Gov. Jared Polis:
Well, there were some — there are some bright lights, and we always try to learn from the bright lights.
Louisiana was another bright light of significant increases. So what you always try to do in education, both within a state and across the states, is say, hey, look, here’s some examples of what works. In fact, part of what we use the federal money for in Colorado is what we called Bright Spot Awards.
Schools, and we had them in Colorado a few dozen, even during the pandemic years, had significant increases and improvements in student achievement. And we said, wow, we need to elevate that. We gave them awards of $50,000.
But, more importantly, we tried to learn what the practices were that led to significant increases in student achievement, two bands in our state accountability matrix they improved, and trying to spread those best practices to other schools across our district.
So you look for those bright spots. At the same time, you look for, OK, where were some of the decreases? What does that show the red flashing light on that we need to change, both at the district level and at the state level?
