Students in Falcon School District 49 will take the Colorado Student Assessment Program tests between March 3 and March 12.Eric Paugh, D 49 acting superintendent, said the CSAP has evolved over time, becoming better aligned with curriculum standards. “It is becoming a very fair test that gives us a good indication of students’ performance and can give us data on how to prepare them for higher achievement,” he said.CSAP scores show D 49 performing well compared to districts in the surrounding area, Paugh said. “We’re continuing to move upward and onward in our district.”The district provides curriculum alignment and the educational tools to provide students with the core knowledge necessary for the CSAP. “Nothing on the test should come as a surprise to our students,” Paugh said.Beyond general direction from the district, each school can tailor CSAP preparation specific to their students’ needs, he added.Falcon High School is focusing on the math and writing portions of the test. Students are given practice workbooks in the two quarters leading up to the test. Geometry tutors are available and algebra I students attend a math lab, according to e-mails received from Amanda Mountain, D 49 public relations representative. FHS also administered a writing assessment test and graded it with CSAP standards, which helped teachers identify individual student’s specific needs.Mountain also wrote that teachers at Stetson Elementary School use data from other assessment tests to create individual study guides. Stetson teachers also identify students on the verge of progressing to the next CSAP proficiency level. These students are nominated to participate in the Study Island Club, which meets after school. The club utilizes Study Island, a Web-based program that helps students practice essential skills.With the lowest socio-economic population in D 49, Evans Elementary School is among the highest achieving schools in the district, according to Mountain’s e-mails. Three years ago, Evans implemented the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program. Instead of focusing specifically on assessment areas, Evans uses the arts, humanities and sciences to motivate students and teach critical thinking and problem solving skills. The result is a high level of academic achievement on the CSAP and a rating of high growth.Paugh said although the CSAP is a useful tool for parents and the district to gauge student performance, it is not the only unit of measurement employed by the district. Students are assessed throughout the year; and, with CSAP, Paugh said all these pieces together paint the complete picture of student growth.”We will never be satisfied as a district until every student is performing at proficient or advanced,” Paugh said. “We will keep striving for the highest scores we can get that reflect student learning (is) continuing to increase.”The CSAP is not popular with everyone.Don Perl, president of the Coalition for Better Education, said standardized testing places undue pressure on students and teachers to perform. His organization recently took out a billboard on I-25, south of Colorado Springs, to educate parents on their options regarding the testing.Perl said parents have the option to exempt their children from the testing without negatively affecting their child’s academic record or graduation status. “Schools are here to serve the children, not for the children to serve the schools,” he said.The CSAP is the antithesis of education because it tries to confine students’ progress and achievement to numbers and graphs. Tying funding and prestige to test results marginalizes society by promoting competition and does not deal with the socio-economic roots of achievement gaps, he said.”We need to put more faith in the professional in the classroom,” Perl said. “They are there every day and will be far more sensitive to the needs of the child.”
