UNPARALLELED ALTITUDE:A Globally Inspired Vision for Eagle County Schools

AuthorJason E. Glass, Ed.D.

Superintendent & Chief LearnerEagle County Schools

Eagle County Schools is committed to being agood steward of both the environment and of taxpayer resources. We have printed a limitednumber of these booklets because of its impor-tance in conveying our vision to our staff and ourcommunity. We ask that you share and passalong this document to extend its reach.

Front and back cover photos are of New Yorkmountain in Eagle County, Colorado

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WHAT WE DOWe care for our students.

We offer students and staff a safeenvironment for learning and living.

We look for new ways to engage studentswith learning, parents with the District,and the community for support of ournoble mission.

Most importantly, we ignite curiosity,open eyes, fuel confidence, protectinnocence, feed intelligence, create joy,soften sadness, stimulate creativity, andprepare children for adulthood.

Education is a lofty goal, but that’s whatwe do.

We take children from all walks of life, createhigh expectations for their individual success,and guide them for 13 years through a sea ofinformation and social situations so that they cansucceed in life. It’s nothing short of miracle work.

Regardless of competing stresses, we strive toinspire every student, every moment, to developa lifelong passion for learning.

From the author:

I wish to deeply thank the teachers, administrators,support staff, Board of Education members, andcommunity leaders who were interviewed in theprocess of gathering information for this report. Iwish to acknowledge and express my sinceregratitude to the significant contributions of theadministrative leadership team with Eagle CountySchools, including Assistant SuperintendentsHeather Eberts and Mike Gass, Chief HumanResources Officer Brian Childress, Director ofExceptional Student Services Chris Madison, andExecutive Assistant to the Superintendent MissyGerard; each provided incredibly insightful andthoughtful suggestions and helpful critiques of thisdocument. I would especially like to thank TraciWodlinger, Chief Strategy Officer, and DanDougherty, Chief Communications Officer, whoinvested countless hours asking tough questions,providing critical insights, and supporting me inthis effort.

Jason E. Glass, Ed.D.Superintendent & Chief LearnerEagle County Schools

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October 8, 2013, was a significant milestone for me as the Superintendent of Eagle CountySchools. It marked exactly the first 100 days of my administration and signaled a transitionfrom a time of information gathering and deciphering into a time of carefully crafting strategyand action.

These first 100 days were time well spent. Though I had a high level of familiarity with thedistrict, having worked and lived in Eagle County previously, the district and community hadchanged. The effects of the Great Recession that led to lost capacity in the organization and thetremendous personal sacrifices by employees and community members were clear. In spite ofdevastating losses, Eagle County Schools continued to open its arms and serve the children ofthis community with honor and distinction. The people in our schools never lost sight of their sacred and noblepurpose – educating kids.

I had changed as well. Having spent time away from the district, working first as an education consultant inTennessee and Ohio, and then as the Director of the Iowa Department of Education (a position called“Commissioner” in Colorado), I gained remarkable perspective by seeing how other systems operate. I had thechance to sit at the table with some of the greatest education minds of our time and became well versed in the fieldof international benchmarking, or looking at the practices of the highest performing school systems in the worldand considering how their ideas could be applied to our context.

During my time away from Eagle County, I also became a father. While in Iowa, my amazing and wonderful wife,Sarah, gave birth to our two also amazing and wonderful children, Norah and Chase. The experience of becominga parent has had a profound impact on my perspective and thinking, both professionally and personally.

Our decision to return to Eagle County was heavily influenced by wanting our children to grow up in thiscommunity and go to these schools. Now, as Superintendent, I have the enormous responsibility and joy ofbuilding up a great school system that impacts over 6,500 students as well as the futures of my own children.

What I want for Eagle County Schools is not dissimilar from what all parents want for their children: safe andsupportive schools, talented and caring educators, lessons that are engaging and challenging, and an educationthat is customized to fit each student’s strengths, areas for growth, and future pathways. This community’schildren and families deserve all of this delivered with world-class quality on a consistent basis. These must be thegold standards to which we aspire, and we must never waiver in having great expectations for both our childrenand the schools that serve them.

Please consider the attached report a working plan for how we will meet those great expectations. The ideascontained herein are intentionally bold, audacious, and, hopefully, inspiring! They are also straightforward, basic,and benchmarked against practices consistently used in the highest performing school systems on earth. During the first 100 days of my administration, Eagle County Schools has focused on three important andinterconnected values:

Clarity – communicating as directly and clearly as possible, so as to remove ambiguity and engender action.Coherence – advancing strategies that are logically connected and supported by evidence.Compassion – showing genuine respect and caring for our kids, our community, and for each other.

I hope these values are also clear in the pages and ideas that follow. Over the past 100 days, they have brought arenewed instructional focus and connection with the community that were, in my professional opinion, needed.

I look forward with anticipation to the exchange of ideas and discussion this plan will bring about. Our ultimategoal must be to define and commit to a well-designed plan, and then fulfill on our moral obligation of providing atop-quality and world-class education for every student.

I believe in the power of this community and in the talent and passion of the individuals who are part of EagleCounty Schools. If ever there was a place that could set a shining example for what a community and its schoolscan accomplish out of love for its children, let that be us . . . and let it be now.

With respect and admiration,

Jason E. GlassSuperintendent & Chief LearnerEagle County Schools

FOREWORD

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Eagle County Schools is a remarkable publiceducation system that has provided qualityservices to students and the community in spiteof some extraordinarily difficult circumstances.However, we must aspire to much more – thechildren of Eagle County deserve nothing lessthan an education on par with the highestperforming systems in the world. Our schoolsmust stop at nothing short of “world-class” quality.

But how should we go about achieving world-class status? Popular education reforms rooted inmarket-based approaches, accountability-basedapproaches, and simple silver bullet fixes have aquestionable track record of success and mayactually be harming our efforts toward greatness.Instead, we turn to those systems that haveachieved and sustained greatness and ask if theirpractices can be adapted to fit our context.

The lessons from the highest performing systemsare simple and direct. Foremost and fundamentally,achieving world-class status involves a relentlessfocus on instruction. We learn from the high-performing systems that instruction is improvedthrough three interconnected elements:

• Educator Quality – Great educators are a foundational component to any great education system. Educator quality is achieved through stringent selectivity at the point of entry to the career, by treating educators like professionals with commensurate compensation, status, respect, career pathways, and appropriate levels of professional autonomy.

• Customized Learning – Instruction must be adapted to fit every individual student. Students learn at different paces and in different ways. And, our students have very different talents, struggles, hopes, and dreams. We must put in place an education system that customizes to fit the student.

• High Expectations for All – High expectations must be transferred into commensurately high standards for all students. Then, the system must work to create alignment from expectations,to standards, to curriculum, to lessons, to assessment, and to professional learning. High

expectations go beyond just “the basic” academic elements as well. High-performing systems emphasize a well-rounded approach inclusive of the arts, music, foreign languages, physical and health education, character education, creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication.

We also see significant support systems both inand out of school in high-performing systems.Schools are places where all students arewelcome and feel safe to learn, and safety nets arein place to prevent any child from suffering theeffects of abject poverty. In Eagle County, wemust rely on the services of the school district forthis safety net, but also other resources in thecommunity including other government agencies,the court system, philanthropies and foundations,non-profit organizations, and faith-basedorganizations. Working together, we can build asupport system for all of our students on par withthose seen in high-performing systems. This isespecially necessary in the area of early childhoodeducation, which gives us our best chance ofproviding every student a solid educational startand is a major lever in closing achievement gaps.

We also envision technologically and media-richschools where students can take advantage of thevast educational content available on the internetas well as use the interactive and individualpublishing capabilities to throw open the doors ofour classrooms and allow each student to be aglobal learner. Every student should have high-speed access and a high-quality electronic device.But going beyond this, every student should havea foundational understanding of technology aswell as the opportunity to go deep in learning inthis area, if interested.

So much depends on our public schools. A qualitypublic education system is foundational to ourway of life and to our continuing commitment tothe American dream of a country where everychild can grow up to be successful, live free, andpursue happiness. Eagle County has a moralresponsibility to our community and our childrento embark on this journey toward being agenuinely great school system.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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Eagle County Schools is a remarkable schooldistrict with a history of innovation, courage, andsuccess. Leading the way in efforts to revolution-ize educator support systems, teacher leadershipopportunities, individual accountability, andcompensation practices, Eagle County Schoolsbuilt ground-breaking systems and achievedsuccess in areas related to educator effectivenessnearly a decade before such practices becamemainstay components of current state andnational education reform efforts.

We have amazing and award-winning schoolswhich have been recognized by the State ofColorado, the U.S. Department of Education, theBill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and U.S. News& World Report. In just the last few years, thedistrict has also had three Colorado Principals ofthe Year, a Superintendent of the Year, and anEnglish Language Learner Director of the Year.

The district has also persevered years of budgetcuts during the Great Recession that went wellbeyond just “belt-tightening.” Pay freezes,furloughs, higher benefit costs, layoffs, reduc-tions, and even elimination of important servicesfor students all became the norm. One result wasthat the people working in our schools werestretched to near the breaking point, asked toaccomplish nothing short of daily miracles for thecommunity’s children with less and less.

The district went to the ballot and asked thecommunity for financial help in 2011 in the formof a tax increase. Issues of organizational trust,internal and external division, and concerns overthe fragility of the local economy sank that effort.In spite of all this adversity, Eagle County Schoolscontinued to deliver on the public promise of aquality education for any student who walkedinto any of our schools.

Eagle County Schools has also felt the impacts ofeducation reform policy changes coming from the

state and national levels. During these same yearsof unprecedented budget shortfalls, significantchanges have come down related to educatorevaluation, accountability, changes in academicstandards, and new testing configurations. Manyof these were classic state and federal “unfundedmandates,” requiring the people in the district totake on more and more responsibility with littleor no support.

Locally, the district continued to move forwardwith a significant change: implementing a newcurriculum system with aligned formativeassessments. Rather than buying some stockproduct from a vendor, Eagle County Schoolswent about the authentic work of developingthese with our own educators. While this effort isimportant and necessary, it was yet anothercomplexity added to what was already a tempestof change.

Eagle County Schools is a quality educationsystem that does many wonderful things for ourkids and the community, but there is much roomfor improvement. Achievement results, after yearsof steady and marked growth, have stagnated.Graduation rates are not where we need them tobe. And the district’s most chronic issue persists –the significant differences in scores and outcomesfor Anglo versus Hispanic students.

Despite these challenges, Eagle County Schools isa district with a lot going for it. There are incrediblytalented educators and employees who are ded-icated to improving our schools and there is anincredibly supportive and generous community.

Our students deserve an education on par withthe best performing school systems anywhere inthe world. This report maps out a vision forachieving that result and asks for a community-wide discussion about what we will do to makeour schools of exceptional quality.

INTRODUCTION

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If one were to take a day skiing or snowboardingat Vail or Beaver Creek and ask every stranger onthe chairlift or in the gondola, “What could bedone to dramatically improve the quality of publicschools?” one might be able to hear from nearly ahundred people. One would also be likely to getone hundred different answers to the question!While there might be some debate as to whetherpublic education in America is really in “crisis,”there is no debate that we should all be concernedwith improvement and delivering the bestpossible education for our children.

There exists no shortage of proposed solutions for“fixing” our public schools. Two of the commonlyespoused theories for improving schools in theUnited States are market-based and account-ability-based reforms. Both of these approacheshave a strong presence in Colorado’s educationpolicy choices and also a history here in Eagle.

Market-based reforms include expanding schoolchoice and charter schools, parent-trigger lawswhere parents can take over the administration ofschools, and privatization of education throughvoucher programs. Colorado has chosen toimplement many market-based reforms, and thedrum beat for expansion of these approaches isever-present.

Accountability-based reforms, also common, relyon measuring outcomes and then doling outsanctions or punishments to schools or individualswho fail to measure up. The accountability theoryis a strong driver behind the federal No Child Left

Behind law and also more recent state-level effortsto evaluate individual teachers using test scoresand other forms of student outcomes.

But the variety and abundance of ideas do notstop with market-based or accountability-basedreforms. A number of simplistic “silver bullet”approaches are also frequently advanced. Theseinclude things like relentlessly pursuing lowerclass size (several high-performing internationalsystems have larger average class sizes than theUnited States), adding more hours/days to theschool year in an across-the-board manner,eliminating athletics and activities, hyper-focusingon “the basics” (reading, writing, math), dramati-cally reducing the number and compensation forschool administrators, eliminating all testing,eliminating teachers’ unions, and creating falsedichotomies of pure state control versus pure localcontrol governance models.

These popular ideas come from within education(from educators) as well as outside education(from business or policy realms). The ideas comefrom all sides of the political spectrum as well,and there are increasingly strange politicalbedfellows of conservatives and liberals, Republi-cans and Democrats, who seize on any of theseaforementioned strategies as the way to improvepublic schools.

Yet, when we look at the highest performingeducation systems globally (both within theUnited States and abroad), we see quite adifferent agenda.

“FIXING” PUBLIC EDUCATION

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We see efforts to build up, increase the capacity toserve students, and support schools instead ofintentional efforts to disrupt, discredit, or dismantlepublic education.

We see efforts to recognize and honor the work ofeducators instead of large-scale systems designedto blame and shame schools and teachers intoimprovement.

We see deeply interconnected and common sensestrategies designed to dramatically improve thequality of classroom instruction instead of areliance on simplistic “silver bullet” approaches.

The highest performing education systems onearth are on a different trajectory and a differentplan. It is to these systems we must look forwisdom and insight on how to realize greatness.

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Where are these high performing systems? Theycome from different continents and cultures andserve very different communities and demograp-hics. Yet, in spite of all of their diversity, there arevery common themes which emerge. Lessonsdrawn from Asian high performers likeSingapore, Shanghai, and South Korea shouldinform our work. So should lessons from Europe,notably Finland and the Netherlands. Just acrossour border, the Canadian provinces of Albertaand Quebec have powerful insights to inform us.And within our own country, states likeMassachusetts and Maryland, as well asindividual districts like Long Beach and Mont-gomery County, have lessons to teach.

We do not point to these high-performingbenchmark systems because they follow oneideologically driven reform agenda versusanother. Nor do we point to them because theyare the latest shiny-flashy educational object todraw our attention. We point to them becausethey get results, and they sustain their greatnessfor years.

Paradoxically, we often hear about and pine overthe results that high-performing systems achieve– yet we nearly completely ignore the pathways togreatness these systems took and the efforts tokeep improving they still pursue.

In Eagle County Schools, we see a better wayforward – one guided by the practices of the top-performing school systems in the world.

BENCHMARKING AGAINST THE BEST

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Eagle County is an international community withworld-class expectations. Most prevalent are theinternationally renowned ski and snowboardresorts of Vail and Beaver Creek. People fromacross the United States, indeed the world, comehere to experience the unmatched grandeur andmajesty of our mountains.

But the world-class experiences and expectationsdo not stop there.

Eagle County is a community accustomed toenjoying some of the very best artists andmusicians in top-notch venues, dining atacclaimed restaurants with world-famous chefs,and experiencing a “5-star” level of quality inhospitality and service. Those fortunate enoughto live in Eagle County get all of this … and get tolive in an absolute temple of natural beauty.

Our community expects and is accustomed tointernational expectations, and we believe that itshould have a school system to match. Ourstudents should have an education on par withwhat kids receive in the greatest educationsystems anywhere in the world. Our childrendeserve nothing less.

Singapore

Shanghai

South Korea

Finland

Netherlands

Alberta

Quebec

Massachusetts

Long Beach Unified

Montgomery County

. . . Eagle County

WORLD-CLASS COMMUNITY/ WORLD-CLASS SCHOOLS

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If ever there was a place that could set a shining

example for what a community and its schools can accomplish out of love

for its children –let that be us

and let it be now.

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THE PATH TO GREATNESSThe most fundamental lesson the high performersteach us is that there is only one genuine, authentic,meaningful way to improve the quality of aneducation system and that is to improve the qualityof instruction. But how does one go about improv-ing the quality of instruction at the level and scalesufficient to raise Eagle County Schools to aninternationally benchmarked level?

The answer is in the connection between theeducator and the learner as they focus on thestandard or concept being learned. The nexus ofthese three elements, educator-learner-standardsis where the magic of learning in schools happens.To raise the quality of instruction, we must makebold gains with each of these three parts usingproven and research-backed strategies.

Some approaches to reforming education havehyper-focused on one part of this relationship atthe expense of the others. It is not uncommon tosee disconnected approaches that use silver bulletstrategies aimed at classroom teachers, while

others put all their efforts into learner-centeredinstructional approaches, and still others zero inon standards driven efforts. These aren’tnecessarily bad, assuming proven strategies arebeing used to advance them. But, raising any one element also necessitates raisingall of the others.

Raising educator quality requires that we alsoraise our standards of excellence and that wedeeply engage the learner - or else we will havetalented teachers delivering stale content tobored students. Similarly, raising our standardsrequires a more effective educator and anengaged learner - or else we have high levels ofrigor in our standards but lack the instructionaltalent to deliver it and will have students who feeloverwhelmed. Finally, engaging the learnerrequires a more engaging educator and deeperand more meaningful standards - or else we willhave students demanding more from educatorswho are unprepared for the level of depth neededand standards that are beneath the ability of the students.

We must pursue a foundational revolution in our system that leads to lasting improvements to instruction.The essential elements on which Eagle County Schools’ will focus on our way to greatness must necessarily include significant, sustained, and empirically validated strategies related to improving and engaging deeply with each of these three peaks.

RAISING EDUCATOR QUALITYIn the United States and in Colorado, there is anappropriate level of gravity and importance placedon improving educator quality. Indeed, in all ofthe high-performing education systems, significantattention is placed on educator quality.

For Eagle County Schools, our efforts at improvingeducator quality will be benchmarked againstthose practices which have been proven effectivein the high-performing systems.

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High-performing education systems have a clearand focused strategy for improving educatorquality. The basis of their approach, quite simply,is to consider education a profession, whereprofessional educators are very selectivelychosen, highly talented, highly trained, provideda great deal of professional autonomy, and have anumber of options for career advancement.

Further, the profession of education in high-performing systems is afforded a high level ofstatus. According to one recent internationalstudy on the status of the teaching profession, inthe very highest performing systems, “Teachersare revered.” (as cited in Couglan, 2013). To put itmore directly, high-performing educationsystems consider and treat education as aprofession with respect. To teach in one of thesesystems is to be admired.

They also compensate their educators well. High-performing systems generally pay educators at alevel on par with other professional options likeengineering, accounting, or architecture. Throughthese two strategies (status and pay), the high-performing systems are able to attract the

brightest young people in their society to pursueeducation as a career.

High-performing systems are also incrediblyselective about whom they let into the teachingprofession. For example, Singapore only admitsone in eight applicants for teacher training, eachof whom must fall in the top 30% of students as aprerequisite. These high-performing systemsgenerally train teachers in their highest prestige,research universities. They also strike a keybalance between content training (what to teach),pedagogy (how to teach), and lots of supportedclinical experience before teaching candidates areever given their own students.

Once on the job, teachers in high-performingeducation systems are provided significantinduction supports from talented and experiencedmentors. There exist multiple options forprofessional growth through career pathways,allowing teachers to advance professionallywithout leaving teaching. And teachers in high-performing systems are empowered and trustedto work with each other, in small teams withinschool buildings, on professional learning.

A PROFESSIONAL MODEL OF TEACHING

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Here, in Eagle County Schools, we already believe in, support, and respect our educators.If we are to build educator quality based on lessons from high-performing educationsystems, then a few key strategies emerge:

We will focus on recruiting teachers from the very best colleges anduniversities anywhere in the country, if not the world.

Recruiting from our own top-performing high school students, we willcreate local systems with world-class standards of excellence to “grow-our-own” talented educators.

We will be incredibly selective about whom we allow to begin or to remainteaching in our schools.

We will do all we can to compensate, recognize, and provide supports forboth our new and our existing teachers so that we are competitive for newteaching talent while retaining our experienced and talented educators. Tobe competitive, our educators should be among the best compensated inthe State of Colorado.

We will continue to support and build upon our existing career ladderprogram (career, mentor, and master teachers) but will look to expand it toallow for even more professional options like year-round teachers orspecialist teacher-leaders that bring expertise to a key area of studentneed (like data specialists or language-learning specialists).

We will continue to support and value the time of our existing professionallearning model, where small groups of teachers in all our schools take timeto work together on issues they collectively face. But, we will work to turnupside-down the model where the content of professional learning ismostly driven from the district office. Instead, we will seek a betterbalance and further empower and provide professional autonomy to ourfront-line educators. The role of the district in this approach is to provideevidence-based support and research for building-level educators in solvingthe issues closest to the students.

We choose this professional model approach to educator quality, in part, for empirical reasons. Thatis, we see it working in the high-performing systems to which we are benchmarking. But it goesfurther than just empiricism. We believe that the profession of education is a sacred and noble callingand, in Eagle County, we will treat this profession with reverence and respect.

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For far too long in education we adhered to a sortof “factory” model when it came to instruction.Students were like widgets rolling through gradeson a giant conveyer belt - the same content wasdelivered to every student in the same way, yearafter year. For many students, that model worked.But, for the millions and millions more who strug-gled, felt ashamed, disengaged, and dropped out;the factory model of education failed them.

Top-performing school systems reject the factorymodel of education and opt instead for systemsthat customize instruction to each individualstudent. Each and every student’s strengths andareas for growth are taken into account. In earlygrades, acceleration or additional supports areprovided by data-informed teams of educationprofessionals so that students master the basicand foundational skills, such as literacy andnumeracy. In higher grades, talents and dreamsof students are taken into account so thatcustomized pathways into college or careers arein place.

For Eagle County, our endeavor to become a top-performing education system will hinge on ourability to customize and adapt instruction toevery student. To achieve greatness, thiscustomization cannot happen just for somestudents and just for some of the time. We mustput in place multi-step and fail-safe systems thatcustomize learning through teams of educatorswho monitor, adapt, and deliver high-qualitylearning experiences for students. Because theconsequences of failing a student are so great, wemust build a system with integrity, where every

student is supported to success and early warningsigns of trouble are immediately acted upon.When a student is in trouble, academically orotherwise, the educators take action andintervene with research-based supports, so thestudent can return to a more successful pathbefore things spiral out of control and towardfailure. Supporting students so that they experi-ence success and connecting school to theirdreams creates high levels of engagement on thepart of the learner, a key ingredient for a high-performing education system.

Customized learning also means that werecognize and appreciate cultural differences inour community. In Eagle County Schools, our twolargest demographic groups are Hispanic andAnglo and these two make up nearly a 50/50 splitdistrict-wide. Our district also has nearly 40% ofstudents who are Spanish-speaking and who arelearning English. We can turn these factors into atremendous advantage for our students byexpanding opportunities for learning multiplelanguages. Imagine if every student whograduated from Eagle County Schools had amasterful command of English, spoke andunderstood Spanish at a very high level, and inmany cases also acquired a third language by thetime of graduation. In this increasingly globaleconomy, the knowledge of multiple languagesfor Eagle County students can be more than justthe sign of being raised in this internationalcommunity with world-class expectations – it is acompetitive advantage we can give our studentsthat will pay returns on this investment for alifetime.

CUSTOMIZED INSTRUCTION FOR ENGAGED LEARNERS

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At elementary grades, focus on foundational elements of literacy andnumeracy by implementing multi-step, fail-safe systems where outcomes areclear, progress is closely monitored by teams of educators, and specific,individual student-tailored actions are taken at the earliest signs of struggle.Evidence-based programs with repeatable procedures to guarantee strongliteracy and numeracy are of paramount importance in these early grades.

At secondary grades, create clear and customized pathways to college orcareers that include abundant opportunities for experiencing college-levelrigor, earning early college credit, and equally abundant experientialapprenticeship opportunities in partnership with employers and other expertsin our community.

Tailor instruction at all age levels to exceptional students, both gifted andspecial education. For gifted students, we must go beyond just accelerationand offer deeper opportunities for learning and engaging opportunities for self-study and enrichment. Special education students must be provided adaptedinstruction, tailored to fit their needs, and supported to the same highstandards we have for all students.

Take full advantage of online and blended learning options to create anabundance of learning options for students.

Shift toward student progression based on mastery of learning instead oftime-based notions of learning (earning credits based on hours of seat timein class). Students advance or receive additional time as they need it and haveaccess to an abundance of experience-based learning opportunities.

Consider alternate school calendar structures and summer supports that canmitigate the “summer slump” (a decline in academic ability after the summermonths), and provide engaging and enriching learning opportunities outsidethe regular curriculum.

We need a large-scale approach to close the achievement gap for studentswho are learning English that also raises the achievement of all students. Wecan turn our natural student demographics into an enormous advantage byexpanding dual language opportunities across the district with a goal of everystudent graduating from Eagle County Schools being able to speak twolanguages with a masterful command of English. The research evidencestrongly supports the dual language model as the most powerful method ofimproving language skills for English Language Learners (Howard et al., 2003;Thomas & Collier, 2002). Anglo students gain the advantage of learningSpanish with native speakers and acquiring a second language. For all of ourstudents, a key academic advantage can be realized, as the evidencesupports that bilingual students outperform their monolingual peers in allsubjects tested (Thomas & Collier, 2002).

The specific steps Eagle County Schools will take to put in place a system ofcustomized learning include the following:

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A System Designed to Deliver Excellence for AllA bedrock element of high-performing education systems is high expectations for all students that aretranslated into a clear, well-designed set of standards which define what each individual studentshould be able to know, understand, and do. But just having standards isn’t enough; these standardsmust be internationally benchmarked. In this globally competitive world, our students must graduatewith skills on par with students anywhere in the world. And these standards are not just for somestudents: high-performing systems make a point of closing achievement gaps through holding highexpectations for all students and supporting them with high-quality instruction delivered by a high-quality educator.

Alignment is also a paramount concept in the context of high standards. The standards should clearlyset the bar for what students need to know and be able to do at different developmentally appropriatelevels. From these standards, there must also be an aligned curriculum, aligned lessons, alignedassessments, and aligned professional development. The education system must continuously work tomake sure it has challenging, clear standards, and that all the instructional work is closely alignedwith those high standards.

These demanding standards absolutely include the academic fundamentals of literacy and math. Butin the high-performing systems, we see broad, inclusive standards where social sciences, arts, music,foreign languages, physical and health education, and character education are all valued. High-performing systems are also working to include competencies like critical thinking, communication,creativity, and collaboration into their standards. High-performing systems recognize that coreacademic skills are foundational to future success, but also recognize that the education system has agreater responsibility to prepare students to thrive in an ever-increasingly complex world.20

High expectations for all students with high-quality instruction

Continue the work of rigorous curriculum design, establishing ongoing cyclesto benchmark our standards against both Colorado state standards andinternationally competitive systems in all content areas.

Expand the curriculum to include arts, music, world languages, physical andhealth education, and character education. Also expand the curriculum toinclude critical thinking, communication, creativity, and collaboration.

Put in place clear and evidence-based literacy and numeracy programsdistrict-wide that are aligned with our standards.

Continue the work of developing curricula in all subject areas that is clearlyaligned with the district’s high expectations.

Continue the district’s work around formative assessment, but work to makethis process faster and much more efficient. Also, build capacity for district-wide formative assessments in literacy and numeracy that have a directimpact on classroom instruction, and that are clearly aligned to districtstandards.

All of our work must have clear alignment to internationally benchmarkedstandards. A mantra that must burn in the minds of all our educators must be:“alignment, alignment, alignment” in thinking about how our instructionalwork aligns to high standards.

When it comes to having high standards for all students, the following steps will putus on the path toward world-class excellence:

Up to this point, the focus has been intently oneducators, learners, and standards. Rightly so –these components form the foundation of allgreat education systems. But these components,as central and foundational as they are, are notenough. We also learn from the best performingeducation systems that there are services insideand outside of schools that support students inlearning at high levels.

School SupportsAs a public education system, we also have aresponsibility to support students from everywalk of life to remove as many barriers tolearning as possible. We do this through makingsure our buildings and grounds are safe andplaces of pride for our students, educators, andcommunity. We also support our families bysafely and reliably transporting students to andfrom school and by providing healthy andnutritious meals. Our school and district officeprofessionals are knowledgeable and courteousand help our families get the information theyneed and help them to navigate what cansometimes be confusing processes.

Our schools must be places where students haveevery protection we can offer from the horrificschool violence incidents of recent years. All ofour buildings must be places where every studentis safe to learn, and we must make investmentsand take proactive steps to make them secure.

We must also continue to support our students intimes of grief or emotional distress through caringand professional counseling services. We mustmake focused efforts to eradicate school bullying.Our schools must be a sanctuary, where everychild can grow and learn without fear.

These in-school supports are incrediblyimportant for the success of our schools and ofour students. By establishing and maintaininginternationally high benchmarks of service in all

of these areas, we remove potential barriers tolearning and clear the way for our students to besuccessful.

A Community That Puts Its ArmsAround Its ChildrenFor all of the tremendous things our schools do inservice to our students, we can’t do it alone. Weneed significant help from other governmentagencies, the court system, local philanthropiesand foundations, non-profit organizations, andfaith-based organizations.

High-performing education systems put safetynets around their children to mitigate the effectsof poverty as early as possible. They provide anarray of services to both protect and rescue kidsfrom dangerous and destructive paths.

In addition to safety nets that protect and supportchildren, we must establish a comprehensive androbust community-wide system around earlychildhood. There are many quality and well-intentioned partners already working in ourcommunity in the area of early childhood,including Eagle County Schools. But we mustseek a coordinated and comprehensive systemthat ensures every child an opportunity to attendan early childhood program at a locationconvenient to the family. Quality early childhoodeducation is a core practice seen in the high-performing education systems, and it will be akeystone to our work in becoming such a system.

This community is extraordinary in its generositytoward the children of Eagle County. But we mustmake a concerted and focused effort to workbetter together as a system instead of individualorganizations pursuing individual agendas. Nochild should be denied the opportunity to learnand to live a wonderful life, and with ourcommunity pulling together, we can create thatsystem of supports around our children.

A Comprehensive System of Supports

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Eagle County Schools has made advances ineducation technology over the past few years.Broadband capacity has been significantlyincreased, wireless service points have beenexponentially expanded, computer labs areavailable in every building, and teachers have anumber of instructional technology toolsincluding large panel LCD screens and interactivewhiteboards.

These are all positive steps which should becommended. However, the march and pace oftechnology is unrelenting and accelerating, andthe world is becoming more interconnected bythe moment.

Johannes Guttenberg’s invention of the printingpress in 1450 had a profound impact by dramati-cally reducing the cost associated with printingbooks. Information became nearly universallyavailable at a low cost. Changes in technologybring a similar revolution in the ability to access

information instantaneously and to interactglobally. As their futures are almost certain todepend on it, our students must be well-versedand confident in the use of technology for lifelonglearning.

Our goal must be to have media-rich schools,where every student has all the bandwidthneeded for learning. Every student should alsohave access to a high-quality, state-of-the-artdevice to access the internet for content (facts),and the boundless opportunities to interact,learn, and create online. A curriculum must bedeveloped for technology which provides both asound base for all students, and an acceleratedpath for students with a passion and drive fortechnology.

Our students deserve a world-class education,and a part of that means having access to world-class educational technology.

The Special Importance of Educational Technology

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Our schools play a critical role for our children and community in so many ways.Done well, quality public education:

Is foundational to our participatory democracy,creating a society where the people governthemselves and make important decisions togetherin line with the vision of the nation’s foundingfathers.

Ensures the wealth and safety of our nation bycreating a talented, skilled, and creative workforce.

Is a powerful force by which we make good on thepromise of the American dream – creating a nationwhere every child has the opportunity to grow,learn, live, and succeed.

Puts a temple for learning in every community,where the joy and enrichment of personal growth isavailable for all children.

Brings together communities and teaches us thevalue of tolerance and respect for differences.

Provides all children an opportunity to experienceart, music, culture, and humanity – so that all areable to fully experience and appreciate the humancondition.

Lays the groundwork and creates an appreciationfor life-long learning, be that through highereducation or personal growth.

The work of public education, at its core, is adecidedly noble endeavor and one worthy ofprotecting. Each and every one of us has a moralobligation and responsibility to ensure a qualityeducation for all children.

In the days ahead, it is hoped that this documentwill be discussed, debated, and even challenged.The ideas contained herein are intended to set avision, but that vision should be vetted todetermine that it is indeed the right fit anddirection for Eagle County and its schools.

If the vision contained here indeed fits, then ournext steps must be to fully flesh out a detailedstrategy and set of focused actions. There should

be no illusions that achieving greatness at thescale envisioned here will be easy or quick. Wecan learn much from places that are attemptingthe shortcuts, the silver bullets, and the quickfixes. These approaches invariably disappoint andare not in line with what must be our ultimategoal - sustained and genuine quality.

Commitment Our key and critical first step is committing tobecome a world-class education system. There isindeed power and clarity that follows aftermaking that commitment. But this first step mustthen also be accompanied by the commitment inour hearts and minds to take many, many moresteps on our journey to greatness.

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Suggested Readings

Battelle for Kids. (2012). Global education study: six drivers of student success – a lookinside five of the world’s highest performing school systems. Retrieved fromhttp://www.battelleforkids.org/initiatives/initiatives/global-education-study.

City, E., Elmore, R., Fiarman, S., & Teitel, L. (2009). Instructional rounds in education: anetwork approach to improving teaching and learning.

Cobb, B., Vega, D., & Kronauge, C. (2006). Effects of an elementary dual languageimmersion school program on junior high achievement.Middle Grades ResearchJournal. 1: 27-47.

Coughlin, S. (2013, October 14). Teachers in China given highest level of public respect.BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24381946.

Howard, E. R., Christian, D., & Genesee, F. (2003). The development of bilingualism andbiliteracy from grade 3 to 5: a summary of findings from the CAL/CREDE study of two-way immersion education (Research Report 13). Santa Cruz, CA and Washington, DC:Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence.

McKinsey & Co. (2007). How the world’s best performing school systems come out ontop. Retrieved from http://mckinseyonsociety.com/how-the-worlds-best-performing-schools-come-out-on-top/.

McKinsey & Co. (2010). How the world’s most improved school systems keep gettingbetter. Retrieved from http://mckinseyonsociety.com/how-the-worlds-most-improved-school-systems-keep-getting-better/.

Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development. (2012).How does class sizevary around the world? Education Indicators in Focus. 2012: 9.

Thomas, W. P., & Collier, V. (2002). A national study of school effectiveness for languageminority students’ long-term academic achievement: final report. Santa Cruz, CA andWashington, DC: Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence.

Tucker, M. (2011). Surpassing Shanghai: an agenda for American education built on theworld’s leading systems. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

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UNPARALLELED ALTITUDE:A Globally Inspired Vision for Eagle County Schools

AuthorJason E. Glass, Ed.D.

Superintendent & Chief LearnerEagle County Schools