Reading and math scores for Colorado public school students have shown slight to moderate gains since 2002 – the year the federal No Child Left Behind law took effect across the nation, according to a study released Tuesday.
But researchers with the Washington-based Center on Education Policy, which ran the 18-month study, caution that the sweeping education law may not necessarily deserve all the credit.
“Colorado has its own school-reform initiatives that could also be raising test scores,” said Jack Jennings, CEP president.
“Denver is trying to improve its own program. You have all these things going on in schools,” Jennings said
The law was signed by President Bush in 2001 with the goal of making the nation’s public school students proficient in reading and math by 2014.
It requires states to test students and break out results by several categories, including racial groups, special-needs students and English-language learners.
The CEP report analyzes test scores between 2001 and 2006.
Colorado was one of eight states where scores went up at least 1 percentage point.
Only third-graders showed a decrease – a 0.3 percent drop in reading between 2001 and 2006.
The report found that during those years, disparities between minorities and whites shrank. The gap between white students and black and Latino peers narrowed in math and reading.
William Windler, a Colorado assistant commissioner of education who oversees the state’s No Child Left Behind programs, said he believes the federal law has made a difference.
Forcing states to look at test-score categories revealed stark gaps in achievement, Windler said.
“With the advent of NCLB, it is no longer possible to hide achievement gaps,” Windler said.
The full report can found at www.cep-dc.org.
