Craig Daily Press / New state plan to cover preschool through secondary education

August 1, 2008

At its monthly meeting Thursday, the Moffat County School Board:

• Approved, 5-0, a new music curriculum for kindergarten through high school students. The curriculum is aligned to the School District’s new grade configuration, which is scheduled to go into effect during the 2009-10 school year and will place sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders in a new Craig Middle School building.

• Approved, 5-0, to authorize Assistant Superintendent Christine Villard to manage funds from grants for various title programs, including those regarding elementary and secondary education.

• Approved, 5-0 a vehicle bid for a 3/4-ton pickup from Craig Ford for $22,025. The bid was the lowest of three submitted to the School District from Craig Ford and Victory Motors. The truck would replace a similar vehicle belonging to the district.

Craig — At its monthly meeting Thursday night, the Moffat County School Board reviewed a Senate bill passed by the state legislature this spring that is designed to change the way students in preschool through 12th grade prepare for life after school and the tests used to measure that readiness.

Senate Bill 212, also known as the Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids, was passed in May and is designed to create standards and tests that extend from preschool through secondary education and into the realm of work force readiness.

Although it won’t take effect at the local level until 2011, the bill has major implications for the school district, Superintendent Pete Bergmann said.

“I look at this as a mini No Child Left Behind for Colorado,” he said.

The Achievement Plan’s scope includes graduation guidelines, individual plans for preschool students and standards for all levels of public education from preschool to high school graduation, according to the Colorado Association of School Executives.

The Achievement Plan won’t directly affect the state’s school districts until 2011, according to an implementation plan from CASE. The Colorado Department of Education has yet to craft new standards and tests before school districts can begin to put the plan in place locally.

“It’s not going to happen overnight,” Bergmann said.

Yet, when the Achievement Plan does come to the local level, it will place new responsibilities on the school district.

In fall 2012, schools will be required to create individual school readiness plans for each incoming preschool student.

Schools will be required to review local content standards to make sure they meet or exceed state standards starting December 2011. Among other requirements, schools must begin providing programs aimed at students with different post-graduation plans, including higher education, in 2011.

Still, the lion’s share of responsibility for the Achievement Plan falls at the state level. One of those tasks includes reworking the Colorado Student Assessment Program, which measures students’ academic progress in reading, math and writing from third to 10th grade. The test also assesses students’ science skills in some grades.

Once drafted, any changes to the test would have to receive federal approval to ensure it meets NCLB standards, Bergmann said.

The Achievement Plan represents the state’s attempt to address changing needs for the state’s students, according to the CDE.

“The next generation of standards-based education must consider the needs of the whole student by creating a rich and balanced curriculum,” according to a CDE news release, adding the curriculum should take into account different students’ desires to go on to higher education, vocational training or a career in the work force.

Still, board member JoAnn Baxter said she wondered whether the new plan was leading toward a state curriculum.

The Achievement Plan could “potentially” lead in that direction, Bergmann said, but added that the school district’s curriculum already closely mirrors state standards, and he doesn’t foresee the state mandating the school district’s curriculum.