I’ll confess: I love data.  Despite all the fuss on ProComp being “groundbreaking,” it was (and remains) data-lite. I still think the most important development in Colorado’s education reform in the past few years is the Colorado Growth Model (and in Denver the School Performance Framework).

Data can be misused, misinterpreted, and just plain ignored, but it is one of the most powerful disinfectants we have, and education has been sorely absent from its embrace.

I think the teacher identifier bill will mark one of the milestones of education reform.  It is up to all of us to make sure that it is used well, but it will give teachers a badly-missed perspective on their students, and it can help all of us make better decisions.