Regardless of what method is used to assess Colorado’s students, one constant remains.
An achievement gap persists between black and Latino students and their white peers, and between rich and poor.
This year’s CSAP showed some improvements, but only slightly. In Denver, black and Latino students across all grades made greater gains than their white counterparts.
In reading, black students scoring proficient grew by 3 percentage points and Latinos grew by 4 points, compared with white students’ 1-point growth. But those gains were not enough to radically close the achievement gaps in either Denver or the state overall.
In Denver, blacks are 42 percent proficient in reading, Latinos 36 percent proficient and whites 77 percent proficient.
In mathematics in Denver, Latinos are 27 percent proficient, blacks 24 percent and whites 62 percent.
Statewide, the achievement gap between Latinos and blacks and their white peers ranges from 26 percentage points to 34 points over all grades. The white-Latino achievement gap is slightly larger than the white-black achievement gap.
The best showing on the 2008 CSAP was by Colorado’s black eighth-graders, who improved reading proficiency by 7 percentage points.
But a gap of 28 points between their white counterparts remains — with 50 percent of black eighth-graders proficient or advanced in reading compared with 78 percent of white eighth-graders.
“We have gaps in achievement that are unacceptable,” said Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien. “We have to hold our policymakers and our districts and our schools accountable to a ‘no-excuses’ mindset.”
The growth model being rolled out by state educators paints a worrisome scenario, showing that students who start behind in school rarely, if ever, catch up.
That does not bode well for many of the state’s minorities or poor — who disproportionately make up the “unsatisfactory” or “partially proficient” categories on the CSAP.
A recent report showed 180,000 Colorado children are living in poverty — an increase of 73 percent from 2000 to 2006. That is the largest gain in the nation.
“Certainly, we don’t make this as an excuse,” said Education Commissioner Dwight Jones. “It simply shows the clear picture of increasing needs of students in our schools.
“Certainly, there is challenging work ahead. We will never be satisfied with the status quo.”
