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What is the CDM Commission?

The Board of Education and Denver Classroom Teachers Association  (DCTA) jointly announced the membership of the CDM Commission, a group that will recommend changes to the district’s approach to site-based management.

Over ten years have passed since the advent of Collaborative Decision Making (CDM). The parties believe that it is appropriate to do a comprehensive review of the governance, structure, roles and accountability measures that are part of this program. A great deal of information has been collected by the parties concerning the effectiveness of site-based shared decision-making. Surveys of stakeholders have been circulated and studies have been completed including the most recent in the spring of 2002. In order to utilize this important information to improve site-based shared decision making and impact student achievement, the parties agree to establish a Committee of stakeholders to review this information to make a series of recommendations to the parties regarding, but not limited to, the following specific issues:

  • Because the CDM process involves administrators, teachers, parents, students and classified employees, should it remain part of the Agreement? Should the CDM Committee become a collaborative advisory Committee?
  • If the CDM Committee became advisory in nature, how would the remainder of the Agreement be affected?
  • If shared decision making remains the function of the CDM Committee, what is the system of shared accountability?
  • Since each school is not an independent unit but part of a larger system, which decisions should be made at the school and which decisions should be made centrally in the interest of improving the achievement of all students?
  • Which decisions should be reserved to the licensed professionals and which decisions should be made by the moire broadly represented CDM Committee?
  • Are there changes that should be made to the composition of the CDM Committee, the scope of decisions they are asked to make and the methods used to reach decisions?
  • What would be some strategies to recruit new members to the CDM Committee from all constituent groups but especially from the parent constiuency?
  • What would be the recommended strategies to effectively train current members of the CDM Committee and individuals new to the process?
  • What is the appropriate role of the CDM Committee in the selection, evaluation and retention of principals?
  • Should CDMs continue?

The recommendations from the CDM Commission will ultimately be the subject for teacher contract negotiations since the CDM teams were formed within the contract at the outset, in 1991. The Commission expects to finish its work in a few months.

 

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