The number of students attending “excellent” schools in Colorado has jumped about 63 percent since 2001 when the state began rating public schools, but whether that means students are better educated remains unclear.
Gov. Bill Owens said schools improved because the 5-year-old School Accountability Reports hold schools more accountable.
“The trend lines of success really do testify that we’re changing for the better,” Owens said during a news conference to release the reports Tuesday.
But Democrats – who will control both the state legislature and governor’s office next year – and educators across the state attribute the gains to everything from stronger reading programs to kids being more accustomed to the testing routine.
State Rep. Mike Merrifield, D-Manitou Springs, said he isn’t sure whether schools are improving or if students “have become better test takers and the teachers are becoming better test givers.”
And precise comparisons to five years ago can be hard to make. For example, the percentage of students enrolled in “unsatisfactory” schools in Colorado has dropped by 74 percent compared with five years ago, according to the Colorado Department of Education.
But some schools that had been rated “low” or “unsatisfactory” were dropped from ratings two years ago because of legislation that allowed schools serving at-risk populations to seek exemption. That removed at least 30 schools from the list, according to State Board of Education member Evie Hudak.
Based on CSAP scores
The report gives academic ratings to more than 1,700 Colorado public schools based on how students performed on the 2005 Colorado Student Assessment Program test. The CSAP measures how well students meet state standards for math, reading, writing and science.
Schools can get one of five ratings – unsatisfactory, low, average, high or excellent – in SARs.
This year, 650 schools were rated “average,” 581 “high” and 351 “low.” Another 199 schools were rated “excellent,” while 20 were “unsatisfactory.”
A school rated “unsatisfactory” four years in a row can be converted to a charter school, which happened to Denver’s two years ago. It’s now operating as a charter and is ranked “low.”
However, state law allows a school to appeal to the State Board of Education to avoid conversion if it can show that steps have been taken to change, said Karen Stroup, chief of staff at the Education Department.
The reports also feature such details as student-teacher ratios, the number of fights at a school and whether the school showed academic growth over time.
The reports – to be mailed to schools to give to parents by mid-December – were created by the state legislature.
Tuesday’s release was the final under Owens, who has championed the report as a tool to help families choose the best schools for their children.
Owens, whose term ends in January, said he believes the report cards are a part of his legacy.
“I feel education is a significant part of what I’ve tried to accomplish as governor,” he said.
The Republican governor said he hoped the report cards would continue to be used as a way to hold schools accountable after he steps down. Gov.-elect Bill Ritter, a Democrat who takes office in January, could not be reached for comment.
Ritter spokesman Evan Dreyer said Owens and former Gov. Roy Romer, who spearheaded Colorado’s accountability system, “should both be commended for getting the ball rolling, but it is now time to take accountability to the next level.”
Possible shifts in SAR
Merrifield said he has begun work on a bill to change the report cards so they’ll be “more valuable and more usable and less punitive” to schools. He said Owens had resisted changes in the past but that parents tell him the reports are “confusing and hard to understand.”
Merrifield said he would like the report cards to use more criteria – beyond the CSAP – to measure a school academically.
Labeling schools as “unsatisfactory” is punitive and doesn’t reflect the unique struggles a school may face “or how well a school is doing in other areas,” he said.
Across the state this week, school districts were reviewing the reports. In Denver, there were nine “unsatisfactory” schools, including a school within Manual High, which is now closed. Five of those nine schools were listed as “low” last year.
Most of the schools, elementaries in the northeast quadrant, will feed the new Manual High School, set to open next fall as a “premier” academic program. Manual was closed earlier this year because of abysmal CSAP scores and declining enrollment.
Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet said he is talking with community groups about what to do with the entire northeast feeder pattern.
“There is a palpable sense that we are not delivering what people want for their schools,” Bennet said. “But moving from the status quo is not going to be easy.”
At in , Bill Zajic celebrated the charter school’s move up from “average” to “high.”
“We’d been average for the last three years,” said Zajic, head of the school. He believes a focus on reading helped the rating.
State officials say the academic growth rating on the SARs will become more useful over time because it allows for tracking students over several years. This year is the second year that rating has been used.
Long-term trends
The has tracked students for seven years, said John Brainard, executive director of assessment.
He said the data allow the district to spot trends, from the direction of a school over time to what impact a particular teacher has on a class.
The data also show whether schools that seem to be performing well – because they have an “excellent” or “high” rating – really are. Some of those schools aren’t doing well because student scores have gone down, even though they were high enough to get a strong rating.
Miguel Elias, principal at in Pueblo 60, said his school was rated “average” but had a “significant decline” for its growth rating last year. He looked at testing trends going back several years and learned where students were struggling and made some changes, like math tutoring for students with a C grade or less, and calling parents regularly. The school now has “an average with a stable” rating, he said.
Staff writer Allison Sherry and computer-assisted reporting editor Jeffrey A. Roberts contributed to this report.
Staff writer Karen Rouse can be reached at 303-954-1684 or krouse@denverpost.com.
