CSAP scores are a problem we need to fix

The committee asked the District 22 offices to provide some information on last years CSAP scores.  The district responded with "we don't have that information".  That bothered several members on the Excellent Ellicott Schools committee.  So they went to the Colorado Department of Education web site and gathered the data themselves.  The data collected shows we have a real problem with the district's CSAP scores.  This is what the committee found out:

84% of all 3rd graders who took the 2010 Reading CSAP scored better than the Ellicott 3rd graders.

82% of all 3rd graders who took the 2010 Writing CSAP scored better than the Ellicott 3rd graders.

92% of all 10th graders who took the 2010 Math CSAP scored better than the Ellicott 10th graders.

67% of all 10th graders who took the 2010 Science CSAP scored better than the Ellicott 10th graders.

In almost every grade those who took the 2010 CSAP tests for reading, writing, math and science, scored between 60 and 80% better than our Ellicott students.

The committee members then went back to 2009, then 2008, then 2007 CSAP scores, and found that the data was consistent across all the years.  Almost every grade, and in almost every test, the students in the state score between 60 and 80% better than our Ellicott students.

Our teachers are not worse than other teachers in the state.  Our students are not less smart than other students in the state.  The problem is the way we teach the core subjects.  We need a better teaching curriculum.  We need to find better ways to help the student learn .

The committee will now begin finding better methods, and a better curriculum and present that to the school board.

To join the Excellent Ellicott Schools committee call 719-683-2520 or email excellentellicottschools@hotmail.com


2007 to 2010 CSAP Score Comparison
Percent of all students scoring higher than Ellicott Students

Source = Colorado Department of Education

Reading	2007	2008	2009	2010
Grade 3	74.4%	65.4%	45.8%	84.5%
Grade 4	74.7%	71.1%	62.1%	61.7%
Grade 5	82.8%	77.6%	84.3%	56.3%
Grade 6	59.5%	79.2%	68.7%	78.7%
Grade 7	81.9%	80.5%	79.6%	68.3%
Grade 8	78.9%	75.1%	67.1%	69.9%
Grade 9	66.1%	70.8%	60.5%	56.3%
Grade 10	81.0%	68.3%	52.4%	40.7%
Writing	2007	2008	2009	2010
Grade 3	68.4%	70.9%	68.8%	82.4%
Grade 4	75.3%	75.0%	55.8%	79.0%
Grade 5	91.9%	75.5%	87.7%	40.4%
Grade 6	53.2%	70.6%	71.2%	64.3%
Grade 7	67.0%	68.4%	75.1%	64.4%
Grade 8	77.7%	78.4%	71.2%	72.8%
Grade 9	71.5%	73.5%	71.3%	74.4%
Grade 10	86.6%	82.0%	76.5%	72.8%
Math	2007	2008	2009	2010
Grade 3	62.5%	43.6%	53.7%	64.7%
Grade 4	51.6%	50.5%	25.8%	36.1%
Grade 5	59.6%	69.3%	84.9%	38.8%
Grade 6	65.8%	70.6%	73.0%	46.9%
Grade 7	79.3%	82.3%	75.1%	84.9%
Grade 8	88.5%	87.7%	73.9%	82.1%
Grade 9	93.3%	90.3%	91.4%	89.2%
Grade 10	95.7%	94.2%	92.3%	92.4%
Science	2007	2008	2009	2010
Grade 5	n/a	72.2%	77.3%	48.2%
Grade 8	n/a	69.4%	48.4%	51.7%
Grade 10	n/a	58.3%	40.8%	67.8%
25% or less scoring higher
26 - 50% scoring higher
51-70% scoring higher
More than 71% scoring higher

No salary increase - no new school, no recall

The recall effort was dealt a fatal blow when the county clerk ruled that the 400 plus registered voters in district 22 who signed the recall petition were mislead.  I'm sure that the voters were not happy to learn that they were so stupid as to not be able to determine what was true or not.  But that is the way the law is written, so lets move on.

To the teachers in District 22, the failed recall means that you will not be getting any salary increases because the same policies and same school board is in place.  But the Committee for Excellent Ellicott Schools will not stop trying to get you the salaries you deserve.   

To the voters of District 22, the failed recall does not mean we should stop trying to make the Ellicott Schools the symbol of Excellence in El Paso County.   The committee believes that the current school board is one of the major problems in improving the schools.  They talk about caring for the education of the students, but haven't done anything to improve the schools or the education of the students.

There will be no salary increase for the staff - there will be no new middle school and there will be no recall of a school board so we can get new ideas and new methods to provide the students the best education possible.

However, next November, there will be another chance to begin the process of making District 22 the best district in the state - a place where parents and students can say with pride "I graduated from the Elliott High School".

Afraid of the Future

Why is the District 22 School Board and Superintendent so Afraid of the future?

The current District 22 school board and Superintendent are afraid of the future.  They are afraid of things that MIGHT happen.

The current District 22 school board is sitting on a large cash reserve fund – almost $5 million dollars, but don’t know what to do with it. They point with fear to something that might happen in 2012 with property values as a reason to do nothing now.  They point to possible school funding cutbacks as a reason to do nothing now.

By doing nothing now – they have passed on building a new middle school, which would have required less than ½ of the current reserves.

By doing nothing, they have decided not to pay off current school debt and wait 6 more years to pay off the current Certificate of Participation (a $244,000 dollars per year expense).

The District 22 middle school may have MOLD – but the school board and superintendent have not had the building tested – they are afraid they might find a problem.  The problem is 9 years old, and it was only after months of public demand, that they finally did something  – They chose to LIE about getting an assessment – when caught in the lie, they decided to actually have a test done – maybe - if they can agree on a date in the future.

The current District 22 school board is afraid of the future – so they froze teachers’ salaries – and even after having a large cash reserve hasn’t restored the salaries.

The District 22 school board and the superintendent are afraid of the future.  How do I know this?  They have told me so.  Their fear of the future makes it them so scared, that they are unable to make good decisions.  They are afraid that spending the reserves will give them a BAD financial report – so they keep hording money afraid of spending it.

The District 22 school board and the superintendent are afraid that the state might reduce school funding next year and they don’t know what to do. Spending the reserves, might give them a bad financial report – and if they do spend the reserves, they won’t have any money to spend.   Apparently they did not hear the Governor make a statement a couple of weeks ago, that school funding for next year would be about the same as last year – no major reductions

The District 22 school board and the superintendent are so afraid of the future, that when an opportunity to get a brand new middle school, with the state paying for 87% of the total cost, if the district would pay the remaining 13% (about $1,300,000) of the 4.8 million dollars in reserve, they decided not to participate.  Apparently no one told them that spending 1.3 million to get a 10 million dollar school was a great deal.

The District 22 school board and the superintendent are afraid of the future.  When the opportunity to pay off the “Certificate of Participation” and save the annual payment of $244,000 per year for the next six years was available, they chose to re-finance the loan, and save a total of only $140,000 in six years.  Apparently they did not realize that paying off our debts, would mean no possible foreclosure as we would own the buildings and be debt free.

The District 22 school board and the superintendent are afraid of the future.  Apparently they just don’t understand that being afraid is no reason to not make good decisions now. We can get out of debt, and get a new middle school, but we need to quit being afraid of what the future might hold.