The release of new annual state testing data is always accompanied by a blizzard of slide decks, and reports, an no small amount of spin. Here is an in-depth, straightforward look at how Denver Public Schools performed, disaggregated by income, race and ethnicity, and school governance model.
While Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and other officials trumpet Colorado’s national top education ranking as reported by one magazine, new test score data reveal a very different reality. Read this deep dive into the new data.
DSST prepares its Hispanic, Black, and low-income students for college-level math at two to three times the district rate. Its low-income readiness in 2025 was 39.5%, about 2.6 times the state’s rate for the same students. Much of what makes Denver look better than the state turns out to be concentrated in a single charter school network.
Not long ago, the right superintendent, especially a non-traditional one, could land on the cover of Time, get regular New York Times coverage, and pull in serious money from Gates, Walton, Broad and other foundations to remake a district. That’s a different world than the one Jeffco, Cherry Creek and Denver are hiring into right now.
The big-district superintendent pipeline has run dry. What can school boards do? Read More »
