DENVER—After several years of progress, new statewide school tests released Tuesday showed some students are struggling, and educators began searching for answers.
Education commissioner Dwight Jones said he has appointed a new deputy commissioner for learning and results and assigned him to figure out what’s holding up progress on the Colorado Student Achievement Program, or CSAP.
He said Ken Turner’s job is to try to determine what caused student test scores to stagnate.
“There are some bright spots and signs of progress, but we are not seeing the kind of sustained growth every parent and taxpayer has a right to expect,” Jones said.
Gov. Bill Ritter said the results are a warning that Colorado needs to do a better job educating children.
“Statistics tell a pretty stark story for us competing globally if we don’t do the things we need to do to educate our kids in a way they can compete and, quite frankly, that means doing a better job than we’re doing today,” Ritter told a room packed with educators and teachers.
The new CSAP results showed the percentage of students who are proficient or advanced in reading rose in four grades between 2006 and 2007.
It declined in three grades and stayed the same in one.
The performance of third-graders on the Spanish reading test also declined.
Writing proficiency increased in four grades, declined in three and stayed the same in one.
Math showed improvement in four grades, declined in three and remained the same in one.
The only real gain was in science, where all three grades tested showed an increase.
Educators said gender differences persist in the CSAP results.
On the 2007 reading test, the percentage of boys who were proficient or advanced increased in four grades and declined in three. The percentage of girls who were proficient or advanced increased in two grades but declined in five.
The percentages stayed the same in one grade for both boys and girls.
The results showed improvement in some areas, including third-grade reading and writing, but Jones said the new scores are below historic highs.
The testing program is now in its 11th year. It includes exams in reading, writing, math, science, Spanish reading and Spanish writing. About 1.5 million tests were administered last spring.
The results cannot be used to determine which schools will receive unsatisfactory ratings because the state applies a formula that takes into account other factors, such as students with special needs. Those results will be released in December.
