Tag Archives: DPS (Denver Public Schools)

2013 Colorado Election Prediction

Posted on November 5, 2013 by axooms

I find most political commentary spurious – either so far in advance that no one remembers how inaccurate it was, or done only in hindsight where one is merely suggesting explanations for outcomes already known. Far more interesting are predictions just … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The False Dawn of Denver’s School Performance

Posted on October 4, 2013 by axooms

Denver Public Schools has released their 2013 School Performance Framework (SPF). The summary is mixed — the distribution of performance has stretched, so there are more kids in both the highest-quality and the lowest-quality schools. When aggregated, the gains are … Continue reading →

Posted in Charter Schools, District Performance, Poverty, School Performance, Student Achievement | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Housing and Public Schools

Posted on June 10, 2013 by axooms

Imagine, for a moment, that the public school district of the city in which you live decided to start a program to charge families who wanted to send their kids to a specific school.  The price was pretty expensive — … Continue reading →

Posted in Engagement, Fiscal & Economic, Poverty | Tagged | 5 Comments

Scorpions and Frogs: A Parable about the DPS Board

Posted on February 15, 2013 by axooms

You know the story. It goes like this: A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a wide river, and the scorpion asked the frog to carry him across on his back. “How do I know you won’t sting … Continue reading →

Posted in District Performance, Engagement | Tagged | 3 Comments

The Tragic Legacy of Rachel B. Noel

Posted on February 8, 2013 by axooms

This week marks the 40th anniversary of the landmark Keyes case, which was instrumental in desegregating the Denver school system. Colorado Public Radio’s enterprising Jenny Brundin has a brief but mesmerizing story that summarizes the case. Keyes was remarkable as it marked … Continue reading →

Posted in Engagement, Fiscal & Economic, Poverty, School Performance | Tagged | Leave a comment

Signal Defeats Noise!

Posted on November 7, 2012 by axooms

In my opinion, the biggest unheralded winner in yesterday’s election was Thomas Bayes. Now Bayes died back in 1761, but his influence lives on in Bayes’ Theorem, which is one of the tentpoles of modern statistics and probability.  His modern … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | Tagged | 1 Comment

Our obsession with growth

Posted on May 23, 2012 by axooms

The move towards increased accountability coupled with the creation and collection of new data mean K-12 education is constantly sorting through a variety of metrics to better understand what is working and what is not.  But the layers of additional … Continue reading →

Posted in District Performance, Student Achievement | Tagged | 2 Comments