By Marjorie Haun | Watchdog Arena
DENVER, Colo.—The Denver Public School District (DPSD) supports a total of 154 public schools, among which are 50 highly diverse free charter schools. According to its 2013-2014 School Performance Summary, Denver’s public charter schools are, in many cases, out-performing traditional public schools in the same neighborhoods.
CHARTERS TAKE CHARGE: In the Denver Public School District, charter schools make up six out of top eight of Denver’s highest performing public schools.
Six out of the eight highest performing schools in the Denver Public School District are charter schools, with five out of six of the charter schools belonging to the Denver School of Science and Technology program.
The Denver School of Science and Technology (DSST) model is comprised of charter schools focused on “developing core liberal arts skills in reading, writing, mathematics and science.” Highly structured with college-focused classrooms, clear academic goals, and rigorous behavior expectations appear to support the academic performance of these schools.
Although they are in high demand, the DSST charter schools are free public schools open to all, regardless of a student’s socio-economic status or demographic indicators. Their enrollment is controlled by a “lottery” system in which the names of students are literally drawn out of a hat.
DPSD uses a School Performance Framework to measure the relative excellence of individual schools by awarding points for academic growth in targeted areas of improvement. The Framework also tracks student demographics such as ethnicity and free/reduced lunch eligibility status. This tool also helps to determine a school’s accreditation rating for reporting purposes to the Colorado Department of Education.
According to the DPSD website, the School Performance Framework will, “help the district determine how much students benefit from its schools and how much schools differ in their ability to educate their students.” These measures place Denver charter schools above the performance of their traditional counterparts.
Data from the framework indicates that the three top performing schools are DSST charter schools: DSST: Byers Middle School; DSST: Stapleton Middle School; and DSST: Green Valley Ranch High School.
Swigert International School, an “independent school,” ranks fourth, with charter DSST schools Stapleton High School and College View filling in the fifth and sixth places. Steck Elementary School, a traditional public school, is seventh in performance, and KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy, a charter middle school, is eighth.
A student’s ethnicity or socio-economic status does not determine the excellence of these schools.
DSST: Byer’s Middle School, for instance, has an enrollment of 154 students, 31.2 percent of which are ethnic minorities, with 27.3 percent receiving free/reduced lunch. The student engagement at Byer’s Middle School is 100 percent, with 97 percent of growth points received and a “distinguished” School Performance Framework rating.
Third among the top performers is DSST: Green Valley Ranch High School, which has an enrollment of 443, 79.9 percent of which are ethnic minorities, and 73.4 percent receiving freed/reduced lunch. This school also has a “distinguished” rating with 83 percent student engagement.
Of the students of DSST: College View, sixth in highest performance, 87.5 percent receive free/reduced lunch, with 85.5 percent ethnic minority and 37.6 percent receiving English Language Learning services. College View enjoys a “distinguished” rating with 67 percent student engagement.
The DSST system is not supreme among Denver’s public schools. KIPP—Knowledge is Power Program—charter schools also enjoy great academic success. KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy, eighth among the top performers in Denver, is also a college-preparatory school. It is an open-enrollment school which touts “added learning time—amounting to almost 60% more than in traditional school settings.”
This middle school has an enrollment of 376, 98.9 percent of whom receive free/reduced lunches, with 98.4 percent ethnic minorities. KIPP Sunshine Peak has a “distinguished” rating, with student engagement at 83 percent, and a 100 percent reenrollment rate.
KIPP Montbello College Prep, 26th among the top performers, has an enrollment of 290, with 91.7 percent receiving free/reduced lunch, 92.4% ethnic minorities, a “distinguished” rating, and 50 percent student engagement.
KIPP Denver Collegiate Charter High School, 36th from the top, has an enrollment of 354, with 91.8 percent of students receiving free/reduced lunch, 95.5 percent of which are ethnic minorities. This charter high school, nevertheless, meets Framework expectations, and has a student engagement rating of 83 percent.
Other high-performing Denver charter schools include STRIVE Prep Schools, and numerous small, independent institutions.
This article was written by a contributor of Watchdog Arena, Franklin Center’s network of writers, bloggers, and citizen journalists.