School rankings stay flat for Aurora schools

AURORA | The overall status of both of Aurora’s public school districts remained unchanged from last year in the Colorado Department of Education’s 2012 ratings mandated by state law.

For the third year in a row, the Cherry Creek School District received the Accredited rating from the CDE, the second highest category in the School Performance Framework system, which is spelled out in the Education Accountability Act of 2009. For the second year in a row, the Aurora Public Schools district received the Accredited with Priority Improvement rating, the second lowest category in the system. From highest to lowest, the categories in the SPF are Distinction, Accredited, Accredited with Improvement Plan, Accredited with Priority Improvement Plan and Turnaround.

The assessments are based on a variety of factors, including academic achievement, academic growth, achievement gaps, graduation rates, dropout rates and ACT scores.

It’s the second year that APS has officially fallen in the Accredited with Priority Improvement category, which means the district’s total score was 42 percent or higher of points possible but less than 52 percent. According to APS Director of Assessment and Research Lisa Escárcega, the district appealed their initial rating in the 2009-10 school year.

“The first year we were in the third category. We appealed (priority improvement) that very first year based on all of the actions and demonstrated achievement data that we had from Vista 2010 at the time. The second year, we were in priority improvement. We decided not to appeal that,” Escárcega said, adding that district-wide results show gains that put APS close to the Accredited with Improvement category.

Specifically, about 78 percent of APS schools are categorized as either Accredited or Accredited with Improvement. That compares to 65 percent in 2011. Three schools in the district — Arkansas Elementary, Jewell Elementary and a district online school — have been assessed as Turnaround schools. Under state law, a school can receive a Priority Improvement or Turnaround rating for five consecutive years before the district must intervene.

“The district has decided that after three years … we are going to (decide) what the future of that school is going to look like,” Escárcega said.

Cherry Creek’s score fell at or above 64 percent but below 80 percent of the points possible under the system, placing it in the Accredited rating. However, the four district schools that fall into the Priority Improvement Plan category — Overland High School, Highline, Independence and Village East elementary schools — are all in Aurora. While the district has remained in Accredited category since the system launched three years ago, officials say modest gains align with a larger goal of receiving the Distinction title.

“The overall percentage points that we’ve earned has increased slightly from the first year … Our goal is to be the first large, diverse district to be Accredited with Distinction,” said Cherry Creek Assistant Superintendent Elliott Asp. “That’s a very public goal.”

Statewide, 48 percent of school districts fell within the Accredited category.

Reach reporter Adam Goldstein at agoldstein@aurorasentinel.com or 720-449-9707