Author: Melanie Asmar & Erica Meltzer, Chalkbeat Colorado

Members of Denver’s new union-backed school board majority say they want to give Superintendent Susana Cordova time to show she can improve equity and outcomes for students – and Cordova says that she is ready to work with them. One of the chief jobs of a school board is to hire and fire the superintendent,…

Of Denver’s 205 schools, just 38% met the district’s expectations of quality this year, according to school ratings released Friday. That’s fewer than last year, when 43% of schools were rated “blue” or “green,” the top two ratings on the district’s color-coded scale. Twenty-seven schools – 13% – this year are “red,” the district’s lowest…

The Denver school district’s intense focus on test scores makes it nearly impossible to spread teaching practices that would improve education. That was the conclusion reached by district staffers who spent years in the Imaginarium, an office dedicated to fostering innovation in Denver schools. The district closed the office earlier this year, in part to…