ELO Commission Offers Student-Centered Vision for Education

Presentation to the State Board Represents Official Release of Commission Findings

(DENVER, CO) Today, in a presentation to the State Board of Education, the Colorado Legacy Foundation (CLF) and the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) released the Expanded Learning Opportunities (ELO) Report, “Beyond Walls, Clocks, and Calendars: Rethinking Public Education in Colorado.” The report, which highlights the findings of Colorado’s ELO Commission, marks the conclusion of the commission’s work and the start of a statewide stakeholder engagement campaign which will challenge current assumptions about the ways we deliver public education with the goal of improving outcomes for all students.

“This report lays forth a student-centered vision for education in Colorado,” said Dr. Helayne Jones, President and CEO of the Colorado Legacy Foundation. “This is not just about finding innovative ways to use time and technology to better deliver education to young people in this state. It is also about more effectively using current resources. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to share this work with the State Board of Education.”

The Commission’s work supports the idea that learning can take place anytime, anywhere. The report suggests that to deepen and expand learning opportunities for all students, education leaders must have the flexibility to look beyond walls, clocks, and calendars – beyond classrooms, class schedules, and the school year.

“By rethinking when, where and how teaching and learning take place, the Commission challenges education leaders to consider how school could be fundamentally different,” commented Elaine Gantz-Berman, Chair of the ELO Commission and member of the Colorado State Board of Education. “The launch of this report offers an opportunity to align the work of the Commission with the priorities of the State Board of Education. I look forward to working with my colleagues to advance this work in Colorado.”

The recommendations set forth in the report will support and strengthen the systemic plan in place at the Colorado Department of Education. “The Commission’s goals are strongly linked to the overall education goals for the state of Colorado: increase academic growth for struggling students, close the achievement gap, increase student attendance, and decrease the dropout rate,” said Commissioner of Education Robert Hammond.

The ELO Commission was appointed by former Commissioner of Education, Dwight Jones, in the spring of 2010. The Commission was tasked with examining the state-level policies needed to most effectively use the school day and to foster collaboration and partnerships among teachers, schools and community partners that go beyond core subjects to fully engage and enrich all students. The Commission was comprised of 17 Commissioners, including four state legislators, superintendents, representatives from the teachers’ union, leadership representing both P-12 and higher education, ELO practitioners and members of the Colorado Department of Education.

For a summary of the report, click here.

For the full report, click here.