Without such a change, it’s possible graduation rates could drop for the Class of 2025, Colorado Department of Education officials told the State Board of Education on Thursday.

To graduate from high school in Colorado, students must show proficiency in English and math. Using SAT scores is the most common way that districts offer students to meet that requirement, since the test is already administered to students in their junior year; ninth and 10th graders take the PSAT. But officials couldn’t say how many students were relying on the test result to meet the graduation requirements this year.

The proposed change the State Board is considering would lower the minimum passing score on the math portion of the SAT from 500 to 480. Without that change, officials say the percentage of students who can use their SAT score to meet graduation requirements will drop from 45% in 2023 to 39% with these results. That means about 3,400 students might be looking for a last-minute alternative to meet graduation requirements before May.

Read more at Chalkbeat Colorado.

Chalkbeat Colorado is a nonprofit news organization covering education issues. For more, visit chalkbeat.org/co.

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So educators are taking new steps to make sure students who have long been underrepresented in gifted programs across the country, including students of color, English language learners, and those from lower income families, are better represented.

Districts and organizations are now focusing on new data analysis, looking at multiple tests, and training teachers to identify behaviors that might signal high abilities among students of different cultures.

Some districts are closing gaps and are identifying more students, although statewide the gaps remain.

Read more at Chalkbeat Colorado.

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As an English language development teacher at Hamilton Middle School in Denver, Mollman has had to take on more work to keep up with the growing number of students who need help learning English.

In previous years, for example, his school might have only received three students a month who needed to be screened for English fluency. This year, he screens at least three new students each week — a process that takes one to two hours per student.

“It could quickly take up two of my mornings where I could be in classrooms,” Mollman said.

Across Colorado, English language development teachers describe similar scenarios. As many schools have experienced an influx of new students with limited English skills all year, their roles have been changing.

Traditionally, these teachers are tasked with screening new students, teaching English as a second language, administering English fluency tests, and coaching other classroom teachers. Now they must also support many students who are new to the country in much larger classes than typical.

As of the end of February, seven of Colorado’s school districts — Denver, Aurora, Cherry Creek, Greeley, Adams 12, Jeffco and Mapleton — told Chalkbeat they had enrolled more than 5,600 students new to the country after October count.

Some schools, in particular ones where there haven’t traditionally been large numbers of English learners, have relied on their English language development teachers to be the main support for children new to the country. Some of the teachers describe helping students and their families navigate a new country, and even taking in a child whose family was living in a car, during a bout of chickenpox.

Read the full report from our partners at Chalkbeat Colorado.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.

The dropout rate for the class of 2023 was slightly down, which was more good news. But the 2023 dropout rate, which counts how many seventh through 12th grade students disenroll from schools, was still higher than the historic lows the state saw just a few years earlier.

The Colorado Department of Education released graduation and dropout rates for the 2022-23 school year on Tuesday. Statewide, 83.1% of the class of 2023 graduated on time last spring, meaning within four years of starting high school. That was up from 82.3% in 2022.

In a statement, Colorado Education Commissioner Susana Córdova called the 0.8% graduation rate increase “modest.” She credited the hard work of educators, families, and students and nodded to the educational difficulties of the pandemic.

Read more at Chalkbeat Colorado.

Chalkbeat Colorado is a nonprofit news organization covering education issues. For more, visit chalkbeat.org/co.

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The start of the pandemic interrupted his freshman year of high school.

But instead of coming out of it feeling isolated, Garcia Barron came back to school determined. He followed his older sister Paola’s lead in participating in some leadership programs and continued taking advanced classes.

When he still struggled to feel a sense of belonging, he realized he probably wasn’t the only one.

Read more at Chalkbeat Colorado.

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In Colorado, just this fall, state officials said almost a third of students are chronically absent. The number has gone up significantly since the pandemic and schools are struggling to figure out how to get kids to return to classes.

Kids might miss school for a number of reasons, including for work, an illness, a lack of transportation, or to care for younger siblings. Absences also go up near the holidays as families go on vacation and figure a few missed school days can’t hurt.

But, regardless of the reason, research shows consistently missing school can affect a child’s learning. Missed days can add up more quickly than you think.

Read the full report from our partners at Chalkbeat Colorado.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.

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Results from 2023 state tests show English learners are further behind their peers from 2019 compared with other student groups, and they’re struggling more to get back on track.

On the main state tests in English language arts and math, the biggest falloff in proficiency between 2019 and this year is for English learners. They also showed less growth. Of those taking the SAT and PSAT for example, only students with disabilities showed less growth.

Helping English learners recover from the pandemic has been a complex problem nationwide.  And test scores aren’t the only warning sign about how English learners in Colorado schools are faring: While nearly a third of Colorado students were chronically absent last year, for example, 40% of English learners missed enough school to get that label. In Colorado, English learners make up 12% of all K-12 students. Some districts have much higher concentrations than others.

Full story via Chalkbeat 

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Slowly, she saw her son’s passion for the subject fade and she realized his math class was too easy. So, she went with her son to the school counselor’s office and asked for him to be enrolled in a more advanced class.

She recalls the counselor questioning the request, saying that his class was “the class that Latinos go into.” It took going to the principal, before the request was approved. Once in the advanced math class, her son noticed he was one of just two Latino students.

Paola recalls the experience as a shock to her and her family.

Read more at Chalkbeat Colorado.

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Whether that superintendent, Rico Munn, did enough to support Black educators is behind a discrimination complaint Munn filed as he departed the district under a negotiated agreement.

According to two independent investigations, Munn alleged that Black board members Stephanie Mason and Tremaine Duncan called his Blackness into question and expected him to act in certain ways because he was Black while holding him to unwritten expectations — actions that he said ultimately created a hostile work environment and led to him being unjustly removed from his position.

Rodrick D. Holmes, an outside investigator who interviewed Munn, the seven board members, and a consultant who has worked with the board for years, concluded that poor leadership, interpersonal conflicts and an intense focus on race all contributed to the board’s decision not to renew Munn’s contract. But Holmes did not find evidence of racial discrimination.

But a second outside investigator working off the Holmes fact-finding report reached the opposite conclusion.

Doug Hamill found that the board as a whole — and specifically Mason and Duncan — engaged in a pattern of discrimination, calling Munn’s “Black card” into question and that the board as a whole essentially fired Munn. That investigator recommended that the board censure Mason and Duncan, post the conclusions of the investigation online for the public to read, and that the board undergo training.

On Wednesday, the Aurora school board voted unanimously, and without discussion, to take no action on the recommendations related to Rico Munn’s discrimination complaint. School board members refused interviews ahead of that meeting. Munn said he is dealing with a family medical issue and was not doing interviews.

The two investigations and conflicting conclusions shed light both on Munn’s departure and on long-standing challenges faced by one of Colorado’s most diverse districts when it comes to hiring and retaining educators who reflect the students they serve.

Read the full story from our partners at Chalkbeat Colorado.

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Some board members want to appoint the internal candidate recommended by the departing superintendent, Pat Sandos. That proposal has divided the board, with one member accusing the board president of trying to bribe her to go along.

Meanwhile, the board has agreed to pay Sandos his full salary for a transition year starting in July, even though he’s officially retired as of May 31. Community members have launched a petition to terminate Sandos’ extension. For too long, they say, the district has overlooked and ignored the needs of parents and students, and it’s time for new leadership.

The district on Denver’s southwest edge serves about 1,100 students, including a large percentage from low-income families or identified as homeless. Like many in the metro area, the district is struggling with declining enrollment, which means less revenue and tighter budgets. The teachers union is seeking raises similar to those neighboring districts have agreed to, but negotiations have stalled. Meanwhile, teachers and parents alike report high turnover and important positions sitting vacant.

Read more at chalkbeat.org.

Chalkbeat Colorado is a nonprofit news organization covering education issues. For more, visit co.chalkbeat.org.

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