News & Events

Press Releases: DPS RELEASE

DPS Progress Continues on State Tests

District’s Growth Outpaces State’s in Virtually All Areas in ’09 and since ’05;
Beach Court Elementary Recognized for Outstanding Progress

DENVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
TEL 720-423-3414
FAX 720-423-3318
press@dpsk12.org
www.dpsk12.org

DENVER, CO (Aug. 7, 2009) –Denver Public Schools has posted gains on the 2009 CSAP exams that outpaced or met those of the rest of the state in all four core-content areas. The gains marked Denver’s fourth consecutive year of gains and the fourth consecutive year that Denver’s gains have been greater than those made by the rest of the state. And since 2005, Denver’s students have made gains that are three times the state’s rate of improvement.

Overall, the district’s percentages of students who scored proficient or above on the 2009 CSAP are up 3 points in writing to 36%; up 2 points in science to 25%; up 1 point in reading to 47%; and up 1 point in math to 37%. That continues a trend over the past four years of posting gains that outpace those of the rest of the state. (See attached graph.)

“We’re pleased to see continued progress in all subjects and to see growth that continues to outpace growth in the rest of the state,” said DPS Superintendent Tom Boasberg. “Those 5- to 8-percentage-point jumps over the past four years represent literally thousands more of our students getting to proficiency in our core subjects and putting them on track to graduate from high school and go on to college. We are all grateful to our teachers and principals for their hard work in driving this growth.

“And while we are grateful for the progress we have made, we are concerned about our rate of progress and the wide achievement gaps that remain between Denver and the rest of the state and among racial and ethnic groups in the district,” Boasberg added. “We need to close these achievement gaps and increase the number of our students who are graduating from high school prepared for college, and to do that we need to accelerate our progress this year and in coming years.”

Beach Court Elementary School Posts Dramatic Gains

The district’s CSAP scores were highlighted at a community event at Beach Court Elementary School, 4950 Beach Ct., which posted double-digit gains in 2009 in all four core-content areas. Since 2006, the school’s proficiency rates have climbed 30 points in reading, 33 points in math, and 40 points in writing. Beach Court now has about 75% of its students scoring proficient or above in both reading and math.

“We are absolutely thrilled about our progress on the CSAP this year and over the past several years,” Beach Court Principal Frank Roti said. “It is clearly a reflection of our exemplary staff, students, and parents sharing a common vision of providing educational excellence to our students daily.”

A total of 16 DPS schools have posted double-digit gains in at least two content areas since 2006. (List attached.)

Encouraging Results on CSAP Growth Index as Well

In addition, district leadership also recognized a group of schools that posted strong scores on the state’s CSAP growth index, which measures the progress that groups of students at every school made and compares that growth against growth by students throughout the state. A growth score above the 50th percentile means the students at that school made progress at a rate that’s higher than half the other schools in the state. Districts also receive growth scores in each subject. DPS growth scores for 2009 are 50th percentile in reading, 52nd percentile in math, and 55th in writing, meaning that the average district student showed more academic growth last year than his or her peers statewide.

Beach Court was the highest-scoring DPS school on the growth index, posting growth percentile scores of 77.5 in reading, 85 in math, and 88 in writing. (A list of DPS schools with growth ratings of 65 and above—the state’s “high growth” category—is attached.)

“These are extraordinary results for Beach Court. We’d like to commend Beach Court’s teachers, principal and the entire school community on their exceptional
hard work over the past several years,” said DPS Chief Academic Officer Ana Tilton.

“And we have dozens of schools in our district that we’ve also reached out to recognize and congratulate for the progress they’ve made.”

The Colorado Department of Education also recognized 23 DPS schools today for high growth over the past three years. (List attached.) The district had 50% more schools recognized for high growth than any other district in the state, and of the 11 higher-poverty schools recognized by the state in this area, seven are DPS schools.

Accelerating Progress

Over the next few months, DPS leadership will be rolling out and garnering community input on a 2009 update to the Denver Plan, which has guided the district’s instructional strategy since 2005. The action plan will lay out the district’s strategies for accelerating the rate of gains in the classroom.

For more information, contact the DPS communications office at 720-423-3414.

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Contact:
Mike Vaughn
DPSOffice of Communications
michael_vaughn@dpsk12.org
(720) 423-3707—direct
(720) 423-3414—office
(303) 921-9350—cell