DENVER -- Students in about 200 grades increased their scores by 25 percentage points or more on the latest assessment tests, an achievement that education officials called astounding.

SAMPLE TEST: Is Your Math Good RESULTS: Colo. Department Of Education

Some improvement was credited to an amendment that requires the state to increase funding for public schools, which used the money to help cut class size and retain the most qualified teachers, educators said.

"What really stunned us is the number of schools making truly striking gains," Education Commissioner Bill Moloney said.

The biggest statewide gains occurred on the writing test. "Folks in the field said yes, writing is important," Moloney said.

Still disappointing are math scores. When the tests were first given in 2001 to high school students, only 25 percent passed, setting off alarms among educators. Last year, it increased to 27 percent and this year it remained the same.

"Very frankly, we haven't made the changes across the state in curriculum that we've seen in other areas, like writing. We have not advanced in any significant way there," Moloney said.

The results cannot be used to determine which schools will receive unsatisfactory ratings because the state applies a formula that takes into account factors like students with special needs. Those results will be released Dec. 15.

One bright spot for educators showed that an equal number of boys and girls scored in the advanced and proficient category in grades five through seven, and the gender gap was narrowing in grades eight to 10.

Students showed gains in 17 of the 25 test results released Wednesday, the highest level of growth so far.

Gov. Bill Owens said the new scores show that the state is on the right path and moving forward.

"Standards and accountability are working for our schools, our educators and, best of all, for Colorado's children. These new scores show continued progress. It's particularly encouraging that we're seeing solid gains among poor and minority children in our most challenged schools," Owens said.

Other highlights:

For the fifth year in a row, disadvantaged students made larger gains in third through seventh grade reading and writing than the state average.
About 60 percent of schools rated unsatisfactory last year showed growth in proficient and advanced reading scores.
Overall, black and Hispanic students showed improvement in proficient and advanced over white students in reading in grades four through six.
Third-grade Hispanic students showed a 9 percent increase in proficient and advanced in writing on the English versions of the test.

The scores released Wednesday represent the results of 23 tests given during March and April and include students who entered Colorado public schools after Oct. 1, English language learners who met specific time requirements in English language acquisition programs, and special education students.

The CSAP tests were administered over several days for an average of nine hours total.

The testing program is now in its seventh year. Last spring, 1.2 million tests were administered in the Colorado Student Assessment Program. It includes 27 exams in areas that include reading, writing, math, science, Spanish reading and Spanish writing. Results for two of the tests were released earlier this year.

Cary Kennedy, who promoted Amendment 23, said the amendment forced the state to provide $485 million in additional funds the past two years, including $331 million the last year alone.

Additional Resources

Colorado Department of Education
Amendment 23 Spending