U.S. Senator Ken Salazar Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs Committees 2300 15^th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
For Immediate Release March 3, 2006		CONTACT: Cody Wertz – Comm. Director 303-455-7600 Andrew Nannis – Press Secretary 202-224-5852
Sen. Salazar, CO Delegation Push Secretary of Education to Add Colorado to NCLB Pilot Program WASHINGTON, D.C. – United States Senator Ken Salazar organized a letter from the entire Colorado Congressional Delegation recently to push Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings to support the Colorado Department of Education’s application for participation in a pilot program to determine the viability of a different approach to measuring students’ educational achievement. The growth-based accountability model pilot program will examine the new measurement approach as another means of tracking new “Adequate Yearly Progress” standards implemented as part of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The Members of Congress wrote in their letter, “Colorado is one of the best prepared states for implementing and testing such a model. The state has consistently met the accountability requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. It has been recognized and allowed to participate in other federal accountability programs because of its work in this area…Because Colorado has these strong systems for accountability and individual student tracking, it is an excellent candidate for participation in this pilot program.” The Department of Education is currently determining which 10 states will participate in the pilot program. The full text of the letter sent to Secretary Spellings can be accessed by clicking here. ###