A new way of grading schools

DPS system focuses on growth, value to students

By Nancy Mitchell, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published February 8, 2008 at 12:30 a.m.

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Denver Public Schools leaders on Thursday released a comprehensive new system of measuring their schools that could be duplicated across Colorado.

The system focuses on how much growth schools are fostering in their students and it groups schools of like demographics to compare progress.

"For the first time, we're going to have a comprehensive body of evidence about the progress that schools are making - or not making," said DPS Chief Academic Officer Jaime Aquino. "We're really focusing on growth, what is the value we're adding to students every year?"

Its most innovative piece compares DPS students with students statewide who have similar performance histories on state exams. With the Colorado Department of Education, the district will track how DPS pupils do compared to those peers and judge their schools based on jumps or drops in performance.

A multitude of other factors will fold into the new DPS school ratings, including non-academic indicators such as whether families are returning to the same schools from one year to the next.

DPS Superintendent Michael Bennet said the district will submit the system to state officials in June, and there's talk of replicating it elsewhere.

"It is much less about labeling and much more about identifying strengths and weaknesses," Bennet said, referring to ratings such as 'Average' that federal and state accountability systems assign to schools.

DPS schools will receive an overall rating, based on up to 42 indicators, but Bennet said those rating names have yet to be determined. It's also unclear exactly when parents will see the new report cards, though it likely will be before the end of this school year.

Principals earlier this week received sample reports for their schools which included colored "stoplight" indicators, allowing them to easily see their school's strengths and weaknesses.

Bennet said what parents see may differ.

"I want parents to know as much about our schools as possible," he said. "The question is, what format will that take?"

Educators have long criticized school report cards based solely on student performance. That's largely because schools filled with affluent students nearly always outperform schools with more diverse student bodies.

But they've also debated how best to measure growth.

DPS' new method considers 15 different growth measures. Altogether, they account for more than 60 percent of the overall rating the school will receive.

Three of the measures compare schools of similar demographics based on poverty and ethnicity. DPS schools were grouped based on those factors.

"It's no mystery that certain schools face more obstacles than other schools to increase student achievement," said Montbello High School Principal Antwan Wilson. "You need to compare apples to apples, not apples to oranges."

Aquino said the new system likely will show some schools in a different light. For example, a school may have an 'Excellent' rating from the state, but its DPS rating may be less glowing if its student growth is not strong.

Similarly, a school rated 'Low' by the state, but showing strong student growth, could shine under the DPS system.

Ultimately, he said the goal is to get to the point where principals in similar schools compare notes and tap each other for help.

Tuesday, Aquino handed out the new report cards and watched as two assistant principals moved together to share.

"We're having issues in math," one said to the other. "You're not. Why is that?"

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Comments

February 8, 2008

8:36 a.m.

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TonyB writes:

Since I'm in the middle of my IRS Tax Forms, I don't have time to study this article, but I'm sure that, when the smoke clears, the DPS folks will have obscured school performance beyond all clarity.
February 8, 2008

9:46 a.m.

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radical4peace writes:

As a teacher in a DPS charter school, I have to point out a flaw in PajamaPulitzer's reasoning. Mitchell does not point out that a school rated "Low" but making strong growth could be rated highly by DPS to make excuses for low achievement. She is reporting on a new DPS policy to recognize growth. No one wants students sitting in stagnant classrooms where they fall further and further behind. But if we are to give an incentive to the teachers working with the students who are already years behind, we HAVE to reward growth. Otherwise, the schools and the teachers working with the students who are already behind are defeated before they even start. It's important to share this growth with students as well: If a student reads on a Pre-K level coming into my 6th grade class and ends on a 3rd grade level, they are still behind. But they have made amazing growth and that growth should be recognized.
February 8, 2008

9:48 a.m.

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MAM writes:

"A school being rated low by the State means kids are failing!!!"

Really? How do you know that? I assume you have taken your time to study the statistical methods used by the state to come to this conclusion. I would love for you to share that with the rest of parents in the state! Two years ago I put many hours trying to find the logic and science behind the State rating method and it was a complete waste of my time. They are comparing samples that aren’t comparable by statistical standards, the percentages aren't weighted, and if you are a parent, gathering the information is almost impossible. Their attitude is that we, parents, are too ignorant to understand.

I am too an involved parent who favors assessment systems where schools release information about the students knowledge and academic progress, and at the same time I think the rating system of the state is a disgrace. This rating system only caters to parents who want to brag that they send their kids to a top school, so they have the ammunition to back that statement. I would ask, how you know that schools rated Excellent owe it to the instruction and the learning in the classroom, and not to parents paying private tutors to prepare for state tests? We live in New York now and the majority of parents at my children’s school just did that; the school encouraged it because they see it as their best marketing tool; pretty much it is understood that you are “fundraising” for the school by spending that money (we refused to play the game). If you are naive enough to base your school choice in that rating, you better be prepared to dole some money for tutors, so more of the "right" families keep joining the school.

DPS new method may be as bad as the State ratings, I really haven't studied it. But at least they are trying to move beyond it.
February 8, 2008

11:47 a.m.

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vudumom writes:

Isn't this special! The DPS school system has a new and improved way to " cook the books" so that no one understands what the hell they are doing.Who thinks this stuff up?
February 8, 2008

11:53 a.m.

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kemguru writes:

Finally, a post from P-Jammie that’s on target!

Well said, PP! (that almost hurts to say)
February 8, 2008

12:57 p.m.

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vudumom writes:

PajamaPulitzer, I with you on this one. What a spin on what a low rated school is.Low means failing.Low means no one is learning anything.Low means low!Low is how low can you go.DPS is looking for a way to trick parents into believing that even though the school your kid attends is rated low and he/she is not learning anything,don't worry we have come up with a way to lead you to believe that the school is improving by putting a shine on it.HELLO!

School systems get more bizarre every day.These administrations get paid lots of money to think this stuff up.I wonder how many people it took and how many meetings and how many memos and how many man hours it took to come up with new and improved shine on the rating system.Wouldn't you love to know how much money was spent on this?
February 8, 2008

1:14 p.m.

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BetterEducated writes:

I once served an open records request on DPS to get the info on how much admins were being paid, how many there were, and what they had been promised by way of pension benefits.
It was a nauseating exercise, I felt dirty just to have looked at it.
It was quite predictable that the pension would be low in $$ in a few short years -- which it now is -- because admins had hired their buds to join them in their "five years and out" scheme and in purchasing years of service from the plan for vastly less than those years' pension benefits will cost.
Don't you wish we could "buy" some extra years?! I thought "time" was the one and only thing humans could only obtain The Hard Way but DPS admins (and a few other workers who could afford it) proved me wrong.
We already know, because it's being openly studied and aired at last, that DPS doesn't teach children. I wish there was an equally open airing of what it costs to produce these results, and how many of the folks at DPS have been relatives & acquaintances of other folks. But boy, just try getting THAT report card!! :-)
February 8, 2008

1:21 p.m.

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tandrhansen writes:

All of you are completely way off base. The point of this system is not to grade the school. It is used to evaluate and find weaknesses. Every successful company in the world uses a system just like this to evaluate Strengths and weaknesses.

I am currently in an MBA program and we talk frequently on this subject. DPS may finally be getting it right by using this system. It is a way of gathering information and helping find a solution not a school grading system.

What they are doing is textbook internal analysis. At least they realize that and creating a strategy to attack the problem. I am going to be asking my school system in Weld County (I am a republican like most of my county)and asking if they too are going to adopt a similar system. I sureley hope so.
February 8, 2008

1:27 p.m.

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BetterEducated writes:

I'd like to add to the above by stating:
I encourage this publication to pay someone a week's time to get DPS to divulge:
The titles of all administrative staff (they don't have to name them)
The amount those members are being paid, and whether they also are receiving health insurance and other benefits (deferred comp plans and all other benefits)
The year those members were hired.
In other words:
Manager/Director/Consultant/Specialist of XYZ $150,000 plus X
Those figures should then be compared to teachers and classified workers, in a schedule making the figures clear.
In this manner, I believe it would be obvious that not only does DPS produce children in an elite -- middle -- and lower-class regime: It has a workforce layered in the same evil manner.
All of this describes an administrative philosophy that flies in the face of what DPS says it is teaching children about democracy, equality and American rights.
February 8, 2008

2:21 p.m.

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kemguru writes:

No, tandrhansen, you’re completely off base.

A SWOT analysis is most beneficial when you have defined your competition. SWOT does not matter one iota when you run a monopoly. Sure, it sounds good when the monopoly claims to care about their customers. They might even go as far as internal measurement and improvement programs to appease the public, but ultimately it doesn’t matter. They’re a monopoly. Where else will folks go to obtain the product they sell?

Unfortunately, for you, not all of this is covered in your textbooks.
February 8, 2008

10:14 p.m.

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radical4peace writes:

Does DPS have problems? Of course. Are many public schools across the nation failing to actually teach their students? Unfortunately, yes. But the folks on this board who fail to recognize the importance of growth are leaving behind the very children they claim to champion. There is a clear difference between being a "Low" school across the board in all subjects and a "Low" but improving school, especially if those gains have been made with ELL students and low-income students. A decent teacher can make one year of growth in one year. A good teacher can make 1.5-2 years growth in the same time. It takes a truly great teacher to make more than 2 years of growth with students. Both teachers AND students need to be recognized for the gains that they make. Yes, there is the larger issue of students being behind in the first place, but I am a 6th grade teacher. I can't help it if most of my students are 3+ years behind. I can work hard with my students to make as much growth as we can, and I believe we deserve to be rewarded for that growth. Not penalized before we even have a chance.
February 11, 2008

7:05 a.m.

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vudumom writes:

If a child is behind ,then why does the school system keep passing them?I volunteer at my children's elementary school. I have seen children in 5th grade 4 years behind.These kids are going to be pased on to the middle school system and then high school.Parents are in denial about their children. It's one thing to be concerned about their children not being at grade level,it's another when they continue to let the school pass their child when they know their child is not ready.
I know one parent who is a friend of mine. Her daughter is in 5th grade and gets F's on every paper. The mother claims she and her husband work with her.The child can't read because now they say she has dyslexia.Yet the kid handed in a reading chart that the children have to do every week. The parent claimed her daughter read 550 minutes of reading that week!Yeah ,right.Parents are in such a denial.I had one parent tell me her daughter is in the top reading group in my 2nd grader's class because they take her out to do higher reading.I didn't have the heart to tell her that they take her out of class because she is not reading at grade level.My daughter and 3 others are in the top reading group.I asked the teacher to talk with her and let her know where her daughter is at academically because the mother is not fully understanding.
Our schools and parents need to wake up. Especially the parents.They need to start parenting and take an active role in their children's academic lives earlier not later when the damage cannot be undone without a miracle.
February 15, 2008

8:15 a.m.

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MAM writes:

"So spare me the phony indignation and the accusation that I don't understand. I understand all to well."

Ouch! I guess you have powers too to see who wrote the message criticizing you. So I happen to be a pro-union phony for doing that. Do you think that by trying to disqualify the one who disagree with you, the system would sound better?

Fact: I am an ANTI-UNION activist. I support (with my own money and as a volunteer) causes to free workers of union restrictions and collective bargaining in international markets, and the right to negotiate their own contracts and the right to work part-time in fields where union rules restrict the access to part time workers and freelancers.

If you knew me (which you don't), you would know than in my positions and opinions I am very far away from supporting school systems as we know them, not a big fan of the public education system myself.

It just happened that I studied the rating system because I have children and want to be informed, and I found your statement nonsense and hurtful for the general public, since it seems to me that they defend the current system. I observed schools myself, I don't let other people tell me how the schools are, and found many of the "excellent" school I observed just laughable, but people go to them, love them and don’t want the system to be changed.

CONCLUSION: You are very ignorant on statistics and very opinionated without being informed, and when that was pointed out, you recurred to disqualification to save your neck. Your stand, by supporting and using the jargon of a bad system created by useless bureaucrats, is as bad for children as the “teacher union people” you like to bash.

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