Cesar Chavez Academy students were routinely given extra time to take state tests, according to a state-authorized audit released Monday that casts a shadow over some of the school’s state-recognized achievements.
But the audit by an independent company determined additional time on the Colorado Student Assessment Program did not result in improved scores at the Pueblo school.
“The audit clearly shows that CCA had three successive years of extremely high rates of extra time accommodation for students,” said state Education Commissioner Dwight Jones. “There is no justifiable basis for these high rates of accommodation levels.”
State rules say students with identified special needs may receive time accommodations on the tests.
But nearly 87 percent of CCA fifth-graders got time accommodations on the 2008 math test. That compares with just 4.8 percent statewide on the same test.
The state is asking the school to establish “new policies and implement new procedures to ensure these high rates of accommodations are not repeated,” Jones said.
Pueblo City Schools released a statement saying its administrators may proctor future CSAP tests at CCA, sanction the administration and work with state officials to determine whether any student test results should be thrown out.
“This is unfortunate for so many families who had such high aspirations for the school as it was originally envisioned,” said a statement from Stephanie Garcia, PCS board president. “It certainly is sad that those in authority at CCA lost sight of the vision by compromising the school’s credibility and misleading children and their families into a false assessment of a student’s academic performance.”
As recently as 2005, Cesar Chavez Academy was considered a model for how to use academic rigor to reach and accelerate learning for minority and impoverished students. But even then, allegations were leveled — and unproven — that the school allowed students to cheat on the CSAP.
Cesar Chavez’s charter school organization has been under fire over the past year for a number of reasons, including alleged financial improprieties. The state is in the process of hiring a firm to conduct a financial audit of the school, which fired its top executives in October.
One of those fired was network chief executive Lawrence Hernandez, who founded the charter schools with his wife, Annette.
Hernandez said Monday he felt vindicated by the state’s report — which revealed the extra time didn’t change the results.
“What that says is that it didn’t make a difference,” he said. “The scores were earned.”
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
