Plan makes college a priority

DENVER - In his State of the State address last week, Gov. Bill Ritter promised to initiate a revolutionary shift in Colorado’s education policy. Some details of that shift were revealed Thursday when a preliminary version of Ritter’s plan was presented to the Joint House and Senate Education Committee.

The keystone of the Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids would be an overhaul of the state’s education standards to better prepare students for higher education. Colleges would be required to exactly describe the content of their introductory level classes, and elementary and secondary schools would base their curriculum on the requirements.

Currently, school districts and the state Board of Education create academic standards with little input from universities.

Matt Gianneschi, Ritter’s top education adviser, said that disconnect means secondary schools have to estimate what skills students need. Coordinating the standards would lead to fewer students taking remedial classes or even quitting college before graduating, he said.

The plan would also place less emphasis on how many years of a subject students take in high school.

Students would be able to pass out of classes if they are able to show they have mastered the skills colleges are looking for.

Ritter’s plan would change the Colorado Student Assessment Program to make it more useful for teachers and parents, Gianneschi said. Currently, the examination’s purpose is to evaluate how well schools educate their entire student body. A reformed test would provide greater insight into what areas individual students are weak in and allow teachers to focus on those areas.

Ritter’s plan incorporates elements that have been successful in states such as California and New York, Gianneschi said.

Republicans are taking a wait-and-see approach. Before the governor’s State of the State address, Sen. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, and Rep. Rob Witwer, R-Golden, proposed a bill that would set new standards for students to meet to earn their high school diplomas. Among other requirements, students would have had to take a set number of classes in areas like science, math and English.

The Republicans tabled that bill after seeing Ritter’s proposal.

“I’ve always felt that proficiency is a better measure than years in the classroom,” Witwer said. “The reason we didn’t advance that proposal was our sense was that politically it was impossible to get through the Legislature. With the governor’s leadership, the equation has changed somewhat.”

House Education Committee Chairman Mike Merrifield, D-Colorado Springs, said he’s optimistic Democrats and Republicans will work together to enact Ritter’s plan.

“I’m excited we’re looking for alternatives to the old-fashioned seat time concept that’s been proposed for so long. Now we can have some really serious discussions rather than a partisan back and forth,” Merrifield said.