An independent audit blames flaws in oversight — not the system itself — for problems with Denver North High School’s credit-recovery program.
The report says new personnel are in place and that the program is on sound footing.
The evaluation of the online-based program was ordered after media reports called into question an extraordinary jump in graduation rates at the high school, from 46 percent of seniors in 2008 to 64 percent in 2010.
Results of the audit, done by principal Jill Martin of Pine Creek High School in Colorado Springs, were announced Friday.
The program, developed by Seattle-based Apex Learning Inc., was implemented in 2006 to help improve sagging graduation rates in Denver Public Schools.
It allows students who failed required courses to retake them in an alternative format that combines online learning with teacher engagement outside a traditional classroom.
A Westword article in May raised questions about the program, quoting ex-North staffers who alleged the program lacked rigor, was poorly supervised and inadequately prepared students for life after high school. DPS asked for the audit in June.
In her assessment, Martin said: “The Apex program is challenging, and those who ‘passed’ did demonstrate mastery of the curricula. However, the level of adult ‘involvement’ in the credit-recovery program at North was not sufficient to ensure that the program was implemented with fidelity.”
Martin said the supervisors responsible for the problems have been “appropriately dealt with.”
Antwan Wilson, assistant DPS superintendent, responded to the report: “The concerns weren’t as great as were originally mentioned, but there were issues in terms of implementation of programs at North that needed to be addressed.”
“We had a feel for where things needed to improve. The audit just affirmed the things that we saw.”
