Ten schools were rated “distinguished” and 30 schools given probationary marks under Denver’s new scorecard system that ranks each school based on a broad array of measures.
The district’s School Performance Framework, or SPF, released Monday provides a deeper look at the 141 traditional, charter and alternative schools operating in Denver last year.
“This enables us to look at our programs and see where things are succeeding,” said Superintendent Michael Bennet. “This makes visible where things are really working and not working.”
Denver is the first district in the state and among the first in the country to develop its own assessment tool based on a variety of measures for each school.
The framework is a more comprehensive version of the state’s School Accountability Report, which is released annually and rates schools with rankings from “excellent” to “unsatisfactory.”
Denver’s framework goes deeper — providing a fuller picture of its schools culled from a host of measurements, including data from the Colorado Student Assessment Program, enrollment figures, attendance statistics, ACT scores, federal Adequate Yearly Progress reports and also the state’s accountability reports.
The district will use the framework to accredit the schools with the state.
About 60 percent of Denver’s framework package is based on how well students learn from year to year — tracking each student’s CSAP progress over two years.
The framework provides each school with one of four overall rankings: “distinguished,” “meets expectations,” “accredited on watch” or ” accredited on probation.”
Schools with positive ratings get more autonomy and freedom, and their principals and staff will be compensated for their success.
Schools on watch or on probation will get more district support in the form of interventions and resources, possibly a school improvement administrator to help them improve.
The district may use the information to replace the staff, change the program or even close the school.
Administrators are quick to point out that the framework is not meant to be punitive, that its purpose is to identify what is working right and where there are problems.
“This puts you past the punishment discourse and pushes you more toward improvement,” said Brad Jupp, senior policy adviser.
District officials are particularly interested in how the data from the framework appears on a scatter graph — which looks at a school’s CSAP scores and how its students have grown academically.
Some schools with high CSAP scores may not be showing yearly growth. Other schools with low CSAP scores are showing their students are growing every year.
Broken down by poverty, the graph also shows some schools with poor students are succeeding against the odds.
Lincoln Elementary School in the Washington Park neighborhood earned the district’s top ranking among all schools — scoring 97 of 106 possible framework points with a 92 percent success.
Steck Elementary also had a 92 percent success rate.
Lincoln’s Principal Diane Smith said there is no single ingredient in her school’s success.
Younger students are taught basic skills and older students are expected to use those skills in real-life, “authentic work”— conducting research and problem solving, she said.
Since Lincoln has been receiving accolades for its academic growth, enrollment has improved, Smith said.
“This year for the first time we have had waiting lists for the kindergarten,” she said. “Suddenly Lincoln is on everyone’s radar.”
The news of the school’s success on the district’s new framework will probably increase the popularity, she said.
Principal Don Roy of the Hill Campus of Arts and Sciences, a middle school in Denver’s Hilltop neighborhood rated as meeting expectations, said the framework provides a more thorough picture of how students are learning rather than the static picture from the state’s accountability reports.
“It’s so much more meaningful,” Roy said. “You are learning how kids are growing over time.”
Even though the framework is more thorough and comprehensive, it’s still not the best way to examine a school.
“If you really want a full picture of a school,” Roy said, “you really have to walk through the school.”
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
