A dubious distinction for Commerce City schools

Just the other day, Eye On Commerce City took stock of the city’s struggling school district, Adams 14, and noted how much work lies ahead as it tries to close the achievement gap with other, higher-performing districts. 

Only a few days later, the gap got bigger.

Annual statewide student achievement tests that are used to measure how well Colorado’s schools are preparing our kids — more or less flunked Adams 14. The Colorado Measures of Academic Success, or CMAS, test scores revealed our city’s district ranked near the bottom — of the entire state.

According to Colorado Public Radio, only 14% of Adams 14’s students read and wrote at or above grade level on the latest round of CMAS test scores — and only 9% scored at or above grade level in math. Compare that with Douglas County schools, where 62% scored at or above grade level in reading and writing, or Littleton’s schools, where 51% of students were at or above grade level in math.

The Denver Gazette summed it up like this:

Adams County 14 School District — which has struggled for more than a decade with low academic performance — holds the unenviable distinction of being in the state’s bottom 10. Adams 14 is ranked No. 164.

Our city’s kids deserve as good as school system as any other in Colorado. There of course are many skilled and dedicated teachers and school leaders in Adams 14, just as there are many caring and concerned parents who want to help. If they all work together — with more parents getting more deeply involved in partnering with teachers — our schools can do better.