Report cards show mostly passing grades for District 6

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Published: December 10, 2008

MCT REGIONAL NEWS

By Jakob Rodgers

Greeley Tribune, Colo.

(MCT)

Dec. 10--Greeley-Evans School District 6 officials once again are pointing to the district's new literacy-intensive curriculum as the reason behind the district's continued improvement in the school report cards released Tuesday by the Colorado Department of Education.

Every District 6 school save for one charter school -- University School grades six through eight -- held steady or increased its academic performance ratings, according to the latest round of accountability reports, which compress ACT scores and CSAP scores in the reading, writing and math topics into a four-tiered rating system: Low, average, high or excellent.

Although University School grades six through eight dropped from "high" to "average," four schools -- Monfort Elementary, Greeley Central High School, Christa McAuliffe Elementary and Billie Martinez Elementary -- climbed a step from the academic performance ratings of last year.

Superintendent Ranelle Lang said Christa McAuliffe's rise to "excellent" -- making it the only district school to earn that rating this year along with grades one through five of Frontier Charter Academy -- is reason to celebrate. Meanwhile, Lang said Billie Martinez's rise from "low" to "average" was "nothing short of miraculous."

Billie Martinez was threatened with strict disciplinary action due to poor CSAP scores three years ago and still copes with a student population wherein 94.9 percent are eligible for free and reduced lunch -- the highest such poverty rate in the district.

With such large hurdles to overcome, Lang said Billie Martinez has become an a prototype for school improvement.

''It was devastating to our community when (the district was) put on watch, and I think that it's going to take us awhile for (the public) to rebuild trust in the system," Lang said. "But I think it's things like that that say 'You can trust us. Our schools are not going backward anymore. We really are moving them in the right direction.' "

''So I hope this is a confidence builder for the community -- that we intend to just get better and better and better, and that we are not going to let this slide happen again."

Eighty percent of the district's schools also registered "typical" or "high" growth, leaving administrators both optimistic and vigilant -- especially as the district prepares to draft a new strategic plan in the coming months to replace the plan that is set to expire after this school year. A "high" designation signals an increase in student performance when measured against the school's peers.

''It tells us in really solid terms we have work to do," said Bruce Broderius, president of the District 6 Board of Education. "We can not lose focus -- we must maintain the focus."

Schools with high poverty rates -- as seen in the number of children eligible for free or reduced lunch -- continued to account for the majority of the poorest performing schools in District 6. Twelve of the 13 schools with the highest poverty rates received a "low" rating while conversely, charter schools made up seven of the 10 schools rating "high" or "excellent."

''We should never use demographics as an excuse because ... we can tell from (Billie Martinez Elementary) that if we use it as an excuse, it's a lame one because we can do it," Lang said.

The district's middle schools also generally performed poorly, with only Heath Middle School scoring an "average" ranking while the rest received a "low" ranking. Of those, John Evans featured both a "low" academic performance rating and a "low" growth rate -- the only middle school not to feature a "typical" growth rate.

Lang admits the district got "sloppy" with regard to the middle schools, but she also says teachers are behind the curve because many students are arriving in middle school with little-to-no English skills.

''We are actually finding that there are kids that are coming to us that they haven't had direct explicit instruction," Lang said. "They got to multisyllabic words, and they just kind of hit a wall. So we are actually being a lot more intentional about the teaching or reading and the teaching of basic decoding strategies -- those kind of things -- and then also how to organize your reading."

Officials hope an updated math curriculum spurs the improvement process along with an influx of sixth graders who are better versed in the district's literacy program. It is also through a program called "Double Dip" that district officials look to continue to catch students already lagging in literacy skills.

While all students take the required English classes mandated by the district, certain students with skills below grade-level and those without simple comprehension skills are then placed in additional literacy classes that meet more often and are specifically tailored to the needs of the students.

Paul Urioste, principal of Billie Martinez, said much of the credit for his school's improvement should point toward the school staying on track with district standards and curriculum.

''It's just a lot of focused instruction, using data to move kids back and forth," Urioste said. "Like if you're struggling with fluency, we'll put you in reading action. If you're struggling with phonics, we might put you in something with a phonics-based program. It just depends on your needs; that's where we actually place you."

District officials also remain cautiously optimistic that the ratings will continue to climb in next year's reports, because of the group of children that started the literacy program in kindergarten and now look to take their first CSAP tests in the spring.

''The full effect of our literacy is yet to be revealed based on test scores, so we're within that time warp right now of not having children gone through revised kindergarten curriculum and revised literacy block one, two and three," Board President Broderius said. "I would expect continued progress for next year and maybe tipping some of those (ratings) over. I wouldn't place any bets on that, but I kind of think that may be the case."

'' 'Yes, but...' is kind of the story line here," continued Broderius a short time later. "You can see the improvements, but you can't let up, you just can't let up. And we won't."

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