The final year of a Denver Public Schools reading program won’t get any more federal money because of the district’s low literacy-test scores and the elementary schools’ incorrect implementation of the program.
DPS will not receive its $1.8 million Colorado Reading First money this year from the state Department of Education.
In the past two years, the district received federal money to give to 10 city elementary schools that have traditionally struggled with literacy.
Denver is among 36 Colorado districts that have received money for the federal program that comes out of the No Child Left Behind Act.
Because of those Denver schools’ low test scores in 2005, and ongoing conflicts between Denver Public Schools and the state over how to implement the federal program, the state decided against giving DPS money for its third – and final – year.
“I was very disappointed,” said Mary Sours, principal at Swansea Elementary. “There were really strict guidelines and … arguments kept coming up. It was discouraging that we didn’t get past that.”
DPS had to do two things to keep the money coming: make gains in literacy assessment test scores and implement the program correctly.
Visits from federal officials found that some Denver schools did not have the right kind of “intervention” teams set up for students falling behind, said Lynn Bamberry, assistant director of Reading First for the Colorado Department of Education.
“It’s still a state decision not to fund, but they (the federal government) were supportive of that decision and they had concerns,” Bamberry said.
Under the federal law, half the schools receiving federal funds had to meet specific targets for academic improvement, which didn’t happen in Denver.
Staff writer Allison Sherry can be reached at 303-820-1377 or asherry@denverpost.com.
