The performance gap between poor and more affluent students in Colorado has grown in the past nine years, even as overall school performance has improved, according to a new report.
The study of 1,471 schools by the Colorado Children’s Campaign found the performance of low-income elementary, middle and high school students lagging further behind that of other children.
The low-income students trailed at almost every level in writing, reading and math as measured by Colorado Student Assessment Program tests.
“We find that the achievement gap has not closed in most grades and subject areas and has even widened in many areas,” said the campaign’s report.
The study, “Thousands of Children Left Behind,” was to be released today by the Denver-based nonprofit advocacy group.
The gap was “most dramatic in math,” where only about half as many students in the poorest quarter of all schools meet the state proficiency standards, compared with students in the wealthiest quarter, the report said.
Poorer schools and students are making progress, the study found, but not as quickly as their more affluent counterparts.
The report, however, found that some poor schools had made dramatic improvements since the first CSAP tests in 1997.
In all, 1,036 schools showed improvement over the study period and 435 posted a decline in test performance, said Andrew Brodsky, director of research and evaluation for the campaign.
There was a mix of affluent and poor schools in both groups, Brodsky said.
Rocky Mountain Elementary School in Longmont, for example, has a largely poor student body for whom Spanish is their first language.
Still, the St. Vrain Valley Distict school had the biggest rate of improvement of any elementary school in the study.
While the school’s CSAP results show just 39 percent of children attaining proficiency in 2005, Rocky Mountain is improving its score every year, according to the study.
Rocky Mountain literacy coach Shirley Thomas said she believes the school’s bilingual program has contributed to its improvement.
Students learn English and math in their native language through third grade, she said.
“If we can get (the Spanish speakers) to proficiency (in subjects taught) in Spanish by third grade, then we make the transition (to English) in the fourth. … It’s absolutely amazing to see what the kids can do,” she said.
The report analyzed nine CSAP tests – fourth-grade reading and writing; fifth-grade math; eighth-grade reading, writing and math; and 10th-grade reading, writing and math.
The report also ranked large districts by how well they serve the state’s poorest schools.
The Adams 14 School District ranked sixth for showing growth at 10 high-poverty schools, while Denver Public Schools, with 112 poor schools, ranked 18th.
Fountain-Fort Carson District 8 was No. 1.
Adams 14 Superintendent John Lange attributed his district’s success to teachers’ raising student expectations.
“One of the things the study does is it raises a lot of questions about what the schools are doing,” said Van Schoales, executive vice president at the Children’s Campaign.
Schools must be held accountable to raising proficiency levels, Schoales said. If there are shifts, the question is, “What are you doing about it?” he said. “You’re not off the hook.”
Staff writer Karen Rouse can be reached at 303-820-1684 or krouse@denverpost.com.
