Colorado’s eighth-graders showed significant improvement in math and reading, but fourth-grade test scores remained flat, according to the Nation’s Report Card, compiled by the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
Colorado was one of 13 states in which eighth-graders significantly improved in math since the test was last administered two years ago. The state’s average math score jumped five points from 2009 to an all-time high, while the percentage of students scoring “proficient” or higher rose from 40 percent to 43 percent.
“We’re always pleased when scores are significantly higher,” said Pam Sandoval, the state’s NAEP coordinator at the Colorado Department of Education. “It doesn’t happen for all the states.”
Colorado’s eighth-grade reading scores also improved this year, with 40 percent of students scoring at or above the “proficient” level — up from 32 percent in 2009.
Colorado’s fourth-grade scores showed no statistically significant change.
Paul Teske, dean of the University of Colorado Denver’s School of Public Affairs, said it’s tempting to attribute the eighth-grade improvement to statewide innovations, although it’s unclear whether that’s the case.
But the encouraging factor, he added, is that even slight improvements come as the state’s testing sample includes more low-income students.
“That’s extra good news, even if (scores are) not going up very fast,” he said. “What would be the best news is to see the achievement gap in Colorado go down, but that’s a place I fear we stand out most, in a negative sense, around the country.”
Politicians echoed concern over the performance divide among students of varied income levels.
“With Colorado among the fastest- growing states in childhood-poverty rates, we must target resources and education-reform policies to disadvantaged young students,” U.S. Rep. Jared Polis of Boulder said in a statement.
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, a former superintendent of Denver Public Schools, credited the state’s focus on reform for moving things in the right direction but also urged attention to closing the achievement gap.
“We owe it to Colorado parents, teachers, principals and students to deliver a long-overdue fix to No Child Left Behind and ensure they have the flexibility and support they need to ensure all our kids can compete in the 21st-century economy,” he said.
Robert Reichardt, an education-policy researcher at UCD’s School of Public Affairs, said that while Colorado scores generally are in step with national numbers, he was struck by two trends.
First, the long-term trend in Colorado shows more kids scoring “proficient” or better across all tests. And second, this is happening amid a changing student population.
“The proportion of children who are Hispanic has increased 10 percentage points over the last 10 years, and Colorado has the largest growth in the nation among children living in poverty,” he said. “So with the long-term trend of improving while our student population is changing, things are generally going in the right direction.
“I think we can do better than we’re doing now, but we’re not failing completely.”
About 3,500 fourth-graders and 2,800 eighth-graders from more than 120 public schools in Colorado took the standardized tests. Students in both grades exceeded the national average scores in reading and math.
“Colorado has, in general, been leading reform in terms of student choice, building new types of schools, innovation schools,” Reichardt said. “I don’t think anyone could say Colorado is a status-quo state.”
The complete report can be found at .
Kevin Simpson: 303-954-1739 or ksimpson@denverpost.com
