DPS progress stalls

Nancy Mitchell, Rocky Mountain News

Published July 31, 2007 at midnight

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State test results for Denver Public Schools leveled off in 2007, a year after the city school district posted a record jump in reading and saw strong gains in math and science.

"We're disappointed but not discouraged," said DPS Superintendent Michael Bennet, who had predicted stronger gains this year. "We've made some progress, and we expect that to accelerate."

Bennet, a lawyer who took over the city's public schools at the request of Mayor John Hickenlooper, has implemented a virtual blizzard of classroom reforms since July 2005.

Now he and Jaime Aquino, the chief academic officer he recruited from New York City, say they believe that pace may have been too fast.

"We did overwhelm our schools, particularly at the elementary and middle-school level," Aquino said. "What we want to point out is, though we're disappointed in these scores, we're really proud of the work we're doing in our schools."

Results of the state reading exams, given in grades 3 through 10 in February and March, dropped in nearly every grade in DPS this year. Districtwide, 42.6 percent of test-takers were reading at grade level or above in 2007, compared with 43.6 percent last year.

In writing, the results were the exact opposite. It was the only subject area where scores fell last year, Aquino noted, prompting schools to renew their focus. And school principals received training in the importance of non-fiction writing for overall student achievement.

The result — overall writing proficiency increased slightly among DPS students, with seventh-graders posting the strongest gain of 6 percentage points.

But math is where DPS students are showing sustained progress. Overall math proficiency increased by nearly 2 percentage points in 2007, building on last year's gain of nearly 3 points.

Some parents have complained in recent public meetings about the district math program, Everyday Math, saying they don't recognize the math they learned as kids.

But Aquino pointed out Everyday Math is the only elementary program rated "promising" by the U.S. Department of Education. He also said DPS teachers, in the fifth year of the program, are learning it well.

"The teachers are becoming really familiar with the program," he said. "Their teaching is more focused, and we're seeing the results."

Flat scores in the other subjects may result from what Aquino described as an "implementation dip." That's the drop in test scores that can follow the introduction of new curricula or programs.

In 2006-07, for example, DPS teachers worked with new planning guides in the core academic areas in grades 3 through 10; implemented new benchmark tests thrice-yearly in grades 3 through 10; and added basic skills components to the district's literacy and math programs.

DPS also began double classes for middle- and high-school students struggling in reading and math; added a new curriculum for English language learners in middle and high schools; and required schools to create "data teams" of teachers to focus on early interventions in weak areas.

"It was a lot for people to absorb," Bennet said. "We have an extraordinary sense of urgency about the work. We believe that is shared by most parents and teachers."

That urgency is keen at the high school level, where DPS on Monday launched two-week academies for incoming freshmen who need extra help in literacy and math. The academies, at 11 high schools, run from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. and include lessons in study skills and resilience.

State test results show higher percentages of freshmen at Ridgeview Academy, a DPS charter school for juvenile offenders, were at grade level in reading than freshmen at four of Denver's neighborhood high schools — Abraham Lincoln, Montbello, North and West.

"We must remember that the reform is just starting," said former Mayor Federico Peña, among the city leaders heading A+ Denver, a citizens' advisory group to DPS. "We're at the very early stages of radically changing and improving the Denver Public Schools, and that must continue to be our current priority and our long-term focus."

Bennet said he hopes the flat scores do not shake parents' faith in DPS. The 73,000-student district this year is expected to begin the painful process of closing perhaps as many as 30 schools.

"I really do believe we're headed in the right direction," he said. "It's not going to happen overnight. I hope Denver gives us enough time to implement the reforms necessary to push the district ahead."

mitchelln@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5245

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