Press Release

THIRD-GRADE READING SCORES SHOW IMPROVEMENT

Denver third-grade reading scores on the Colorado assessment showed encouraging improvement, according to results announced today by the Colorado Department of Education.

Forty-seven percent of third-graders tested this spring were "proficient" or "advanced." In 1999, 43 percent were proficient or advanced. DPS scores for every ethnic group also showed an increase. Statewide, 69 percent were proficient or advanced, up from 67 percent the year before. Third-graders took the reading test in March. A total of 5,180 DPS students took the test.

The Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) is designed to show how students perform in comparison with established "standards" for what students should know in various subjects at different grade levels.

"Our teachers deserve credit for the hard work and dedication they bring to the classroom every day," said Superintendent Chip Zullinger.

A number of schools made double-digit gains over last year. Among them: Beach Court Elementary School (52 to 67 percent), Brown (31 percent to 49 percent proficient or advanced), Bryant Webster (19 percent to 47 percent), Greenlee (24 percent to 42 percent), McKinley-Thatcher (72 percent to 91 percent), Moore (42 percent to 63 percent), Samuels (74 percent to 85 percent), Schmitt (34 percent to 48 percent), Stedman (37 percent to 48 percent), Teller (52 percent to 67 percent), and University Park (56 percent to 77 percent).

On the Lectura, the Spanish-language version of the CSAP, 50 percent of DPS third-graders were proficient or advanced, up from 44 percent last year. The state average was 52 percent. Of the 1,721 students who took the Spanish version statewide, 840 were from DPS.

Last fall, the Board of Education officially established CSAP improvement as the new academic focus. Zullinger's and top district staff's entire performance pay is tied to an 8 percent improvement in students who are proficient or advanced on CSAP tests in grades three (reading), four (reading and writing), and seven (reading and writing). For all other administrators, one-quarter of next year's raises is tied to the 8 percent goal.