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DPS School Performance Framework Whitepaper Response
DPS School Performance Framework:
Potential Weight and Structure Changes
May 2014
Overview
Denver Public Schools has shown substantial
gains in student achievement over the past
several years – with the highest rate of student
growth among Colorado’s largest school
districts for the past two years. However, many
DPS schools still have low student achievement
(status) relative to state performance and
achievement gaps persist district-wide.
Over the past five years, the SPF has evolved
with the addition of new important measures of
accountability. Additionally, a number of shifts
in the weighting structure in the SPF have
resulted in the framework putting a greater
emphasis on growth versus status in the years
since it was first introduced. The SPF currently
has a growth to status ratio of 3:1 for
elementary schools and middle schools, and 2:1
for high schools.
As a result, DPS leadership collaborated with
district staff, principals, teachers, parents and
community members and organizations
throughout the Denver community to collect
feedback on the following changes to its School
Performance Framework (SPF)1 potentially for
the 2014-15 SPF release:
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The proposed changes are only for the Traditional SPF
(this excludes DPS’ Intensive Pathway Schools). See
Appendix A for the list of SPF measures.
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Adding more weight to status
measures in the SPF in part by
adding more measures and weight
to K-3 grade related SPF measures
The recommendation for higher weight on
status emphasizes the importance of students
being at or above grade level. By contrast, the
argument for higher weight on growth stresses
that schools should not benefit from or be
disadvantaged by the status levels at which
students enter that school; what is important is
how much academic progress they make.
Decreasing the weight on growth and
increasing the weight on status will, on
average, increase points earned by lower
poverty schools and decrease points earned by
higher poverty schools, at least in the short
term. For additional details on the changes that
were proposed click here.
Feedback
DPS conducted several focus group meetings
that resulted in feedback on the proposed SPF
changes from 192 stakeholders which included
central office staff, DPS board members,
principals, teachers, parents and community
organization across Denver. DPS would like to
thank everyone who participated to share their
thoughts and insights on the proposed changes
to the SPF.
Nearly all focus group participants were in favor
of increasing the weight of SPF measures that
focus on the achievement of students in grades
K-3. The participants expressed the importance
of increased focus on the early grades, including
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DPS School Performance Framework Whitepaper Response
resources and supports to ensure that students
in grades K-3 reach proficiency. The majority of
participants also supported the proposal to add
more weight to select SPF status measures,
citing the need to accelerate the pace to
increase DPS student achievement throughout
the district. Increased emphasis on and
accountability for closing student achievements
gaps, along with more transparency in SPF
reporting were additional areas of concern
frequently expressed during feedback sessions.
Next Steps
During our focus groups we heard additional
points of feedback not directly related to the
two areas we initially raised. Furthermore, the
DPS board and senior leadership team have
developed a new Denver Plan (click here for the
draft plan), which lays out clear goals for
student achievement - including aggressive
goals around closing the achievement gap and
school performance. Finally, we are expecting
significant changes to come with the new
PARCC assessments and will need to ensure
these changes are appropriately reflected in the
SPF.
For these reasons, DPS will move forward with
the following next steps. For the 2013-14 SPF,
released in the fall of 2014, DPS will add
additional information regarding achievement
gaps and student performance on each school’s
SPF to increase transparency. Shortly after the
2014 SPF release, DPS will provide schools with
a preview of the new 2015 SPF by applying for
illustrative purposes only the 2015 SPF
weighting structure to their 2013-14 results.
DPS will also engage in broader conversations
this fall around the 2015 SPF with a particular
area of focus: Does the SPF effectively reflect
achievement gaps among groups of students
across DPS schools?
Please check the DPS SPF website for updates
and submit any related questions, comments or
concerns to spf@dpsk12.org. Your feedback is
valuable to DPS and greatly appreciated.