State Board honors 104-year-old educator

State Board honors 104-year-old educator

Marie L. Greenwood presented with the Colorado Outstanding Educator Award

DENVER - At its February regular meeting, the State Board of Education honored Marie L. Greenwood with the Colorado Outstanding Educator Award. Ms. Greenwood is 104 years old and was a trailblazer as a first-grade teacher in Denver Public Schools, which named an elementary school in her name.

Greenwood was the first black teacher to lead a classroom outside of northeast Denver in the 1950s and her success opened the door for others to follow in her path.

Upon receiving her award with her son by her side, Ms. Greenwood thanked the board and reminded them of the importance of providing a good education at the earlier grades, likening quality education to building a house. "It must start with a good foundation," she said.

Colorado English Language Learner Educator Professional Development

The state board voted to direct CDE staff to continue working with stakeholders to create new flexible professional development pathways for new and current teachers to better serve students with English language education needs.

Colorado now has the sixth-highest number of English language learners in the country.

Proposed rules will be developed to integrate new standards into teacher preparation programs as well as create flexible professional development programs for existing teachers.  The draft rules will be available for public comment and the board’s consideration in the fall.  Upon the board’s approval of the rules, current teachers would have between five and 10 years to complete the new professional development requirements before they must renew their license.

Legislative priorities

The board approved legislative priorities for 2016. The legislative priorities describe the board’s vision for learning in Colorado.

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

A draft of ESSA state plan will open for public comment Friday, Feb. 10. The draft plan, along with information on submitting feedback and notice for public comment, will be posted on the ESSA Feedback webpage at that time. The projected deadline for all comments is Friday, March 10.

Rulemaking processes

Additionally, the board took the following actions on rules:

• Approved the notice of rulemaking to repeal the rules for administration of the Read to Achieve Grant Program.

• Approved the notice of rulemaking to repeal the rules for administration of the Teacher Development Grant Program.

• Approved the notice of rulemaking to repeal the rules for administration of the Science and Technology Education Center Grant Program.