By Matt Gleckman

The numbers are in and, once again, the Montezuma-Cortez school district, along with many other districts throughout the state, fell below the state’s reading and writing proficiency levels for both fourth- and seventh-graders.

According to the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) tests, taken March 1, 1999, the state average for fourth-graders reading above proficiency was 59 percent while only 44 percent of Cortez students were at or above the state’s acceptable level.

Only 34 percent of Colorado fourth-grade students were above the state’s satisfactory writing scores. Cortez however, fared even worse, with only 24 percent in the same category.

Local seventh-graders managed to do a little better, but not much. The junior-highers entered the 1999 assessment with 45 percent of the students at or above Colorado’s satisfactory level in reading and 30 percent at or above expectations in writing.

When asked what factors could be causing such low test scores, assistant Superintendent Vic Bruce stated, "All of the above."

"There are researchers everywhere trying to figure out where the problem stems from. I don’t know if kids are just not entering school with the same amount of reading and writing skills as in the past, if they need more attention in the early stages of education, or if they just don’t feel that the tests are important."

Gender Differences

District-wide, girls did better than boys on the tests, which may reflect their proficiency at testing rather than in the skills being tested. In the fourth-grade reading tests, 47 percent of Re-1 girls were at or above proficiency, vs. 44 percent of the boys. The district average was 44 percent, and the state average was 59 percent.

Thirty percent of district fourth-grade girls were proficient in writing, as were 20 percent of the boys, for a district average of 24 percent. The state average was 34 percent.

In the seventh grade, the results showed 47 percent of the district’s students at or above proficiency in reading -- 53 percent of the girls and 39 percent of the boys. The state figure was 56 percent.

Seventh-grade writing scores were 31 percent at or above proficiency for the district, including 36 percent of females and 25 percent of males, compared to a state average of 41 percent.

Differences Between Schools

Lewis-Arriola had the highest scores for both reading and writing in the fourth-grade tests, with 64 percent at or above proficiency in reading and 36 percent above that level in writing. Kemper placed second, with 53 percent in reading and 31 percent in writing. Scores for Mesa were 42 percent and 19 percent, and for Manaugh were 35 percent and 19 percent. Twenty-eight percent of Downey students tested proficient in reading, and 12 percent demonstrated proficiency in writing.

Those scores may reflect differences in the ethnic makeup of the schools’ student populations as well as differences in their programs, however.

Ethnic Differences

In the fourth-grade reading tests, 55 percent of white students demonstrated proficiency -- near the state average of 59 percent, while 41 percent of Hispanic students and 13 percent of Native American students tested as proficient or above.

Writing differences were similar, with 30 percent of white students showing proficiency, vs. 14 percent of Hispanic students and 5 percent of Native American fourth-graders. The state average was 34 percent.

In the seventh grade, 58 percent of white students were at or above proficiency, compared to a state average of 56 percent. Thirty-six percent of Hispanic students showed proficiency, as did 19 percent of Native Americans.

Seventh-grade writing scores showed 41 percent of white students at or above proficiency, compared to 21 percent of Hispanic students and 4 percent of Native Americans.

Again, test scores may reflect students’ different responses to testing situations, as well as their actual proficiency in reading and writing.

Although the numbers are clearly low, there does seem to be a tiny glimmer of hope.

"Last year a writing program was put in place and we have seen a gradual increase in fourth-graders’ writing scores over the last three years," said Bruce. "In 1997 only 17 percent of the students were above average. In 1998 the number grew to 20 percent and in 1999 we are up to 24 percent. The numbers are still low but hopefully they will continue to increase."

Recently the school has added new text materials and has started a reading intervention program as part of the statewide Literacy Act. The program -- headed by Zadra Culp, a TOSA (teacher on special assignment) -- is intended to identify those students reading below the third-grade level and then build a personalized plan to help bring those students up to speed.

This plan is also designed to involve the child’s parents who, along with school classes and programs, play an integral part in each student’s literacy.

Bruce stated that the teacher training for this program was carried out by the Houghton-Mifflin Company and completed last week.

"The programs are in place; now we have to wait and see how effective they are," he said.

In a recent press release, Gov. Bill Owens stated, "I do not want to mince words. We are facing a crisis in public education in Colorado. When half of the students in public schools cannot read and write at grade level, it means that there is an epidemic of failure within our public schools."