D60: STEM schools didn’t see dramatic science score climb
Some Pueblo City schools have placed an emphasis on science education. But is it working?
Pueblo City Schools is no stranger to scrutiny.
After the embattled school district lost its leader, Superintendent Constance Jones, in July, the district was in relative upheaval, in the final year of its five-year state accountability clock.
But in the middle of the superintendent scandal was a release of test scores from the Colorado Department of Education.
Not all of the district’s results were released in mid-August— some of them were held back until later this year — but the CDE released statewide results, in addition to a handful of results at the district level.
If the district’s newest batch of test scores don’t improve, it might face state intervention, a possibility the district was trying to avoid when it first hired Jones.
And the district-level results the department did release in August— ACT, Practice SAT and science tests from the Colorado Measures of Academic Success — give a telling glimpse into efforts the district has been putting into turnaround recently.
Part of District 60’s effort, in the past few years, has been focused on creating more niche schools. After the district received at $10 million grant from the Magnet Schools Assistance Program in 2013, it turned four of its schools into ones focusing on science, technology, engineering and math.
The grant, which was awarded in September 2013 and disbursed its final funds in June, helped turn Bessemer Academy, Central High School, Highland Park Elementary School and Roncalli STEM Academy into STEM magnet schools.
But when it comes down to science testing, the recent results show those schools saw minimal, if any, improvements from last year.
CDE officials said in a news release that it’s too early to see trends — this was only the second year the state participated in CMAS and Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers tests. And for many of the STEM magnet schools, the programs are still new.
But so far, the results look minimal.
Bessemer Academy, a pre-kindergarten to eighth grade school, had a 100 percent participation rate for its fifth and eighth grade students in science testing. Only six fifth grade students, 12 percent of the school’s fifth-graders, met or exceeded expectations in science testing.
For eighth-graders, the CDE data does not display results “to ensure student privacy,” according to the data.
Central High School, which recently received STEM certification from AdvancED, an independent accreditation agency, also saw small improvements in science testing for high school juniors, who also participated in the ACT. The district had a 90 percent participation rate.
Six students met or exceeded science expectations at Central in 2016.
Highland Park Elementary, which had a 96 percent participation rate, fared a little better, seeing a 7 percent increase in students who met or exceeded expectations from 2015.
In 2016, 19 students, or 21 percent of the school’s fifth-graders, met or exceeded expectations.
Roncalli STEM Academy, which had a 96 percent participation rate in its eighth grade students, had nine students meet or exceed expectations, down from 12 in 2015.
Additionally, the Pueblo School for Arts and Sciences, a charter school, saw a significant decrease in eighth grade students who met or exceeded state expectations in science and a significant increase in fifth grade students who did the same.
The school, which was founded in the late 1990s, was not part of the district’s 2013 grant, but it has emphasized science education since it was created.
Twenty-one students, or 43 percent of the school’s fifth-graders, met or exceeded expectations, contributing to a 25 percent increase from 2015.
The school’s eighth-graders, on the other hand, saw a 17 percent decrease in high-performers. Twenty-three students, 50 percent of the eighth grade class, met or exceeded expectations.
PSAS had a 100 percent participation rate for both grades.
In Colorado, students are evaluated under the Colorado Measure of Academic Success with two major testing bodies: PARCC and tests developed by the state.
For English language arts tests and math tests, the state uses PARCC, and for science and social studies, it uses testing developed by Colorado.
While many of the results have yet to be released on the district-level, the science results provide a glimpse into the district’s recent efforts.
“With the grant, Pueblo City Schools will address the growing need for STEM education and renewable energy,” the district’s website said.
The rest of the results are set to come out in early September, a release that might provide some insight to the state’s impending accreditation decision for the district.
