CSAP: Annual test results reveal poor writing scores

Student test scores for 2010 remained static overall for districts in the Pikes Peak region, but the stand-out news here and around the state was poor writing scores.

The Colorado Student Assessment Program tests that cover reading, writing, science and math were taken by 465,000 students statewide, including more than 68,500 students in 17 El Paso and Teller county districts. The 2010 scores were released Tuesday.

Overall, CSAP and growth data has remained relatively unchanged over the last three years, state education officials said. The growth model tracks the academic progress students, individually and in groups, are making over time based on CSAP scores. The testing program tracks student progress against state standards, which define what students should know in different subjects from one grade to the next.

The Colorado Department of Education noted that kids in grades 3 through 10 are having a hard time with writing, continuing a downward spiral for most. In fact, overall writing scores have fallen below overall math scores, which traditionally have been the troublesome spot.

Writing scores fell to 53 percent scoring proficient and advanced statewide from 55 percent in 2009 among all grades combined, while math scores remained stable at 55 percent.

Writing results in 2010 show decreases from 2009 in the percentage of students in the proficient and advanced categories in seven grades (3 through 7,  9 and 10), with grade 8 improving by two percentage points.

Over six years, the writing scores in grades 3, 4, 6, 9 and 10 decreased. Grade 8 improved by four percentage points, Grade 7 improved by two percentage points and Grade 5 stayed the same.

Elaine Naleski, Colorado Springs School District 11 spokeswoman, said a change in who is authorized to have a scribe assist with the test could have contributed to the slight drop in scores, in the district and across the state.

The rules regarding scribing changed so that only students with a disability could have someone write their tests. The district went from having 1,200 students with scribes to 94.
Lewis-Palmer School District 38 bucked the bad writing trend with jumps in grades 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9.

“We emphasized writing in all our content areas,” said Marie Revak, D-38 director of assessment. “Another thing, we made sure the students with disabilities had the same opportunities as far as practicing writing.”

There had been some breath-holding in districts after the spring release of lousy third grade reading scores. But the scores for other grades didn’t show similar dips. In fact, a bright spot statewide was reading scores for ethnic groups, with Hispanics and Blacks in the proficient and advanced categories improving in more grades than all other groups.

Naleski said District 11 was expecting greater improvement, and it didn’t see the desired progress in closing the achievement gap. Still, she said the district had more schools with scores of 90 and above, including a perfect math score at one elementary school and continued improvement at another.

She credited two things with helping to boost scores: A data management system, which gave teachers real-time information on how kids were doing; and ongoing short term assessments called Response to Intervention. RTI lets staff know when to offer additional tutoring to students who are struggling.

Lewis-Palmer, along with Cheyenne Mountain School District 12 and Academy School District 20 usually are at the top of the heap in the assessment tests both locally and statewide.  

Revak noted that for rough estimates she takes all the districts and skims off any not testing at least 100 students. “We are in the top. Cheyenne Mountain, Steamboat Springs and Aspen are usually our competition,” she said.

Districts everywhere have had to deal with budget cuts and the economic downturns. But Revak noted that while classroom sizes were somewhat larger, “we have tried hard to keep the economy out of the classroom and away from the kids. Our class sizes went up, but CSAP scores were pretty steady.”

Naleski also mentioned the economic impact on District 11. Scores have remained fairly steady despite an increase in the number of students in the free and reduced lunch program. She said cuts make it harder to sustain the additional services that help students, and next year the challenge will be even greater.

In Harrison School District 2, about 79 percent of the students receive free or reduced priced lunches, a jump of almost 20 percent in the past several years. The district has made progress after getting off the state’s academic watch two years ago, and is closing the gap with the state averages.

“There are challenges with a high-risk population, but we have shown with overall scores that we can raise achievement,” said Superintendent Mike Miles, noting that D-2 is coming closer to the state average scores, which it has lagged behind.

Looking at the overall scores, Miles said he sees more positives than negatives. In reading and math the scores are up in proficiency. In writing, Harrison drop was smaller than the state’s, so it narrowed the gap.

“It’s a rough way to compare, but we are feeling pretty good. “We are coming off last year which was our best. Last year it was Super Bowl, and this year we got to the playoffs.”

There were some particularly bright spots, including Wildflower and Soaring Eagles elementary schools, and also Stratton Meadows, which he says “has turned the corner.” Others are more troublesome, such as Sierra High School. However, Miles said, new leadership, including a new principal about two years ago, has created a foundation and is getting the “ship squared.”

In Widefield School District 3 where more than 30 percent of students are from military families, there were positive trends in math scores, and like other districts, writing results were not where the administration wanted them to be.

“Our writing results indicate we must have more rigor and fidelity to best practices on a day-to-day basis,” said Superintendent Joe Royer.

Schools also received Growth Model data, which several officials said is more useful because it tracks growth of students, schools and districts. So, for example, a lower-scoring school that has consistently improved over several years would have better growth than a somewhat higher scoring school that has been stagnant.

CDE on Tuesday was working to post school performance and growth information at http.wwwschoolview.org.

To see how schools in your neighborhood fared, see our map of CSAP scores or an online database of scores since 2007.