Applying a second CES principle: less is more. (Part 1)

Perhaps just what might help three struggling high schools. (Part 2)

Second of three issues on key principles from the Coalition of Essential Schools.^{^[i]}

A well-known truism: schools and teachers have too much on their plate. What to do?

PART 1: Another View has argued that the powers-that-be in our state—the Governor, the Commissioner of Education, legislators, the business community, and leading education organizations—have sought to shift the mission of K-12 schools. I think they have succeeded. Preparing students for the workplace is central to our discussions and our new laws (HB 1215, HB 1364[ii]). It is the dominant theme we hear from state leaders (AV#274, 281, 285). The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) is on board; its new Strategic Plan for 2025-28[iii] sets goals for high school graduates neatly aligned with the so-called “Big Blur” (AV#281). That term, Orwellian in selling a concept so opaque, speaks volumes about where we are.

Schools cannot look to the state if they seek clarity and focus. As AV#286 proposed, I believe it will help if they determine that their academic mission comes first. #287 is a natural follow-up: encouraging schools to then assess what is most important to fulfill their academic mission. The goal: to discover ways to simplify, to put more time and effort into what matters most.

This is where a second “common principle” from the Coalition of Essential Schools can be useful.^{^[iv]}

Less is more: depth over coverage [One of the 10 common principles of CES]
The school’s goals should be simple: that each student master a limited number of essential skills and areas of knowledge…. The aphorism “less is more” should dominate: curricular decisions should be guided by the aim of thorough student mastery and achievement rather than by an effort to merely cover content.^{^[v]}

When schools re-examine their programs guided by the “less is more” principle, they often realize where they have taken on, or have felt compelled to accept, far too many “priorities.” (Example: “workforce readiness,” above). If they pare back and commit to a more manageable set of goals, administrators and teachers can take a sigh of relief. No longer compelled to try to do it all.

You might enjoy an even older version of “less is more” in schools.

See “shedding the load,” from Dorothy L. Sayers, 1948.^{^[vi]}

To make the case for this principle, many will say we first need to acknowledge the elephant in the room: that in 2025, society often expects a school to be all things to all people.^{^[vii]} To add to the problem, the state and/or districts issue new requirements. With the exception of charters and small rural schools, most schools lack the autonomy to resist the latest push from on-high. Mission creep is the result. As is the feeling: we are not in control.

I am not about to tackle “the elephant in the room” here. But it is naïve to ignore it. In this newsletter, I merely hope to stress one idea. To the degree schools can act on it, less is more.

More focus on students’ essential academic skills and knowledge

   A school community might reflect this summer on what is most essential and what it can teach well, in depth. It might begin with a study of the Colorado Academic Standards. AV #286 spoke of “the massive documents for each of the 10 standards at the Colorado Department of Education’s website.”^{^[viii]} Again, good schools will want to agree on which components of the standards they believe are essential for their students, in their setting. The “less is more” principle can relieve them of the worry of trying to “cover” it all.
One standard: literacy. Reading and writing.
How “less is more” might produce a new commitment to literacy

   “Less is more” encourages a clear goal: “that each student master a limited number of essential skills and areas of knowledge.” Everyone agrees reading and writing are “essential,” true? This old English teacher is biased, but I hope so. And it is why, this past year, I have often written about the tragic number of Colorado students performing well below grade level in reading and writing.[ix]
    Beginning in 2012, the READ Act spurred big changes in what and how reading is taught in grades K-3. However, the rest of the K-12 system has done little to tackle the reading struggles of tens of thousands of students. Applying “less is more” might encourage more schools to correct this. Ideally, improving the literacy skills of students in grades 4-12 could become an essential goal.

Using the most recent data, a school would fill in the blank below, and then ask several questions:

a.) ___ of our students are on a Read Plan. What must we do to help them make significant progress towards reading at grade level?
b.) ___% of our students fell short of Meeting Expectations on state literacy assessments (CMAS grades 4-8; PSAT/SAT, grades 9-11). What must we do to help them make significant progress towards reading and writing at grade level?

c.) ___# of our high school students Did Not Yet Meet Expectations on state literacy assessments. What fundamental changes are needed so that we help many more students gain the reading and writing skills expected of graduates? (See example—a, b, c—Aurora Central H.S.[x])

An old English teacher then adds: As reading and writing are vital skills in all academic classes, a school must explore what role all teachers in the school have in order to meet this goal.)

Our lowest-performing high schools suffer more than most from trying to do too much.

Part 2 examines three high schools on Performance Watch. It shows that they have failed to put front and center the weak literacy skills of the majority of their students. This must change.

A nonprofit leader working closely with one of these schools told me: “It’s in a constant state of pivot… if you're trying to do everything you create chaos …” [in the end] "you're not doing anything well.”

That may sound harsh, but AV #287 is meant to help. I do appreciate the predicament for these schools (see box). I wish the State Board and their school districts could say: we no longer expect you to try to fix everything that isn’t working well. We recognize your exhaustive efforts and we appreciate the many challenges you face. But the results – on key matters – do not change.

So we will now ask: apply the “less is more” principle. Focus on what is most important.

“Less is more” might lead them to affirm one goal: to see their students are reading well.

    PART 2: Abraham Lincoln High, Adams City High, and Aurora Central High



    On reading and writing, a stark contrast: deeply disturbing results, but not a priority.

A.       Data on literacy—especially reading—in these three schools.

B.       Updates to the State Board and UIPs – virtually nothing on improving literacy/reading.

A. Data on literacy – Recent student performance at these three high schools reveals the size of the problem.

The need is great.

With these results, it must be apparent that here is one issue that should be a top priority at these schools.

But it has not been, as Part B will show.

Applying “Less is More” would encourage these high schools to go into DEPTH examining:

the reasons for the low performance on state assessments on reading and writing,
the lack of significant improvement since prior years on literacy assessments, and
on reading alone – how best to address the reading skills of hundreds of students who are not performing anywhere close to grade level (including but not limited to the those who have been on a READ Plan since 4^th grade; many students who struggle with reading entered the system after the K-3 years, and so were never on a READ Plan).

1) EBRW - Evidence Based Reading/Writing – 2024 results

% of juniors* in 2024 scored in the lowest category,

Did Not Yet Meet Expectations, on the reading/writing portion of the SAT.^{^[xi]}

At these three schools,

70% (588/839)

of the students scored

Did Not Yet Meet Expectations.

State average: 30.6%

Abraham Lincoln H.S. – 77.6% (151/196 students taking the test)

Aurora Central H. S. - 72.8% (228/313 students)

Adams City H. S. – 63.3% (209/330 students)

*Last year’s juniors, who were this year’s seniors, most of whom just graduated from these high schools in May 2025. Leading to an obvious question: HOW WELL CAN THEY READ?

2) PSAT and SAT results, grades 9-11

2024 results	Abraham Lincoln	Adams City	Aurora Central	State average
Grade 9 – PSAT – score	353	370	339	451
% Met/Exceeded Expectations	30.7%	31.4%	21.9%	65%

Grade 10 – PSAT - score	345	389	367	473
% Met/Exceeded Expectations	15.9%	N.A.	28.5%	66%

Grade 11 -SAT - score	372	408	392	500
% Met/Exceeded Expectations	12.8%	N.A. (in 2023 – 22.4%	14.7%	57.6%

Schoolview - https://www.cde.state.co.us/schoolview/explore/satpsatreadingwriting

3) READ Plan numbers

Below: the number on a READ Plan at all three schools, 2021-2023. Numbers provided to me by CDE and reported in my piece on Boardhawk, “Data reveal the shocking breadth and depth of Colorado’s reading crisis” (Nov. 2024). https://boardhawk.org/2024/11/data-reveals-the-shocking-breadth-and-depth-of-colorados-reading-crisis/

	2021*	2022*	2023
Adams City High School	206	239	289**
Aurora Central High School	203	290	491*
Abraham Lincoln High School	182	224	140*

* Totals from Colorado Department of Education – emails to me. CDE staff has made it clear its reports come from the data districts provide. Data may not always be accurate (for example, see 140 at Lincoln in 2023).

**Total from the school’s most recent UIP.

Unlike the UIPs from the other two high schools examined here, Adams City High School’s UIP (page 7) acknowledged the large number of students at the school on a READ Plan: 289. But its UIP then states Adams City High will aim to reduce the number of READ Plan students “by 2% to 283.” What does that reveal about the school’s priorities?

B. Updates to the State Board and UIPs – virtually nothing on improving literacy/reading.

On Performance Watch

Adams City H.S. – Year 11

Aurora Central H.S. - Year 10

Abraham Lincoln H.S. – Year 7

High schools like Abraham Lincoln, Adams City High, and Aurora Central—all on Performance Watch since 2014, if not earlier—often appear before the State Board of Education. The longest-serving board members have seen these schools before. They hear of the dizzying array of strategies to “dramatically improve.” They are told that THIS TIME THESE SCHOOLS ARE REALLY, REALLY GOING TO TURN THINGS AROUND. In response, these veteran board members sound dubious. Even disheartened.^{^[xii]}

This seemed to be the case at the March 12 State Board meeting. CDE staff presented mid-year updates on these schools. We heard about partial management with (often revolving) non-profit partners. We heard of disparate strands (innovation plans, the community school model, integration with an arts magnet.) One school “launched” an academy model—four new academies for ninth graders. We heard of schools improving “academic systems,” adding “a new credit recovery program,” “focusing on strengthening academic ownership and student discourse strategies across their classrooms,” and “balancing long-term strategic implementation with immediate student needs.”

But we heard virtually nothing about efforts at these schools to address the fact that the majority of their students are not demonstrating reading and writing skills anywhere close to grade level.
Is that conclusion unfair? Judge for yourself. As evidence, I have transcribed a good part of what CDE staff told Board members that day about the work in these high schools (Addendum A).

As further evidence, I have studied the most recent Unified Improvement Plans from these schools. Details from these UIPs are in Addendum B. They show how schools can comply with the state’s directive to complete this annual task, and yet give no serious thought to one critical issue: seeing that students learn to read well before they graduate.

None of the UIPs make improving the reading skills of their students a priority.

Incredible as it may seem, reading is hardly mentioned.

Presentations, UIPs, promises … but something fundamental is missing.

We say to the three schools: Most of your students cannot read well.

And we ask: What are you doing about that?

What might help chronically low-performing schools – a recommendation

I believe it would be helpful if these three schools, and other struggling schools like them, applied the concept of “less is more” and committed to one essential goal: to help their students read well.

Schools on the accountability clock for over a decade feel judged and beaten down. None of us would like to be in their shoes. It seems so unfair to ask them to be accountable to their communities, and to the state of Colorado, for 100 things. Of course they feel overwhelmed.

Keep it simple. Be accountable for this: Do everything possible to help your students read well.

Addendum A

CDE staff’s presentation to the State Board of Education (March 12, 2025)

Updates on these high schools

Presentation by Dr. Andy Swanson, Director, Transformation Strategy, and Nicole Monet, Executive Director, School and District Transformation, at the Colorado Department of Education. Updates on the work and evidence of progress at these three high schools.

This is how I would summarize what we heard on the schools’ efforts to address the literacy skills—and especially the reading skills—of their students.

1.     Adams City High School
After providing one data point on reading, nothing more on reading or literacy.
2.     Aurora Central High School
Not a word on reading or literacy.
3.     Abraham Lincoln High School

On “academic progress,” mentioned “results in ELA and Math pass rates, increasing from last year, and their local PSAT scores have improved compared to fall of 2023.”

No details on PSAT – Reading/Writing results.

No word on any effort to improve reading skills.

I hope you will read Swanson’s reports and decide if that is accurate. He certainly touched on many efforts. We do hear, in mostly general terms, about academics and achievement. Still, the near silence on reading and literacy is revealing.

Transcription of the State Board of Education meeting on March 12 is mine.

I apologize for any errors. The video of the meeting is available at https://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeboard/sbemeetingvideo20250312

CDE/ANDY SWANSON ON ADAMS CITY HIGH SCHOOL:

This school remains focusing on core improvement strategies as they face persistent challenges in accelerating student achievement.

The school has shown promising trends in local student growth, with roughly two-thirds of the students meeting their STAR targets in math and reading, but overall achievement remains concerning - with only 18% of students meeting benchmarks in math and 23% in reading.

Their Academy model implementation is progressing with 9^th and 10^th grade cohorts on track, though staffing instability continues to be a significant barrier, with 53% of the teachers in the building being in their first three years of teaching, up from 40% in prior years.

The high school has been appropriately focusing on strengthening academic ownership and student discourse strategies across their classrooms, while implementing a new credit recovery program and after-school tutoring to address immediate achievement gaps.

Their collaboration with external partners, TNTP and ConnectED, has continued, and in some ways shifted from direct service to more capacity building, which is appropriate in this stage of the partnership, but also requires careful monitoring to ensure that there is consistent progress being made and capacity is being built.

To better aid the coherence of services, TNTP and ConnectED, have started to work more closely together and have met regularly to ensure alignment of strategy and messaging.

Overall, through even the significant changes, the foundational systems at the school are sound, but the school requires ongoing support and balance of their long-term strategic implementation with addressing immediate student needs, particularly in attendance and in their academic intervention system.

CDE ON AURORA CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL:

Walkthrough data showing better alignment of tasks to grade level standards. However, significant concerns regarding student attendance, with monthly attendance hovering in the upper 70’s despite intervention efforts. These attendance challenges are directly impacting the school’s ability to demonstrate consistent academic progress.

This is the school’s first year in partnership with TNTP, and the work has moved forward to build capacity of the leadership team, in partnership with the new district partner assigned to oversee the school. The full impact of this approach on classroom instruction requires further monitoring.

The school’s community school model implementation is ongoing, but has not yet shown measurable impact on core attendance and achievement metrics at this point in time.

The development of an engagement center for chronically absent students is a step in the right direction, but implementation is still in its early stages.

In the second semester Aurora Central has used focused attention on student engagement strategies to start bolstering attendance to ensure adequate progress.

Without significant improvement in these areas, the school may struggle to demonstrate significant growth on their end of year measures.

CDE ON ABRAHAM LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL:

Swanson spoke of the leadership shift and highlighted the qualifications of the new principal (a former colleague of Swanson’s), his background, his knowledge of the school and the community, etc.

He has brought a strong instructional focus to the building and is working to establish a more clearly defined student experience.

As a bright spot for the school, [its] daily attendance has improved to 84%, average daily attendance, up from 80% last year, though their chronic absenteeism remains an area that needs targeted support. They realize it’s still not at the level students need to be successful.

In terms of academic progress, Lincoln has established a consistent and coherent instructional approach with PLCs, focusing both on lesson internalization and data-driven instruction cycles. This work has begun to show results in ELA and Math pass rates, increasing from last year, and their local PSAT scores have improved compared to fall of 2023.

Their academy model continues to thrive with 204 students in concurrent enrollment classes and 145 students in their P-Tech pathway, which both represent the highest enrollment in four years.

The leadership team has balanced core instructional priorities with school-wide culture initiatives, implementing student engagement strategies that have helped to maintain student enrollment despite high student mobility.

For semester 2 they are continuing to strengthen their attendance intervention system and develop more coherent intervention pathways for students who are struggling in attendance, behavior, or academics.

Addendum B

A look at the 2024-25 UIPs from the three high schools

A critique of what is in the UIP from these schools, with a focus on their (in)attention to literacy.

Adams City High School – UIP 2024-25

(https://co-uip.my.site.com/uipv2/apex/uipV2PrintPublic?dcode=0030&scode=0024)

25 pages - Nothing to show if and how the school is rethinking ways to better serve the huge number of students it knows to be struggling to perform close to grade level in literacy.

1) Pages 5-12- Student Performance Priorities. Provides data on English Language Arts and Math – achievement and growth. Responses to over 30 “What” questions – e.g.:

What is the current performance of this Student Performance Priority?
What is the 2-year measure and target?

Then the same questions for Math.

No analysis, no digging into why.

2) Pages 13-21 – Root Cause Analysis

We see no evidence of a “root cause analysis.” The response is so generic that the same three pages are used four times—first to address English Language Arts - Achievement, then again as the “response” for English Language Arts – Growth, and – this is telling – also for Math Achievement and for Math Growth. That the “answers” are the same for all four categories shows how little they get at the root cause of the challenges from Adams City High School students in these different academic disciplines.

3) Pages 22-25 – Major Improvement Strategies

One sentence is repeated three times, without explanation of how curriculum and instruction will change to help students meet these targets:

By the end of 2024-2025 school year 60% of all students taking Star Renaissance Reading will have an EOY SGP of 50 or higher when comparing the BOY to EOY assessment.

4) OVERALL: Many statements (examples below) appear applicable to most any high school and in most any subject. Such generic statements fail to show any specific efforts to address the fact that a high percentage of students are not reading anywhere close to grade level.

From Root Cause Analysis – Vision for Instruction

There is still a significant need to support teachers in creating consistent environments that allow for students to own their learning and thinking happening in classrooms and to be able to demonstrate successful learning of course objectives.

Talent Development - … ACHS has focused on the key areas of bolstering tier-one instruction through the building up of academic systems, creating a culture in which data is used regularly to drive all decisions, …

From Major Improvement Strategies

Teachers are equipped with and consistently utilizing effective instructional planning methods and formative assessments (data). Teachers are equipped with and consistently utilizing data to improve their instructional methods and to support learning for all students. Students are learning at grade level and student learning outcomes are aligned to standards and the approved curriculum. Students are fully engaged in the learning and students consistently participate in student structured discourse. Effective tier-one instruction ensures that all students receive rigorous, differentiated instruction teaching at the core instructional level, which is critical for academic success.

Aurora Central High School – UIP 2024-25

(https://co-uip.my.site.com/uipv2/s/summary?dcode=0180&scode=1458)

18 pages - Attention to literacy and/or reading in the UIP for Aurora Central is minimal at best.

1) Pages 4-5 - Provides data on the Reading/Writing SAT results

In EBRW there was a notable increase of 10.4 in overall mean scale score from 2022 to 2023….

While this growth in the scale score is increasing, the school is still 38.3 points away from an Approaching score for EBRW

There is still a gap of 12% for EBRW … to achieve the 50% MPG threshold to meet state expectations.

2) Pages 7-12 - Student Performance Priorities

EBRW data and goals for 2025-26 and 2026-27.

No analysis.

In this instance, it seems a glaring omission for Aurora Central to make no mention of the number of its students on a READ Plan. The state reported in 2023 that Aurora Central High and Westminster High each had 491 students on a READ Plan, the highest number for any high schools in the state of Colorado.

3) Pages 13-15 - Root Cause Analysis – Academic Instruction

Instructional Transformation

No mention of literacy and/or reading.

Generic statements about inconsistent in many areas of the academic program.

Inconsistent instructional practices across classrooms and student groups. Inconsistent planning for instruction that is at grade level, engaging, affirming, and meaningful (GLEAM) The need for more specific and measurable goals related to instructional focus areas, student achievement, and growth data. An inconsistent assessment plan that includes both formative and summative assessments to monitor student progress. Inconsistent development of leaders and instructional coaches to establish consistent expectations and feedback structures to support teachers and staff.

4) Pages 15-18 - Major Improvement Strategies

One sentence on reading/writing scores on the state assessment:

School leadership acknowledges that the growth that has been made is minimal and does not meet the expectation of the state to ensure that students are proficient in EBRW and Math.

Page 17 - Strengthen Student Postsecondary & Workforce Readiness

College Pathway: In order to continue to address post secondary readiness for all students, continuous cultivation of outside partners is a priority and there are a variety of options in the Denver Metro area. Community College of Aurora is one of ACHS partners where students take dual enrollment courses to meet their future goals. ACHS is continuing to work to ensure students have access to achieve significant college credit while in high school and also working to establish a pathway to an associates degree as an option. The Aurora Central Campus also offers AP Spanish for students allowing students to take this more rigorous course to receive potential college credit as well as move towards receiving the seal of biliteracy. The Aurora Central Campus is also partnering with the Colorado University Anschutz Medical Campus to implement the Hummingbird Initiative. This initiative provides opportunities for students to gain certifications, education, and experience in the medical field.

Career Pathway: One major goal for the Aurora Central Campus is to ensure that students are engaged in a workforce readiness area of their interest. Along with access and exposure to arts classes (both CTE and traditional high school credit-bearing), students following a career pathway have access to more CTE course sequences in several areas for our students. Pickens Tech is another opportunity for students to further their focus of study and meet high academic expectations. Students are exposed to career pathways through courses and some examples are photography, theater, etc. The end goal is to have students exit the career pathway with a certification to begin the workforce upon graduation.

Abraham Lincoln High School – UIP 2024-25

(https://co-uip.my.site.com/uipv2/apex/uipV2PrintPublic?dcode=0880&scode=0010)

10 pages - A UIP with virtually nothing to say about the literacy scores or specifically about the reading skills of its students. (The UIP notes that Abraham Lincoln is a Transitional Native Language Instruction school. This would seem to be an additional reason its UIP would give special attention to language and literacy.)

1) Page 2 - Student Performance Priority - First sentence of opening paragraph states:
We are prioritizing P/SAT EBRW and Math growth over achievement because achievement will improve as growth improves.

This opening paragraph went on to acknowledge that “90% of students are entering 9th grade significantly behind grade level” as one reason it is prioritizing growth over achievement.

One might expect more on the EBRW (Evidence Based Reading and Writing) and Math. But we see no P/SAT/EBRW scores and no growth targets on these assessments. And we see nothing on what is being done on the three disciplines tested by EBRW – reading, writing, math.

2) Page 4 - Root Cause Analysis

Here we see the second and final reference to:

PSAST/SAT Academic Growth in EBRW and Math

This is what follows:

Ineffective System to support Standards-Vased Instruction

Followed by this statement:

We do not yet have effective systems to develop teachers' capacity in creating standards based, differentiated SIOP lesson plans. Consequently, key elements of the classroom instructions are missing, such as student's independent practice, clear systems for student collaboration and communication, as well standards-based assessments. In addition, our system does not yet ensure consistent implementation of the 8 SIOP components and how it impacts the content and skill for all students, specifically our MLLs.

Overall, the UIP mentions literacy twice, read and write once:

It comes in a generic statement on the benefits of standards-based instruction. It includes nothing specific about the way the school will meet the needs of the majority of its students who are not meeting expectations in reading and writing on the state assessments (PSAT grades 9 and 10, SAT grade 11).

Effective standards-based instruction builds relationships, meets the needs of all students, creates relevancy and fosters disciplinary literacy. Disciplinary Literacy is the intersection of content knowledge, experiences and skills needed to demonstrate understanding through the ability to read, write, communicate and think critically relative to a specific discipline. (page 9)

Endnotes

[i] The three principles (among the ten) to be examined in Another View:

1. Learning to use one’s mind well
The school should focus on helping young people learn to use their minds well. Schools should not be “comprehensive” if such a claim is made at the expense of the school’s central intellectual purpose.

2. Less is more: depth over coverage
The school’s goals should be simple: that each student master a limited number of essential skills and areas of knowledge…. The aphorism “less is more” should dominate: curricular decisions should be guided by the aim of thorough student mastery and achievement rather than by an effort to merely cover content.

3. Personalization
Teaching and learning should be personalized to the maximum feasible extent. Efforts should be directed toward a goal that no teacher have direct responsibility for more than 80 students in the high school and middle school and no more than 20 in the elementary school...

The 10 Common Principles of the Coalition of Essential Schools can be found at: https://web.archive.org/web/20230326054404/http://essentialschools.org/home/

[ii] HB 1215 – Created the 1215 Task Force. Its primary responsibilities:

Coordinating with the Education Leadership Council and the State Work Force Development Council in completing its duties.
Designing and recommending comprehensive, uniform policies that encourage and empower high schools and postsecondary institutions to create and sustain secondary, postsecondary, and work-based learning integration programs in every region of the state.

The Task Force Final Report: Task Force Final Report: Colorado’s “Big Blur”

https://www.cde.state.co.us/postsecondary/secondary_postsecondary_and_work-based_learning_integration_task_force

HB 1364 - Education-Based Workforce Readiness – “is a legislative initiative aimed at enhancing Colorado’s students’ preparation for future careers. It focuses on two critical foundational steps: a cost assessment of existing programs and a statewide longitudinal data system for enhanced decision-making.” https://coloradosucceeds.org/resource/colorado-lays-the-groundwork-for-enhanced-postsecondary-and-career-connected-learning/

[iii] Colorado Department of Education, https://www.cde.state.co.us/communications/strategic-plan

[iv] More on the Coalition’s work in high schools on this principle can be found in Horace (Nov. 1994) - https://web.archive.org/web/20220125030440/http://essentialschools.org/horace-issues/less-is-more-the-secret-of-being-essential/

[v] Complete statement includes passage in bold:

Less is more: depth over coverage
The school’s goals should be simple: that each student master a limited number of essential skills and areas of knowledge. While these skills and areas will, to varying degrees, reflect the traditional academic disciplines, the program’s design should be shaped by the intellectual and imaginative powers and competencies that the students need, rather than by “subjects” as conventionally defined. The aphorism “less is more” should dominate: curricular decisions should be guided by the aim of thorough student mastery and achievement rather than by an effort to merely cover content.

https://web.archive.org/web/20230313230352/http://essentialschools.org/common-principles/

[vi] From the Introduction to “The Lost Tools of Learning,” by Dorothy L. Sayers, E.T. Heron, 1948.

(Bold mine)

… it will be pleasant to start with a proposition with which, I feel confident, all teachers will cordially agree; and that is, that they all work much too hard and have far too many things to do. One has only to look at any school or examination syllabus to see that it is cluttered up with a great variety of exhausting subjects which they are called upon to teach, and the teaching of which sadly interferes with what every thoughtful mind will allow to be their proper duties, such as distributing milk, supervising meals, taking cloak-room duty, weighing and measuring pupils, keeping their eyes open for incipient mumps, measles and chicken-pox, making out lists, escorting parties round the Victoria and Albert Museum, filling up forms, interviewing parents, and devising end-of-term reports which shall combine a deep veneration for truth with a tender respect for the feelings of all concerned.

Upon these really important duties I will not enlarge. I propose only to deal with the subject of teaching, properly so-called. I want to inquire whether, amid all the multitudinous subjects which figure in the syllabuses, we are really teaching the right things in the right way; and whether, by teaching fewer things, differently, we might not succeed in “shedding the load” (as the fashionable phrase goes) and, at the same time, producing a better result.”

https://archive.org/stream/sayers1948losttoolslearning/Sayers%2C%201948%2C%20Lost%20Tools%20%3A%20Learning_djvu.txt

[vii] “Are We Asking Schools to Do Too Much? - If not, they aren’t getting the money they need, period,” Mark Lieberman, Education Week, Sept. 14, 2021.

[viii] Colorado Academic Standards, Colorado Department of Education, https://www.cde.state.co.us/standardsandinstruction/standards

[ix] Feb. 2024 - After the READ Act – Beyond third grade, how well do our students read? (15 pages) – Another View - https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1829681342965014641/174962519355680218

Sept. 2024 - AV#276 - A 2024 literacy update, and a must-see documentary: The Right to Read.

Nov. 25, 2024 – “Data reveal the shocking breadth and depth of Colorado’s reading crisis” (Boardhawk)

Jan. 15, 2025 – “Grades 4-12 cannot remain a reading ‘no man’s land’” – (Boardhawk)

[x] Applying those three questions to a high school like Aurora Central High, the data would look like this:

a.) 491 of our students are on a Read Plan.

b.) 84% of our JUNIORS fell short of Meeting Expectations on state literacy assessments (SAT, grades 11).

71% of our SOPHOMORES fell short of Meeting Expectations on state literacy assessments (PSAT, grade 10).

78% of our FRESHMEN fell short of Meeting Expectations on state literacy assessments (PSAT, grade 9).

c.) 228 of our JUNIORS Did Not Yet Meet Expectations on state literacy assessments (SAT).

162 of our SOPHOMORES Did Not Yet Meet Expectations on state literacy assessments (PSAT).

184 of our FRESHMEN Did Not Yet Meet Expectations on state literacy assessments (PSAT).

[xi] “2024 SAT/PSAT Data and Results,” Colorado Department of Education, https://www.cde.state.co.us/assessment/sat-psat-data.

[xii] AV#274 – “Limited options and less hope – can’t we imagine something better? - State Board hearing for a chronically low-performing high school conveys a note of despair (July 2024).” It examined Aurora Central’s presentation to the State Board of Education (May 2024). It quoted remarks from long-time board members Angelika Schroeder and Steve Durham. Neither was optimistic we would see significant improvement at Aurora Central. At the State Board meeting on March 12, 2025, we heard similar frustration and/or doubt about “high school turnarounds” to date, in Colorado, from two now-senior members, Karla Esser and Lisa Escarcega.

Another View

Tuesday, May 27, 2025

AV #287 - CES principle of "less is more" can bring a focus on literacy. A key issue for low-performing high schools.

The Task Force Final Report: Task Force Final Report: Colorado’s “Big Blur”

Nov. 25, 2024 – “Data reveal the shocking breadth and depth of Colorado’s reading crisis” (Boardhawk)

Jan. 15, 2025 – “Grades 4-12 cannot remain a reading ‘no man’s land’” – (Boardhawk)