The Denver Post – Yesenia Robles
“Denver Public Schools is a source of inspiration for the federal government. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan finished a two-day trip to Denver on Thursday and said his frequent, just about annual, visits are not a coincidence. “Not that Denver is doing everything perfectly — nobody is. But there’s some pretty significant macro-level lessons that I think other large urban districts would do well to really spend some time and look at what these guys are developing,” Duncan said. The secretary spent Thursday morning at McGlone Elementary in Montbello, where DPS officials highlighted the use of teacher leadership roles, enrollment zones and innovation status that gave principal Sara Gips autonomy in the school’s budget. Duncan also participated in a roundtable discussion where he listened to three teachers and two school parents talk about the turnaround they’ve seen in the past four years. “The biggest thing for me is having a team,” teacher leader Amy Lovell said. “We see everything as ‘our kids’ rather than ‘these are the students that were assigned to me.’ We’re not flying alone in our classrooms.” McGlone is one of several schools in Denver that is piloting a “differentiated roles” program where teachers are able to spend half of their time teaching in the classroom and half of their time coaching or leading other teachers in shared planning.”(more)