Poudre School District logged some respectable gains in Colorado Student Assessment Program performance in 2011 testing.
Third-graders throughout the district improved nicely in reading, going from 81 percent proficient in 2010 to 84 percent in 2011.
Dwayne Schmitz, district director of research and evaluation and former Cache La Poudre Junior High School teacher, said the scores this year were also higher than state average, which has been typical for the Poudre School District.
CSAP tests all third- through tenth-graders in the spring and scores are released the following fall. The 2011 student assessment was the last using CSAP. This school year and next, students will take the Transitional Colorado Assessment Program test, or TCAP, as the state transitions by 2014 to a new test that aligns with new education standards.
Schmitz is especially happy with the scores because the district switched from the junior high system to middle school in the 2010-11 school year. Administrators were worried that students might score lower on the CSAP. It turns out scores stayed the same or improved.
Also, the district implemented a new literacy curriculum for the 2010-11 school year. With the implementation of Treasures, Schmitz saw an improvement in reading and writing scores.
“This is an incredibly uplifting story,” said Schmitz, noting that PSD has met the challenge of change and came out shining.
More information about growth and performance in Colorado schools can be found at www.schoolview.com.