Open Letter to members of the
Colorado State Board of Education
Oct. 26, 2026
Aurora
Central High and Abraham Lincoln no longer “on the clock.” Why? Part 1.
On the
morning of Oct. 14, 2026, the State Board received a progress monitoring update
on schools with Board Directed Action from the Colorado Department of Education’s
Improvement and Innovation Division.
In the afternoon five CDE staff members gave an update: “CDE
Strategic Plan 2026-2027: Accelerating Student Outcomes – Literacy.”
On literacy, what a difference! A huge disconnect between what was not
discussed in the morning and what was said in the afternoon on the reading
and writing scores of our students.
For this reason, I am sending you some of the information CDE staff did not show you on the literacy results in two schools for whom the Board bears a special responsibility. Without this information, how well can you assess the schools’ progress? (The Improvement and Innovation team had this data for the high schools; I sent it to them on September 1. See closing paragraph.)
Protesting
narrative about “40% can’t read” - and a look at schools with Board Directed
Action
As she has done in the past, Board member Kathy Plomer zeroed in on what
it means for students who score at Approached versus Met Expectations
on the literacy portion of CMAS. Scoring at Approached, CDE staff
affirmed, does not mean a student cannot read. Plomer wants this to be well
understood. “As a parent,” Plomer said, “I need to know that my kid is okay.”
“And that’s where I get concerned,” she continued, “with … the narrative that 40% of our students can’t read. That isn’t right.” No, she insisted, what it means is that “40% did not meet these bands, but they are meeting most of the objectives…. the more we keep saying that, from this dais, from this department, the more we’re telling people some inaccurate information … “
This matters, Plomer concluded, “not to give false comfort, but to talk accurately about what our kids know and are able to do.”[i] (Transcription mine. I apologize for any errors.)
Agreed – Let’s talk accurately. Are these kids okay?
When speaking for the big picture, across the state, Plomer has a point. However, on Oct. 14, no one present acknowledged
|
“Can’t read.” Others can explain
to what extent these scores reflect poor reading and writing skills. CDE’s
definition of Partially Met and Did Not Yet Meet on CMAS indicate
a performance well below grade level.[i] |
And no one said a word about the fact that on the reading and writing portion of the PSAT/SAT last year, at all five high schools/programs (see Aurora Central Campus[iii]) that have been, or are on, Board Directed Action, the majority of students did not score at Exceeds, at Meets, or at Approaches. (For the PSAT/SAT, there are only four performance levels.) The majority scored at the lowest performance level: Did Not Yet Meet Expectations.[iv] (See chart 2, below.)
K-8 – CMAS – Literacy – for 5 schools and one district with Board Directed Action
Percentage of
students in grades 3-8 scoring at the two lowest performing levels on the
literacy portion of CMAS in 2026. At schools and a district with Board Directed
Action, as of Oct. 14.
|
Chart 1 |
Did Not Yet Meet Expectations |
Partially Met Expectations |
Total % scoring in lowest two performance levels |
|
North
Middle (APS) |
51.4% |
29.0% |
80.4% |
|
Central
Elem. (Adams 14) |
35.3% |
34.8% |
70.1% |
|
Aurora
Hills Middle (APS) |
38.6% |
27.2% |
65.8% |
|
ADAMS 14
(district) |
32.2% |
27.5% |
59.7% |
|
Risley
School of Exploration (Pueblo 60) |
34.6% |
23.5% |
58.1% |
|
Galileo
Middle (Col Springs) |
28.0& |
37.1% |
55.1% |
|
STATE
AVERAGE |
14.5% |
16.8% |
31.3% |
9-11- PSAT/SAT – reading and writing – for 5 high schools with Board Directed Action
|
Chart 2 |
Did
Not Yet Meet Expectations |
Number
of students who DNY Meet |
Approached Expectations |
Met/Exceeded Expectations |
|
Aurora
Central High (APS) |
61.9% |
583 |
14.6% |
23.5% |
|
Abraham
Lincoln High (DPS) |
58.7% |
276 |
14.9% |
26.4% |
|
Gateway
High (APS) |
55% |
491 |
17.3% |
27.7% |
|
Adams City
High (Adams 14) |
54.1% |
533 |
18.2% |
27.8% |
|
Mitchell
High (Col Springs) |
50.8% |
192 |
17.5% |
31.7% |
|
STATE
AVERAGE |
22.5% |
2,075 |
14.1% |
63.4% |
In early September, I sent CDE a nine-page summary of 2026 data on the
high schools on Board Directed Action.[v]
It included the data above showing how many students at each school scored at
the lowest level on literacy—and much more about the schools’ performance last
year. I hoped it would inform the Progress Monitoring Update. None of this
information reached you on Oct. 14. Another reason for this Open Letter, and one
that will follow, in the belief it is information you should have.
And another reason
to question why, as CDE reported to you on Oct. 14, Aurora Central High School and
Abraham Lincoln High School “fully
exited Performance Watch and will no longer be progress monitored by the
department.”
Respectfully yours,
Peter Huidekoper, Jr.
Parker, CO
peterhdkpr@gmail.com
Endnotes
[i]
Video of State Board of
Education meeting on Oct. 14, 2026, https://ed.cde.state.co.us/cdeboard/watchlive
[ii]
“Performance Levels and Policy Claims,” Colorado Measures of Academic Success,
Colorado Department of Education Claims
Partially Met Expectations - Students who
demonstrate a limited command of the concepts, skills, and practices embodied
by the Colorado Academic Standards assessed at their grade level. They will
need additional academic support to engage successfully in further studies in
this content area.
Did Not Yet Meet Expectations - Students who do not yet meet academic expectations for the concepts, skills, and practices embodied by the Colorado Academic Standards assessed at their grade level. They will need extensive academic support to engage successfully in further studies in this content area. https://www.cde.state.co.us/assessment/cmas_perflvl_plcclms
[iii]
The Colorado Department of Education gives the
two programs or schools on the “Campus” one school code. Another View #301
explained why this makes little sense and enables the high school to escape
true accountability. 2026 results for grade 9-11 at the high school versus
results for grades 3-8 at the Burrell Arts K-8 reinforce my point in AV#301: “‘Combining’
results in the School Performance Framework obscures the simple truth: the two
programs produce enormously different student outcomes. If CDE won’t classify
them as two distinct schools, their results tell a different story.”
[iv] CDE’s definition -
Level 1 - Did Not
Yet Meet Expectations
·
Students performing at this level may minimally approach
the academic expectations for the knowledge, skills and practices known to be
most relevant for success in college and careers contained in the assessed high
school Colorado Academic Standards.
https://ed.cde.state.co.us/assessment/sat-psat/educator-score-reports
[v]
My email: Subject: “A look at 2026 results at six high
schools.” Sent to CDE staff and
copied to Commissioner Susana Córdova, Sept. 1, 2026.
Follow up to Another View on the three high
schools
AV #296 - These 4,500
high school students deserve something better
Three low-performing
high schools, with rarely seen numbers/graphs
A learning gap? More like a learning chasm
and to my look at six low-performing high schools. (In 2025: Four were on Priority Improvement, two were not. On the 2026 Preliminary SPF: two are on PI, Gateway and Thornton; four are not.)
#301
- When school performance ratings
lose their credibility
With
2026 data in, I wanted to take a look and pass on what I see. Having been
critical of some reporting and decisions by CDE related to last year’s results,
I thought I should study the latest results for these high schools and share my
observations. Better to send this to you ahead of time rather than after your
updates to the Board.
