DENVER -- It's report card day for Colorado schools and it's mostly good news.

According to the school accountability reports that were released Wednesday, fewer schools received unsatisfactory grades this year than in the last three years and the number of students enrolled in public schools that were rated unsatisfactory has dropped by more than 80 percent in the past three years.

School ratings also improved significantly during the latest test period, reflecting a shift toward basic skills with an emphasis on reading, state Education Commissioner Bill Moloney said.

"What you see are people very seriously addressing that issue: What do we need to lift our children in terms of things that are truly fundamental?" he said.

According to the Colorado Department of Education, 40 percent of Colorado schools rank in the high or excellent categories and 24 percent in the low or unsatisfactory category. Among the state's 1,775 schools, 198 earned "significant improvement" ratings and 212 showed improvement from the previous year.

Overall, 187 of the state's schools earned excellent ratings; 507 were rated high; 634 average; 394 low; 32 unsatisfactory and 21 were not rated.

Last year, 45 schools were listed as unsatisfactory but 26 of those schools raised the scores this year, the Department of Education said. In the first year of the school report cards, 23,054 students were enrolled in 30 unsatisfactory schools, the department said.

Gov. Bill Owens focused on elementary schools, where 11 of 13 of those ranked unsatisfactory last year moved out of the category.

"Ask any educator about the key to a child's success, and he or she will focus on the early years, the elementary grades," Owens said in a statement.

Although most of the results was good news for schools, teachers and students, there was also bad news.

Fourteen schools received unsatisfactory ratings for the first time and 7 percent of the schools showed some decline in their scores this year.

The school's accountability reports are based on how well students in third through eighth grade perform on Colorado Student Assessment Program exams. For high schools, American Colleget Test results are also figured in to the rating. The tests were administered last spring, measuring performance in the 2002-2003 school year.

In the school accountability reports, now in their third year, schools earn grades of excellent, high, average, low or unsatisfactory.

Hard copies of the report cards are given to schools, which are responsible for sending them to parents by Dec. 15.

Schools that receive a failing grade for four years in a row face the threat of sanctions that allow school boards to replace the failing schools with charter schools.

Only one school that was listed unsatisfactory in the first accountability report -- Denver Public Schools' Cole Middle School -- remains in that category.

Cole has until the end of this school year to put an improvement plan in place or the state Board of Education and the district could turn it into a charter school.

For the second year, there will be no money for state grants to help failing schools and reward excellent schools due to budget cuts, Moloney said. Previously, failing high schools could qualify for $125,000; middle schools $100,000; and elementary schools $75,000.

Additional Resources:

Find Out Your School's Accountability Report
List Of Unsatisfactory Schools