way and actually change future behavior.</p><p>We continue to train staff on the power of relationships. We know relationships matter for students, and teachers work on relationships from day one. We also have restorative practices in all schools. Many of these conversations with students are led by their peers as they determine the impact of their behavior and what they need to do to right the wrong.&nbsp;</p><p>We have added Student Success Centers in our high school counseling offices where students can de-escalate after certain code-of-conduct infractions. This is also a supportive place to connect with a caring adult and develop skills to engage in learning.&nbsp;</p><h3>Tell us about an interaction with a student (or group of students) who made a particular impression on you.</h3><p>I meet with student advisory groups at every middle and high school multiple times a year. I am so amazed each time I meet with our students by their insightful and honest feedback.&nbsp;</p><p>I met with a middle school group about school and district rules – they don’t like the no cell phone rule.&nbsp; We discussed how it can take away from learning and they agreed but said there should be times they can use phones such as lunch or breaks. I asked the group to propose a new policy and present it to their school administrators. Their phone policy started this week, with students rolling it out and having a chance to prove they can handle it.</p><h3>Tell us about a memorable time — good or bad — when contact with a student’s family changed your perspective or approach.</h3><p>COVID was especially hard for our low-income families, who were struggling with basic needs. During this time, we set up a food bank at one of our high schools and delivered groceries to our families, providing supplies such as diapers, body wash, and food.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Learning and school were the least of their needs at this time as they were losing jobs, housing, and any sense of normalcy. As a district we stepped in with community partners to help them through this crisis. It reminded me and our staff that students can learn when their basic needs are met. The positive from this experience is that our families and community trust our school district, and we have built stronger relationships by showing up when times are tough.</p><h3>What issue in the education policy realm is having a big impact on your district right now? How are you addressing it?</h3><p>Unfortunately, Colorado has one of the lowest funded education systems in the nation. On top of that, the state has not fully funded education since 2009. That means our current students have <em>never</em> attended a fully funded school. This sends a sad message about priorities to our students and staff.</p><p>In a district like ours — where more than half of students qualify for free or discounted school meals — we cannot ask our families to fundraise, to write a check, or to host a gala in order to make up the difference. To counter this lack of funding, we strategically seek grants to add programming that our students need. In addition, our community passed a $180 million bond in 2018 that allowed us to rebuild a school, add on to two schools, and renovate every other school.&nbsp;</p><h3>What are you reading for enjoyment?</h3><p>“<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Happiness-Advantage-Principles-Psychology-Performance/dp/0307591549">The Happiness Advantage</a>: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work” by Shawn Achor</p><h3>What’s the best advice about educational leadership that you ever received?</h3><p>Remember your why. It can be easy to get caught up in the stress of day-to-day tasks, the political pressures, and the criticism. However, you need to stay focused on your why to help ensure every day is meaningful regardless of outside distractors. This is why being in classrooms or with students is my favorite part of the job.</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </em><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><em>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em></a><em>.</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/4/28/23703030/colorado-superintendent-award-wendy-birhanzel-harrison-school-district/Ann Schimke2023-04-26T11:00:00+00:002023-04-26T11:00:00+00:00<p><em>Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering schools in communities across America. </em><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/the-starting-line"><em>Sign up for our free monthly newsletter The Starting Line</em></a><em> to keep up with news about early childhood education.</em></p><p>Since Colorado leaders began planning a major expansion of state-funded preschool more than two years ago, parents and advocates have wondered: Will there be enough seats for everybody who wants one?</p><p>The answer: It depends.</p><p>On paper, there are plenty of seats. State officials expect only about half of Colorado’s 4-year-olds —&nbsp;around 31,000 children —&nbsp;to participate in the first year. Meanwhile, a Chalkbeat analysis found more than 56,000 preschool seats available for next fall.&nbsp;</p><p>“Right now, it’s looking really good,” said Dawn Odean, the state’s universal preschool director.</p><p>But things get stickier at the county level. Some parts of the state are awash in preschool seats and others don’t have nearly enough. Some families may also struggle to find preschools with the schedules and programming they want.</p><p>“The physical number of slots versus what parents actually need doesn’t necessarily align,” said Kelly Esch, who’s both the parent of a preschooler and executive director of an organization that provides early childhood coaching and resources in western Colorado’s Garfield County.</p><p>While Chalkbeat’s county-by-county analysis provides a snapshot of preschool availability across Colorado, there are plenty of factors it doesn’t account for — families who cross county lines for preschool or the uneven distribution of seats within counties. Plus, it’s possible more providers will join soon, adding new seats to the tally.&nbsp;</p><p>Odean said state officials plan to dig deeper into the data for trouble spots once parents select preschools for the coming year. Families of about 26,000 4-year-olds who applied for seats by the end of February will <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/3/28/23661198/free-universal-preschool-colorado-match-date-delayed">find out Wednesday</a> what preschools they matched with and will have two weeks to accept or decline the offers. (Families can <a href="https://upk.colorado.gov/">continue to apply</a> through the summer and fall.)</p><p>The new preschool program will offer 10 to 15 hours a week of tuition-free preschool to 4-year-olds statewide, 30 hours a week to 4-year-olds who come from lower-income families or meet other criteria, and 10 hours a week to some 3-year-olds. The program is funded in part with a <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2020/11/3/21548349/proposition-ee-colorado-2020-election-results">voter-approved nicotine tax</a> and will be offered in school district classrooms, private child care centers, church-based preschools, and homes licensed by the state.</p><p><div id="YAk4ZV" class="embed"><iframe title="Colorado's universal pre-K seats are in public schools and community sites" aria-label="Stacked Bars" id="datawrapper-chart-qjqXn" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/qjqXn/6/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="353" data-external="1"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}(); </script></div></p><p>Esch, who lives in the small town of Newcastle, is pretty sure her son Oliver will land a universal preschool seat in the home of the beloved child care provider he’s been with since he was 10 weeks old. Not only does she offer hard-to-find all-day and summertime care, the provider runs a top-notch program, Esch said, and for a while even adjusted Oliver’s nap schedule so she could work with him one-on-one to overcome a speech delay.&nbsp;</p><p>Although Oliver should get priority for one of the provider’s two universal preschool spots, Esch still feels uncertain about how things will play out under the state’s new system.</p><p>“Are we in? Did it work?” she wondered as she awaited the official notification email.</p><h2>Preschools have big decisions to make</h2><p>While around 1,700 preschools have signed up to offer universal preschool classes next fall, the exact number of seats is still in flux at many programs. In some cases, that’s because of unfolding expansion projects or difficulty finding teachers to staff classrooms. In others, preschool providers are still considering whether to offer full-time or part-time slots or are uncertain about whether they can release unfilled seats reserved for students with disabilities or children of employees to the general public.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>At Springfield Preschool, a highly rated school district program in southern Colorado, leaders haven’t yet decided how many hours a week to offer 4-year-olds next year.&nbsp;</p><p>Director Debbie Sharpe said the preschool will probably have enough spots for all interested families if it continues with half-day classes. But she knows Baca County is a child care desert and that full-day preschool would be a godsend to many locals. District officials will decide which schedule to offer in the next few weeks.</p><p>If the preschool moves to full-day, there won’t be enough seats for every child, Sharpe said. “Space is going to be a problem.”&nbsp;</p><p>Stacy Petty, who heads the group coordinating universal preschool in Garfield, Pitkin, and Lake counties, and part of Eagle County, expects shortages too.</p><p>“We didn’t have enough seats to support everyone in our region before [universal preschool].” she said. “We do have some expansion going on, which is going to help, but we still know we don’t have enough seats for everybody.”&nbsp;</p><p>Petty said based on preliminary interest, she expects 80% of eligible families in the area to seek a universal preschool seat — well above the 50% uptake Colorado leaders anticipate statewide.</p><p><div id="fwBU46" class="embed"><iframe title="How many 4-year-olds are there for every universal preschool seat?" aria-label="Map" id="datawrapper-chart-QKE92" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/QKE92/8/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="689" data-external="1"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}(); </script></div></p><p>In the Garfield RE-2 school district, based in Rifle, preschool expansion projects are underway at two elementary schools. Together, they’ll add around 80 new preschool seats, some by August and the rest by January.&nbsp;</p><p>Emily Kielmeyer, the district’s early childhood coach and coordinator, said she’s hopeful the expansion, which will bring the total number of preschool seats to 300, will be enough to accommodate every family that wants a spot. &nbsp;</p><p>“We knew the time was right with universal preschool coming,” she said of the expansion.&nbsp;</p><p>District officials say there’s been lots of residential growth in the area — people who left cities in search of smaller communities and outdoor space during the pandemic or who’ve gradually been priced out of “up-valley” housing in cities like Aspen.</p><p>“We have housing starts through the roof out here,” said district spokesperson Theresa Hamilton.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><h2>Thousands of families may still apply</h2><p>It’s likely most families who want a universal preschool spot next year have already applied, but providers and advocates say they’re still fielding questions from families who are confused about the process.&nbsp;</p><p>Kelli Gabehart, the preschool director for the Elbert County school district southeast of Denver, discovered some parents haven’t applied because they erroneously believed universal preschool provides only 15 tuition-free hours a month. (It’s actually 15 hours a week.)</p><p>They’d say, “Oh, it’s not even worth applying for,” she said.&nbsp;</p><p>Some providers say they’ve provided computers and on-the-spot help for parents filling out the universal preschool application after finding that some longtime clients hadn’t signed up.</p><p>That’s the case at Family Star Montessori, which will offer a total of 36 universal preschool slots at its two Denver locations next year. Most are reserved for children from low-income families, but private pay families can enroll too.&nbsp;</p><p>Julia McConnaughey, the program’s senior director of community partnerships, said Family Star still has a few open spots for next year, and had even more earlier in the application process.&nbsp;</p><p>“I don’t think there was enough outreach to the public without schools doing the heavy lifting,” she said. “We had to personally ask every parent, ‘Hey did you apply? Did you choose Family Star as your first choice?’”&nbsp;</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/4/26/23698429/colorado-universal-free-preschool-number-seats-supply-demand/Ann Schimke2023-04-07T21:06:34+00:002023-04-07T21:06:34+00:00<p>Colorado won’t require preschools to make quality improvements during the first year of the state’s new universal preschool program, which launches in August.&nbsp;</p><p><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/2/11/22929758/colorado-free-universal-preschool-high-quality-measurement-system">State officials have consistently pledged</a> that the new program will provide high-quality preschool, which experts say can produce short- and long-term benefits for kids. But they announced this week what they called “keep doing what you’re doing” guidance. That means preschool providers can continue with their current practices and policies.&nbsp;</p><p>The decision to hold off on mandating new preschool quality standards is more evidence of <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/3/24/23655621/colorado-universal-free-preschool-march-30-computer-match-concerns">Colorado’s rush to roll out the major new program</a> on an extremely tight timeline — <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/12/20/23519731/colorado-free-universal-preschool-program-providers-questions">an issue that providers and advocates have raised repeatedly</a> in the last year.&nbsp;</p><p>The universal program will offer 10-30 hours a week of tuition-free preschool to 4-year-olds statewide and 10 hours a week to some 3-year-olds. It’s funded in part with a voter-approved nicotine tax.&nbsp;</p><p>Dawn Odean, the state’s universal preschool director, said in a statement Thursday the new guidance was created to alleviate provider concerns about “the unknown” and allow them to prepare for the program launch.</p><p>The state’s decision means that next fall, more than 30,000 Colorado children who’ve signed up for universal preschool will attend preschools that vary widely in quality. Some will attend programs with the state’s top Level 5 rating, which indicates excellence in several categories. Others will go to preschools with the lowest Level 1 rating, which indicates the program is licensed by the state and meets basic health and safety standards.&nbsp;</p><p>There are various ways to measure preschool quality, but class size caps, staff credentials, teacher training requirements, and curriculum choice may be among the criteria. The National Institute of Early Education Research at Rutgers University <a href="https://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/YB2021_Full_Report.pdf">rates states using 10 benchmarks of preschool quality</a>. Colorado’s existing state-funded preschool program, which serves about 15,000 4-year-olds, only <a href="https://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Colorado_YB2021.pdf">meets four of the benchmarks</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Colorado is allowing some providers to have 24 students per class this fall, higher than the 16-student maximum the current state preschool program allows and the 20-student maximum the institute’s benchmark recommends.</p><p>Leaders from the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, which is running the universal preschool program, said they’ll adopt quality standards in the fall that will take effect in the summer of 2024.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at </em><a href="mailto:aschimke@chalkbeat.org"><em>aschimke@chalkbeat.org</em></a><em>.</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/4/7/23674706/colorado-free-preschool-quality-standards-delay/Ann Schimke2023-03-24T22:15:20+00:002023-03-24T22:15:20+00:00<p><em>Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering schools in communities across America. </em><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/the-starting-line"><em>Sign up for our free monthly newsletter The Starting Line</em></a><em> to keep up with news about early childhood education.</em></p><p>On March 30, about 26,000 Colorado families are scheduled to find out what preschool their children can enroll in next fall as part of the state’s new universal preschool program.</p><p>But more than 20 education and early childhood groups have unsuccessfully sought to delay those notifications because they see too many problems. An inadequate computer algorithm and confusion about the process mean some families might lose out on top choices and others might be offered seats that don’t meet their needs. It’s also not clear Colorado will have enough money to offer all the hours many families believe are guaranteed.</p><p>The groups spelled out their concerns in <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23721823-068-2023?responsive=1&amp;title=1">two letters sent last week</a> to the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, the new state agency in charge of the universal preschool program. Echoing critiques that have bubbled up consistently over several months, they said the <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/2/6/23585045/colorado-universal-free-preschool-application-disabilities-special-education-funding">rushed rollout</a> has left too many unanswered questions and could tarnish public perception of the program during its first year.&nbsp;</p><p>“It’s our first time. Let’s do this right,” said Diane Smith, executive director of the Douglas County Early Childhood Council, which was one of 16 groups to sign one of the letters.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>The other letter, which raised similar issues, came from five groups, including the Colorado Association of School Executives, the Colorado Association of School Boards and the Colorado Rural Schools Alliance. Chalkbeat obtained copies of the letters through a public records request.</p><p>Lisa Roy, executive director of the Department of Early Childhood, said state officials are working with the groups that signed the letters to address their concerns, but aren’t planning to change the March 30 notification date because it would push other key deadlines back.</p><p>She said about 86% of approximately 26,000 4-year-olds who applied for universal preschool by <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/2/14/23600290/colorado-free-preschool-application-deadline-extension-revision">late February</a> have been matched with their first-choice preschool. The rest — around 3,600 children — either didn’t match with any preschool or got matched with a lower-ranked choice.&nbsp;</p><p>“There’s high expectations I know for a new state government department to know everything, but … we’re a startup department and this is a startup initiative,” Roy said.&nbsp;</p><h2>Some families face more challenges with preschool applications</h2><p>Both preschool providers and representatives from groups that signed the letters agree that many Colorado families applying for the universal preschool program will get matched with their top choices. But they worry about families who face more barriers in navigating the brand-new process.&nbsp;</p><p>Once Colorado families are notified and begin accepting their matches on March 30, seats will fill up rapidly — leaving fewer options for families who had problems applying.&nbsp;</p><p>Elsa Holguin, president and CEO of the Denver Preschool Program, a group that signed one of the letters, said her staff has tried to reach families who skipped checkboxes or made other errors on the universal preschool application. But some parents didn’t list email addresses and their voicemail boxes are full, so staff must call repeatedly. She said more time before the match notification would help ensure such families are contacted and matched with a preschool.</p><p>One of the two recent letters noted that state preschool officials have called this year a “learning year” and asked for patience and grace from preschool providers.&nbsp;</p><p>But families “don’t have the same ability to count next year as a learning year when they are depending on us to serve their students and ensure a positive educational experience,” the letter said. “We are very concerned about the frustration and questions we’re already hearing from them.”</p><p>Kari Thibodeau, director of Parker Landing Child Development Center in Douglas County, has been on the receiving end of such questions after she contacted 11 families whose children she expected would be matched with her next year, but weren’t on the list she received.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Some of the parents became so worried about losing the chance to stay at the center their kids have attended since infancy, they’ve offered to send Thibodeau screenshots of their universal preschool application to prove they chose Parker Landing.&nbsp;</p><p>Thibodeau sympathizes, but tells them she doesn’t control how the state’s matching system works.</p><p>“I just want to make sure I’m not going to frustrate my families because they get paired with another school,” she said. “They’re all nervous.”</p><p>Families can still <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/1/17/23554316/colorado-free-universal-preschool-parent-application-opens">apply for a universal preschool seat</a> now, but they may have fewer choices and will find out their matches later.&nbsp;</p><h2>Problems with computer algorithm and funding uncertainty</h2><p>Another issue raised by the letter writers is that the computer matching system erroneously pushed some families to the front of the line for all five of their preschool choices. While families are supposed to get that boost for a preschool their child already attends, a program a sibling attends, or one where a parent works, the algorithm applied those priority points to every preschool choice on a family’s application.</p><p>“To allow families to have preferred placement in the lottery system for five providers when their preferred status should only apply to one site unfairly prioritizes those students over all other applicants in the system,” the letter from the five education groups stated.&nbsp;</p><p>Roy said the computer algorithm gives families priority points for all their preschool choices because the state didn’t pay to make it more specific. That may be fixed next year.</p><p>“It costs a lot of money,” she said. “We plan on shifting that but have to have the funding to do so.”&nbsp;</p><p>There are also questions about whether the state will have enough funding to provide 30 hours of preschool a week to certain 4-year-olds as universal preschool messaging indicated. Eligible children include those who come from lower-income families, are English learners, are homeless, or are in foster care.&nbsp;</p><p>Roy said because of higher-than-expected interest in universal preschool the state is analyzing the cost now and won’t have an answer about which preschoolers will get the 30 hours until weeks after the March 30 matches go out.&nbsp;</p><p>The letter from five groups including the Colorado Association of School Executives warned that telling parents after the fact they won’t get the hours they expected could create “credibility issues.”&nbsp;</p><p>That could leave preschool providers “facing the ire of parents when programs have to charge them tuition or to refer to other funding sources when the 30-hour programs are not funded as advertised,” the letter said.&nbsp;</p><p><div id="fY192f" class="html"><iframe src="https://embed.documentcloud.org/documents/23721823-068-2023/?embed=1&amp;responsive=1&amp;title=1" title="068-2023 (Hosted by DocumentCloud)" width="700" height="905" style="border: 1px solid #aaa; width: 100%; height: 800px; height: calc(100vh - 100px);" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-forms allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox" ></iframe> </div></p><p><em>Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that while some of the state’s promotional materials suggest qualifying families will get 30 hours of preschool, the state has not actually promised to provide those hours.</em></p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/3/24/23655621/colorado-universal-free-preschool-march-30-computer-match-concerns/Ann Schimke2023-03-16T23:49:36+00:002023-03-16T23:49:36+00:00<p>A bill introduced this month would have fulfilled a longtime dream of advocates for dyslexic children — universal screening for the learning disability so more Colorado students could get the reading help they need.&nbsp;</p><p>But before <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb23-181">the bill</a> even got a hearing, a key lawmaker signaled it won’t move forward after opposition from some educators and state education groups. That means most young students in the state won’t be screened for dyslexia.&nbsp;</p><p>Senate Education Committee Chair Janet Buckner said Thursday by text message that the bill would likely be postponed indefinitely — meaning it will die.</p><p>Buckner, who has an adult daughter with dyslexia, said she understands parents’ frustration, but wants to look at existing reading laws to see how they’re working before tackling a dyslexia screening bill.&nbsp;</p><p>Advocates for children with dyslexia have pushed for mandatory school-based dyslexia screening in Colorado for years without success. They say the early elementary reading assessments approved by the state aren’t all designed to detect everyone at risk for the learning disability, which means young students fall through the cracks at a time when extra help would do the most good.</p><p>But opponents of the bill say it would impose too many requirements as schools continue to recover from pandemic-era disruptions and work to comply with other recent reading-related laws.&nbsp;</p><p>Some Colorado school districts, <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/8/30/23329668/colorado-dyslexia-screening-pilot-boulder-valley-universal-reading">including Boulder Valley and LaVeta</a>, already screen all children in certain grades for dyslexia. The Denver district, Colorado’s largest, recently passed a policy to screen all students for dyslexia by the end of second grade, but leaders there said they wanted to see what happens with the screening bill before hammering out details.</p><p>According to the Colorado Department of Education, about <a href="https://www.cde.state.co.us/communications/dyslexia-factsheet">15% to 20% of the population</a> has dyslexia, a learning disability that makes it hard to identify speech sounds, decode words, and spell them. With the right instruction, students with dyslexia can do as well as their peers in school.</p><p>More than three dozen states already mandate dyslexia screening.&nbsp;</p><p>The screening bill, sponsored by Democratic Sens. Faith Winter and Kyle Mullica, would require schools to screen all students in kindergarten through third grade for dyslexia and other reading problems starting in 2024-25. It would also require screening for preschoolers in school-based classrooms, as well as fourth through 12th grade students who haven’t previously been screened for dyslexia in Colorado, have difficulty reading, or whose parents request it. The bill would also require extra help for students flagged by the screening and that parents be notified about the results.&nbsp;</p><p>Lori Cooper, assistant superintendent for student achievement in the Fountain-Fort Carson school district, said she worries the proposed requirements for dyslexia screening and intervention will worsen teacher shortages.&nbsp;</p><p>“It is just way above and beyond what is needed,” she said. “We just have to stop piling on for teachers. We’re not going to have any left.”&nbsp;</p><p>Lindsay Drakos, a co-chair of the statewide dyslexia advocacy group COKID and one of the people who helped shape the bill, said the legislation isn’t meant to add more screening to most teachers’ plates, but rather to ensure they’re using the right screening tools — those that will simultaneously satisfy current state reading rules and identify kids at risk for dyslexia.&nbsp;</p><p>“Prevention is always more cost effective than reaction,” she said.&nbsp;</p><h2>Some struggling readers get missed</h2><p>Colorado’s main reading law already requires schools to identify and help students in kindergarten through third grade who are far behind in reading. Teachers must create special reading plans for those students and schools get extra state funding to execute the plans.&nbsp;</p><p>About <a href="https://www.cde.state.co.us/code/readactdashboard">20% of K-3 students</a> in Colorado have such plans.&nbsp;</p><p>The problem is that the reading law doesn’t target all children reading below grade level, just those doing the worst. That means some students with reading problems, including some with dyslexia, fall through the cracks year after year.</p><p>Michelle Qazi, the Boulder Valley district’s literacy director, said the district saw signs of this phenomenon after it began a dyslexia screening pilot program for kindergartners at some elementary schools two years ago. About 60% of children who were flagged as having risk factors for dyslexia didn’t qualify for special reading plans because their scores on state-approved assessments were too high.&nbsp;</p><p>“That is why … we have to screen every single student [for dyslexia] in the target grade level,” she said. “Otherwise we will miss a lot of students.”&nbsp;</p><p>Next week, Boulder Valley will screen all 1,666 of its kindergarteners for dyslexia — marking the expansion of the pilot program to a districtwide effort.&nbsp;</p><p>Qazi, who is part of the state’s <a href="https://www.cde.state.co.us/coloradoliteracy/codyslexiaworkgroup">Dyslexia Working Group</a>, said the district’s pilot screening program proved that dyslexia screening and the follow-up support for kids who have risk factors is doable.</p><p>She said statewide dyslexia screening would be a “giant step forward.”&nbsp;</p><h2>Ombudsman is a sore spot</h2><p>One component of the dyslexia screening bill that likely helped sink it called for the creation of an independent state ombudsman to examine state reading laws and create a grievance process for parents.&nbsp;</p><p>Buckner, along with bill supporters and opponents, all reported that several education groups, including the Colorado Education Association — the state’s main teachers union — and the Colorado Association of School Executives, were offended by a provision that said the ombudsman’s office should have no conflicts of interest or former alliances with those groups.&nbsp;</p><p>Cooper, president of the Colorado Association of School Executives coordinating council, said the ombudsman part of the bill was “absolutely insulting” and unnecessary.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Drakos said the goal of that provision was to ensure the ombudsman would put student needs first without being swayed by adult opinions, but acknowledged that the wording sounded more harsh than was intended.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;<em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/3/16/23644069/colorado-dyslexia-screening-bill-kill-reading-disability/Ann SchimkeRJ Sangosti / The Denver Post2023-03-08T21:22:36+00:002023-03-08T21:22:36+00:00<p>The Colorado School of Mines, a public science and engineering university in Golden, could soon mint math, science, and computer science teachers.</p><p>On Wednesday, the State Board of Education unanimously approved the university’s plan to offer teacher preparation in four areas: secondary science, secondary math, middle school math, and K-12 computer science.&nbsp;</p><p>The creation of a teacher preparation program at the highly regarded engineering school has been years in the making and could help beef up Colorado’s teacher pipeline in chronic shortage areas. The new program will also give the university’s 7,400 students more professional options.&nbsp;</p><p>“Our surveys find that almost half of Mines students have an interest in teaching,” said Wendy Adams, director of the Teach@Mines program. “Not all of those people, of course, are going to pursue it, but they’re interested and so we just need to give them that option.”</p><p>She said when the program ramps up, she expects it to produce 20 to 30 teachers a year, mostly in science and computer science. Students will be able to complete the required education coursework and earn a state teaching license as part of a bachelor’s or master’s degree program.&nbsp;</p><p>The School of Mines teacher prep program comes at a tenuous time for the education workforce.</p><p>Nationwide, the pool of prospective teachers has been <a href="https://aacte.org/2022/03/aactes-national-portrait-sounds-the-alarm-on-declining-interest-in-education-careers/">shrinking for over a decade</a> as enrollment in teacher preparation programs has declined. Plus, teacher turnover rose in several states after years of pandemic-related stresses, according to <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2023/3/6/23624340/teacher-turnover-leaving-the-profession-quitting-higher-rate">a recent Chalkbeat analysis</a>.</p><p>“The way we see it we really have a responsibility to the state to offer teacher licensure because there’s 7,000 students at Mines, some of the best STEM students in the state, and to not provide them a pathway to become a teacher is basically removing them from the pipeline,” Adams said.&nbsp;</p><p>The university’s journey toward teacher preparation began in 2015. That’s when it partnered with the Greeley-based University of Northern Colorado, which runs the state’s largest teacher preparation program, to provide a route for Mines students who wanted to teach.&nbsp;</p><p>Students would complete science and math coursework at the School of Mines and take most teaching classes online through the University of Northern Colorado. Twenty-two students completed the program and earned teaching licenses before the program ended last year.</p><p>Adams said the partnership was good, but tricky.</p><p>“There were just so many different competing things from an administrative perspective that it didn’t function as well as it could have,” she said.&nbsp;</p><p>School of Mines leaders decided to bring the teacher preparation program in-house a few years ago. The university began offering education courses in 2019 and now offers the full menu of options. The State Board vote on Wednesday means that Mines is now a state-approved teacher preparation program and that those who complete it are eligible for teaching licenses in Colorado.&nbsp;</p><p>Adams said about 85 Mines students are enrolled in one or more education classes at the university, with about half of those seriously interested in becoming teachers.&nbsp;</p><p>She said she knows of Mines students who’ve done computer science or engineering internships but haven’t found the work satisfying.</p><p>One student, she said, worried that his computer science specialty would most likely lend itself to a job in the weapons industry.</p><p>“He doesn’t want to do that,” she said. “He wants to help people and help students so he’s going to be a teacher.”</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/3/8/23631204/colorado-school-of-mines-students-teacher-preparation-math-science-computer/Ann Schimke2023-03-04T00:18:03+00:002023-03-04T00:18:03+00:00<p>A new coalition of Colorado groups wants to reform the state tax code to pump more public money into child care and other types of caregiving, including K-12 education, nursing, support for people with disabilities, and hospice.</p><p>The Colorado Children’s Campaign and the Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition are leading the <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1R1JM1DuVwArAMoUeI59TbGWmJzqB4V47ePrrrQU1DZk/edit">Growing Our Future Coalition</a>, which consists of 18 groups as well as parents and care providers. The coalition held a virtual kickoff meeting in February and another one Thursday. The group’s first official meeting will be in April.&nbsp;</p><p><aside id="MJy5f8" class="sidebar float-right"><h3 id="PqcUKq"><strong>Growing Our Future Coalition</strong></h3><p id="C4mhJc">The coalition consists of 18 organizations and several individuals who want to change Colorado’s tax code to generate more money for child care and other types of caregiving. The coalition does not yet have a website, but is inviting potential participants to fill out an <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScANWByN0Wlrw_O2piKg7KQQOGFOPy67tDriDYXivE9bCIjSQ/viewform">interest survey</a>. </p></aside></p><p>“Broadly speaking, we would like to see caregiving, in all the ways that it shows up for children and families, to be respected, prioritized, and funded,” said Melissa Mares, director of Early Childhood Initiatives at the Colorado Children’s Campaign, during Thursday’s meeting.</p><p>The coalition’s launch comes at a time of change and trepidation across Colorado’s child care landscape. The state is working to roll out a <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/universal-preschool">major expansion of tuition-free preschool</a> after three years of a pandemic that exacerbated workforce shortages and strained providers financially. Parents report desperate <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2021/10/7/22715089/parents-struggle-child-care-shortage-jobs">struggles to find child care</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>Leaders of the new coalition said they’re still deciding what tax code changes they’ll propose, but they hope to bring forth a statewide ballot initiative in 2024 or 2026. They said they’re still working to connect with other Colorado groups working on fiscal reform.&nbsp;</p><p>The idea for the Growing Our Future Coalition originated in 2021 when the Colorado Children’s Campaign and the Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition won grants from two groups of national funders to pursue systemic changes in child care and related fields.</p><p>“One of our core guiding principles has been [that] if we are not uncomfortable about the size of transformation we’re talking about, we’re not thinking big enough,” Mares said during the kick-off.&nbsp;</p><p>In an interview with Chalkbeat on Friday, Mares said the coalition could consider a range of possible tax code changes, including changing Colorado’s flat income tax&nbsp;— <a href="https://tax.colorado.gov/individual-income-tax-FAQ#:~:text=The%20new%20Colorado%20income%20tax,income%20tax%20rate%20was%204.63%25.">currently 4.4%</a> — to a progressive income tax that asks wealthier families to pay a larger proportion of their earnings than lower-income families. Other possibilities include new taxes on second homes or certain services.&nbsp;</p><p>Mares said these changes would not necessarily require a repeal of the state’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights, a 1992 constitutional amendment that requires voter approval for all new taxes and limits increases in state revenue to the rates of population growth and inflation. Known as TABOR, this provision requires the government to return money to taxpayers when a strong economy produces a surplus, rather than save it or invest in new programs.</p><p>Mares said by asking voters to approve any changes, the coalition’s work would fit with the spirit of TABOR.&nbsp;</p><p>Colorado voters have resisted many ballot measures that would raise taxes or hold onto TABOR refunds to fund education, such as <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2019/11/5/21109171/colorado-voters-reject-proposition-cc-latest-attempt-to-raise-money-for-schools">Proposition CC</a> and <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2018/10/22/21106090/amendment-73-understanding-the-tax-increase-for-education-on-your-colorado-ballot">Amendment 73</a>. They’ve also <a href="https://coloradosun.com/2022/11/08/colorado-income-tax-proposition-121-results/">voted twice to reduce the income tax rate</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>But they also approved a <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2020/11/3/21548349/proposition-ee-colorado-2020-election-results">nicotine tax to fund universal preschool</a>, limited deductions for high-earners to <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/11/8/23448263/proposition-ff-colorado-school-lunch-midterm-elections-2022-election-results">pay for school lunch</a>, and agreed to <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2022/11/14/colorado-votes-to-dedicate-300-million-annually-to-housing/">give up some tax refunds to pay for affordable housing</a>.</p><p>Mares said coalition leaders hope to overcome potential voter resistance to tax code changes by including lots of people and organizations in the effort.&nbsp;</p><p>“One of the things we bring to the table is a vision for a much, much broader coalition than has ever tried before on tax reform measures.”</p><p>At Thursday’s kick-off meeting, which included written materials and interpretation in Spanish and Dari, a broad definition of caregiving was on display, with leaders talking about including prenatal to end-of-life caregivers in their work.&nbsp;</p><p>These organizations currently make up the coalition:</p><ul><li>Bell Policy Center</li><li>Black Child Development Institute - Denver</li><li>Clayton Early Learning</li><li>Colorado Association of Family Child Care</li><li>Colorado Children’s Campaign</li><li>Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition</li><li>Colorado Fiscal Institute</li><li>Council for a Strong America</li><li>Denver Indian Family Resource Center</li><li>Early Childhood Council Leadership Alliance</li><li>Early Milestones Colorado</li><li>Family Resource Center of Roaring Fork Schools </li><li>Raise Colorado Coalition</li><li>Rose Community Foundation</li><li>Small Business Majority</li><li>The Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning</li><li>Valley Settlement</li><li>Women’s Foundation of Colorado</li><li>Individuals, including parents, child care providers, a community leader, and a home visitor</li></ul><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/3/3/23624439/colorado-growing-our-future-coalition-tax-code-reform-child-care-education-nursing-money/Ann Schimke2023-02-28T21:24:52+00:002023-02-28T21:24:52+00:00<p><em>Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering public education in communities across America. </em><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/subscribe"><em>Subscribe to our free Colorado newsletter</em></a><em> to keep up with education news from Denver and around the state.</em></p><p>The Westminster school district north of Denver will pay beginning teachers a starting salary of nearly $61,000, according to a new contract tentatively approved by the district and teachers union Monday.&nbsp;</p><p>The new pay floor in the 8,000-student suburban district appears to be the highest in Colorado. The <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/cherry-creek-school-district-teachers-salary-raise/">Cherry Creek district</a> announced this month new teachers will start at $57,000 next year. And new contracts negotiated last summer in <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/9/1/23332722/denver-teachers-union-tentative-agreement-pay-increase-planning-time">Denver</a> and <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/8/4/23292284/jeffco-teacher-pay-raises-negotiations-salaries">Jeffco</a> set starting salaries this year at about $50,000 for new teachers.&nbsp;</p><p>News of Westminster’s new starting salary comes as districts across Colorado face ongoing challenges when it comes to filling teaching jobs, especially in special education and secondary math and science classrooms. But the severity of teacher vacancies varies widely by location. Plus, some <a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-covid-education-birmingham-0785042a3da15bcbcc58922c747fd961">national experts say recent shortages</a> may also be because schools have used COVID stimulus money to create new positions that they’ve had a hard time filling, not because of unusually high teacher turnover.</p><p>According to <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/1/24/23569684/cea-survey-teacher-shortage-low-pay-lgbtq-educators-school-climate">a recent survey</a> by the Colorado Education Association, 85% of educators say the shortage of classroom teachers in their school is worse than in previous years.&nbsp;</p><p>“When the community approved our mill levy override in 2018, we promised taxpayers that we would focus on attracting and retaining high quality staff,” Westminster Superintendent Pam Swanson said in a press release Tuesday. “This agreement does just that.”</p><p>The two-year contract is expected to be ratified quickly, according to the release.</p><p>Colorado lawmakers have tried to ease teacher shortages with a variety of strategies in recent years.&nbsp;</p><p>Last year, they created a <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/5/27/23144887/colorado-student-teachers-stipend-loan-forgiveness-federal-relief">new loan forgiveness program</a> and made it easier for retired <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/5/20/23131759/what-colorados-2022-legislative-session-means-for-education">teachers to return to the classroom</a>. This year, they’ve proposed bills that would a create <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov//bills/sb23-087">teacher apprentice program</a>, provide <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/1/26/23573608/educator-assistance-program-expansion-principals-counselors-colorado-2023-legislature-proposal">stipends and loan forgiveness</a> for student teachers and make it <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1064">easier for out of state teachers</a> to work in Colorado&nbsp;</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/2/28/23619285/starting-teacher-salary-61000-colorado-westminster-district-tentative-contract-jobs-vacancies/Ann Schimke2023-02-22T22:09:22+00:002023-02-22T22:09:22+00:00<p><a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/3/2/23622436/almuerzo-escolar-gratuito-que-distritos-escolares-colorado-tienen-planes-para-ofrecerlo"><em><strong>Leer en español.</strong></em></a></p><p>Most Colorado school districts, including the state’s 10 largest, plan to offer free meals to all students next year through a new state program approved by voters last November.&nbsp;</p><p>Three large districts — Denver, Douglas County, and Academy 20 — that were <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/12/2/23490749/free-meals-colorado-school-lunch-proposition-ff-denver-jeffco-douglas-aurora">undecided</a> in early December have since reported to Chalkbeat that they’ll participate in the program, called <a href="https://www.cde.state.co.us/nutrition/healthymealsforallguide">Healthy School Meals For All</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>The new program, funded with a tax on high earners, will make Colorado one of only a handful of states to offer free school meals to all students, a move advocates say will feed more hungry kids and take away the stigma currently associated with receiving free school meals.</p><p>California and Maine both launched permanent universal meal programs this school year and a few other states, including Nevada, Vermont, and Massachusetts, are offering such programs at least till the end of the current school year.&nbsp;</p><p>The growing push for free school meals comes after two school years where the federal government waived income eligibility requirements for subsidized meals, allowing schools nationwide to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students for much of the pandemic. Those waivers ended last summer.</p><p>While Colorado’s universal meals program is voluntary for school districts, most have reported they’ll opt in. A Chalkbeat survey of two dozen mostly large and medium districts found that 21 plan to participate, and one — Colorado Springs 11 — plans to offer free school meals next year through a different funding mechanism. Two districts, Mesa County Valley 51, based in Grand Junction, and District 49, based in Peyton, remain undecided.&nbsp;</p><p>Another recent survey of the state’s 178 school districts by the Colorado School Nutrition Association found that about 130 of around 140 responding districts plan to offer free meals next year.&nbsp;</p><p>“Truly, there’s about 10 that have said they were unsure out of all of those,” said Erika Edwards, the association’s public policy and legislative chair. “I do think we are very much moving closer to the vast majority saying yes.”&nbsp;</p><p>In November, Colorado voters <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/11/8/23448263/proposition-ff-colorado-school-lunch-midterm-elections-2022-election-results">easily approved Proposition FF</a>, a new tax measure that will raise more than $100 million a year to pay for free school meals by reducing income tax deductions available to households earning $300,000 or more.</p><p>To participate in the universal free meals program, Colorado school districts will have to maximize the amount of federal meal dollars they get by applying for a program called <a href="https://co.chalkbeat.org/2016/7/19/21099177/free-lunch-coming-to-more-colorado-kids-who-attend-high-poverty-schools">Community Eligibility Provision</a>. The national program helps cover the cost of universal free meals at schools with large proportions of students whose families receive certain government benefits such as food assistance or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. Families at those schools don’t have to fill out applications for free or reduced-price meals.&nbsp;</p><p>But even Colorado schools that don’t qualify for the Community Eligibility Provision program will be able to offer free meals to all students by tapping into proceeds from Proposition FF.&nbsp; Families at those schools will still have to fill out applications for subsidized meals.&nbsp;</p><p>Edwards said school districts that are undecided about offering free meals next year tend to fall into one of two categories. Smaller rural districts have questions about the logistics of the Community Eligibility program while larger metro districts have questions about how Colorado plans to dole out extra funding for schools with large populations of students from low-income households, she said.&nbsp;</p><p>Known as at-risk funding, the money has been distributed based on how many students fill out forms for federal subsidized meals. Colorado is moving toward other measures, but until the change is complete, districts are worried about losing money if fewer families fill out the forms once lunch is free for all students.</p><p>Edwards said the nutrition association supports the new program and plans to offer training and other assistance to help districts that want to participate.&nbsp;</p><p>“I think it’s the culmination of everything that a school food professional wants to see happen,” she said.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><em>Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.</em></p>https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/2/22/23610935/free-meals-colorado-school-lunch-proposition-ff-denver-douglas-academy-mesa-district-49-update/Ann Schimke