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 Student scores on the Colorado Student Assessment Program tests in 2008 were largely flat compared to 2007, continuing a pattern that has persisted for several years in most grades.
The results were made public Tuesday morning during a packed news conference attended by Gov. Bill Ritter, Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien, education Commissioner Dwight Jones (right), most of the State Board of Education, a scattering of legislators and a host of education bureaucrats.
“The results are mixed but there are reasons to be optimistic,” Jones said.
Compared to 2007, the percentage of students scoring proficient or advanced was up on 11 tests, declined on seven tests and was unchanged on six tests. The largest increase was 4 percent (8th grade reading), and the greatest decline also was 4 percent (in 3rd grade writing, 7th grade math and 10th grade writing).
Only 8th graders posted increases in reading, writing and math. The percentage of 7th graders proficient or advanced in writing and math declined, and the percentage was unchanged for reading. For 10th graders, there were declines in reading and writing and no change in math.
Colorado students are tested in reading, writing and math every year from 3rd to 10th grade. Science tests are given in the 5th, 8th and 10th grades.
In 2008, 44 percent of 5th graders were proficient or advanced on the science test, 46 percent of 8th graders and 47 percent of 10th graders. (The science tests were changed between 2007 and 2008, so comparisons with past scores aren’t valid.)
The percentage of black and Hispanic students who scored proficient and advanced in reading increased for grades 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. On writing, black students improved in grades 4, 5 and 8 and Hispanics in grades 4, 5, 8 and 9. On math, black students improved in grades 3, 5, 8, 9 and 10 and Hispanics in grades 3, 6, 8 and 9.
Students eligible for free or reduced-priced lunches increased their percentages in the proficient and advanced categories on 12 assessments (not counting science). Other students increased those percentages on 11 tests.
In the 11th grade, all students are required to take the ACT college admissions test. The 2008 scores were up slightly from 2007 in all four content areas – English, math, reading and science reasoning. The state composite score was 19.4, compared to 19.1 in 2007. The composite for boys was 19.3 and 19.7 for girls.
“We have not gotten the gains we would like,” Jones said.
The CSAP test scores, of course, don’t compare the same groups of students. For example, the 3rd graders who took those tests in 2007 were 4th graders who took different tests in 2008. In 2008, 31 different tests were given for a total of 1,560,809 tests. The participation rate was 98.9 percent.
Education officials hope that comparison problem will be eased by something called Colorado’s Growth Model, which is an additional way of crunching CSAP data to track student growth over time. Results of that model are being released for the first time this year. Some statewide growth stats were released Tuesday; the remainder will be available next month and in September.
Jones, in fact, devoted the first half of his remarks to the growth model before he even turned to the 2008 CSAP results.
“Colorado’s growth model gives us a common and consistent way to understand each student’s progress, regardless of their starting point. The model allows educators to better diagnose the needs of each individual student and set solid goals. At the same time it provides improved means for targeting scarce state resources to districts and schools with the greatest need for support,” Jones said.
The growth statistics yielded these findings:
30 percent of students unsatisfactory or partially proficient in reading are on track to become proficient within three years (or by the 10th grade).
25.7 percent of student unsatisfactory or partially proficient in writing are on track to reach the proficient level.
But only 13 percent of students unsatisfactory or partially proficient in math are on the same track of improvement.
A department statement noted, “The 2008 statewide results show that we have substantial gaps in the academic growth of our poor and minority students and boys in general. These gaps were most pronounced for poor and minority students at the grade 3-4 transition and diminished somewhat in higher grades.” But, the statement continued, “the troubling gaps in growth rates that we see based on poverty or minority status are generally not present based simply on English language mastery.”
The smallest growth gaps are in reading, which, Jones said, “suggests that our attention to literacy is making a difference.”
Rich Wenning, the associate commissioner who’s been heavily involved in the growth model, said, “our lowest achieving students are not making enough growth to catch up.”
While he generally agreed with Jones’ take on the results, Ritter took a longer view, noting that some middle grades have made enough progress since 2003 to “give us a reason to hope.” Ritter used the occasion to again recap the education achievements of the 2008 legislative session and of his P-20 Education Coordinating Council, saying, “We must keep the momentum going.”
Several individual schools were honored for growth during the event, including: Pomona High School in Jefferson County, Woodland Park High School, Yuma High School, Aurora Academy Charter School, Challenge to Excellence Charter School in Douglas County, Odyssey Charter in Denver, Crowley County schools, Steamboat Springs High School, Wyatt-Edison Charter in Denver and Fowler Elementary.
Related
Data
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Go to this page on the CDE website for full CSAP data, including information on the Spanish-language reading and writing tests, the CSAPA tests and more details on longitudinal growth.
- You can search individual scores on the www.denverpost.com and www.rockymountainnews.com sites.
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