AV #292 - Michael Bennet: A gubernatorial candidate puts spotlight on low reading scores

   What’s this? A gubernatorial candidate talking about READING? Pointing out historically low test scores?  Expressing alarm at how well our students can read?

   Our next governor will have a host of issues to tackle. It would be short-sighted to insist that public education be among his or her top priorities. But when gubernatorial candidates begin to express their views on education, Another View will pay attention. Especially if a candidate has first-hand experience leading a Colorado school district.

   Given my focus on reading (AV #290 & #291[i]), I was happy to see Michael Bennet voice his outrage, with good data, in a recent interview. (His tone on NAEP: a sharp contrast with how the Colorado Department of Education reported 2024 scores: “Colorado students continue to outperform the nation…”[ii]) Gov. Jared Polis (is he unaware of the data Bennet cites?) has only paid lip service to the issue of reading. Perhaps the gubernatorial race these next 12 months can raise awareness. Governors Roy Romer (1987-1999) and Bill Owens (1999-2007) once made students’ literacy skills a central concern; since 2007, our state leaders have been largely silent.

   Here are excerpts from Bennet’s interview with The 74 last August.[iii] Four references to reading. (It was not until his seventh State of the State that Gov. Polis spoke of this essential goal of public education: to help students learn to read well. See Addendum A.) 

a.     “So with respect to education policy at the federal level, we’re at a moment where all there is is wreckage everywhere you turn. That’s terrible for our kids because, just to take one example, our reading scores haven’t been lower for 32 years.

b.     “We have a national interest in the fact that our reading scores are below where they were three decades ago. We have a national interest in the fact that our kids feel like the system we have — whether it’s K-12, higher education or workforce development — is not preparing them to succeed in this economy.

c.      “It’s not important to re-litigate this now, but the bottom line is that Denver was one of the 10 worst-performing school districts when we started, and by the time Tom Boasberg [Bennet’s successor as superintendent] was leaving, we had risen to the top half of districts in math and reading.

d.     “We’re going backwards as a nation. In Colorado, there are school districts where the math proficiency rate is 7% for Latino students in eighth grade. The proficiency rate for reading is 24% among Latino and African American students. It’s still the fundamental civil rights issue we face as a nation, and we have not addressed it. The country is becoming less fair, not more, in education.”

 

   Did Bennet have his facts right? My review concludes: essentially, yes. See Addendum B. My data there—some 2025 updates—is too detailed for most readers. But I hope it shows a willingness to gather and present the most accurate information available. Which I would be glad to do for any candidate eager to lead our state – and eager to put a spotlight on how well our students read.

Addendum A

 

The lack of attention from Gov. Polis on this most basic skill has been disappointing

1.     State of the State address - 2019-2025

   After six State of the State addresses without mentioning READING, Gov. Polis touched on it last January. In a way that drew a laugh. But it did not give his Colorado audience any information on how well our students read or why we should be deeply concerned. A missed opportunity to raise awareness on this most fundamental issue.

Polis – from his State of the State addresses

#5 – Jan. 2023

Math

   “To help improve achievement, we are proposing new investments in high-quality math curricula and training…”

#6 – Jan. 2024

Math and Science

   “Last year we also passed bipartisan legislation to help more students and educators access the resources they need to improve math achievement … Now we need to expand out of school opportunities to boost science achievement too.”

#7 – Jan. 2025

Reading – sort of

   “A few months ago, I had the honor of delivering a Colorado kid the one millionth book given free of charge through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. 

   “As famous Wyoming rancher RuPaul says, 'reading is fun-damental.' 

   “Reading helps young people cultivate their dreams – dreams that grow as they grow. The path from dreams to skills to prosperous careers in the fields that inspire us is worth fighting for, and that’s what we’re doing in Colorado.” 

 

2.     Polis and comments on reading and math. Hardly worth talking about. Not his focus.

 

   In an interview with Bruno Manno of the Public Policy Institute last December, Gov. Polis outlined his initiative as chair of the National Governors’ Association (2024-25), “Let’s Get Ready: Educating All Americans for Success.”[iv] He sounded almost dismissive of how Colorado students in grades 3-8 perform on our state assessments. “Of course people need to read, but…” His initiative had a different focus, something about (I was never completely sure) finding ways to measure if high school graduates are ready to succeed in a job. (I wonder if his “big idea” had an impact on even one other governor.) As the NGA chair, Polis again missed an opportunity to confront a more pressing issue facing our K-12 schools.

 

From AV #281 - Gov. Polis and his national initiative on education. Is this what we need? (January 2025)

                       Achievement – Most students do not perform at grade level. This has to be our priority.

   [On at least three occasions Gov. Polis sounded ill-informed on test scores.] “… just because students are able to achieve at grade level in reading and math does not necessarily mean that they’re ready for today’s and tomorrow’s job market … Of course people need to read, but reading alone or mathematical skills at grade level alone, those are not the requisite skills for many of the wonderful jobs that we have today and tomorrow… But even if somehow every student was proficient in math and reading, that doesn’t correlate to are they ready for success in having good jobs. So we’re really looking at other indicators…”   (Bold mine)      

    “… even if somehow…” Gov. Polis then breezes past this point. Let’s stop there. We first used CMAS as our state assessment (for grades 3-8) in 2016. Is it possible Gov. Polis is not aware that the majority of Colorado students have never been able to “achieve at grade level”? In English Language Arts (ELA) we have never seen 50% of our students in any of these grades Meet Expectations; in Math, only 35% or so score at grade level.  

     And now Gov. Polis wants to add metrics that will measure the “requisite skills for jobs”?

 

 

Addendum B

 

Data on reading – how accurate are Bennet’s figures?

1.     Bennet: “our reading scores haven’t been lower for 32 years.”

   “We have a national interest in the fact that our reading scores are below where they were three decades ago.”

   Bennet must be referring to the only national reading test given over that period of time, the National Assessment for Educational Progress, or NAEP.  Using national figures from NAEP, Bennet’s summary looks accurate.

   NAEP scores do indicate 4^th and 8^th grade scores – after rising over the first 20 years – have fallen over the past decade and are now close to where they were 32 years ago. 

Nation - reading

   The 4^th grade reading scores increased from 1992 (217) to 2015 (223) but have declined since then. In 2024 they were BELOW the 1992 level, down to 215. The decline worth noting is what has happened in the past decade:

2015: 223 – 36% at or above proficient

2017: 222

2019: 220

2022: 217

2024: 215 – 31% at or above proficient

 

   The 8^th grade reading scores increased from 1992 (260) to 2013 (268) but have declined since then. In 2024 they were BELOW the 1992 level – 258. Again, the decline worth noting has happened in the past decade.

2013: 268 – 36% at or above proficient

2017: 267

2019: 263

2022: 260

2024: 258 – 30% at or above proficient

 

NAEP – national - https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reports/reading/2024/g4_8/national-trends/?grade=8#achievement-level-trends

  

If interested … here are NAEP Reading scores in Colorado, showing a SLIGHTLY BETTER PICTURE over time, but with a similar decline in the last 10 years. Colorado – reading    In Colorado, 4th grade reading scores improved from 1992 (217) to 2024 (221). But the increase happened from 1992 (217) to 2013 (227). For Coloradans, the decline worth noting has happened since then: 2013: 227  - 41% at or above proficient 2017: 225 2019: 225 2022: 223 2024: 221 – 36% at or above proficient      In Colorado, 8th grade reading scores are roughly where there were in 1998, the first year Colorado 8th graders took part in NAEP: 264 (1998) to 263 (2022) and 265 (2024). Colorado scores improved from 1998 through 2013, but have declined since then:  2013: 271 – 40% at or above proficient 2017: 270 2019: 267 2022: 263 2024: 265 – 35% at or above proficient NAEP- Colorado - https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/profiles/stateprofile/overview/co?sfj=np&chort=1&sub=red&sj=co&st=mn&year=2024r3&cti=pgtab_ot More disturbing details on the 2024 NAEP results in Colorado – data not presented by the Colorado Department of Education - can be found in AV#290 - Reading/literacy: over 1/3 of Colorado 4th graders well below grade level in 2024. https://anotherviewphj.blogspot.com/

 

2.     Bennet: “In Colorado, there are school districts where the math proficiency rate is 7% for Latino students in eighth grade.”

   As this interview was conducted last August, Bennet was using 2024 statistics. He might have been referring to the math score in Monte Vista C-8 - 6.9%. (4 out of 58 Hispanic students in 8^th grade, or 6.9%, Met or Exceeded Expectations on CMAS Math in 2024).

   Bennet could have found an even more unsettling number: in 2024, in Adams 14, only 3.8% of Hispanic 8^th graders were proficient in Math.

   For Bennet or any gubernatorial candidate wishing to express indignation at our math scores, especially for Hispanic students, here are the most current (and most disconcerting) proficiency rates (Met or Exceeded Expectations) in eight districts.

 

Hispanic students - 8^th grade – 2025 – CMAS Math - Proficiency Rates

1.     Pueblo 60 – 7.1%  (recently moved to a four-day school week)*

2.     Fort Morgan – 7.7%  (recently moved to a four-day school week)

3.     Westminster – 10.8%

4.     District 27J – 11%  (recently moved to a four-day school week)

5.     Montrose County – 11%

6.     Delta County 50 – 11%

7.     Aurora Public Schools – 11.1%

    8.    Montezuma-Cortez – 12.5%  (returned to a four-day school week in  2021)  

https://www.cde.state.co.us/assessment/cmas-dataandresults-2025

go to District and School Disaggregated Summary Results 

(*“Four-day school week” is included, given what Bennet had to say on this issue in The 74 interview. Would our next governor be willing to reassess Colorado’s leading role in the country on a shorter school year—where most districts provide, on average, fewer than 150 days of school?)

 

3.     Bennet: “The proficiency rate for reading is 24% among Latino and African American students.”

   I am unaware of the source for this assertion. But it is not way off, based on NAEP and CMAS.

a.     If Bennet was speaking, as in his previous sentence, of 8^th graders, here are 2024 NAEP results.

NAEP – Reading – 8^th grade – Colorado

At or above proficiency

Asian – 53%

Two or more races – 51%

White – 44%

Black – 29%

Hispanic - 19%

NAEP – Colorado - https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/subject/publications/stt2024/pdf/2024220CO8.pdf

 

b.     If Bennet presented CMAS-English Language Arts scores as Reading scores, that merely repeats the error made by so many in Colorado. CMAS-ELA assesses both reading AND writing and presents one score. After the switch from the CSAP/TCAP assessment to CMAS, CDE stopped providing both reading AND writing scores to the public.

 

Let’s assume Bennet’s 24% figure came from CMAS-ELA (reading AND writing) results in 2024.

Although the scores of Black and Latino 8^th grade students were deeply troubling, they were not as low as his figure of 24%.

CMAS-ELA – 8^th grade – 2024 - Percentage Met or Exceeded Expectations 

Asian – 64.2%

White – 55.2%

Two or more races – 51.9%

Black – 28.8%

Latino – 25.4%

https://www.cde.state.co.us/assessment/cmas-dataandresults-2024

go to District and School Disaggregated Summary Results

 

c.      Here are the 2025 results for ALL Colorado students (grades 3-8) taking the state literacy test. If the 30-point learning gaps are no longer shocking, they are still painful to see.

CMAS-ELA - Percent Met or Exceeded Expectations – grades 3-8

Asian – 58.9%

White – 57.7%

Two or more races - 52.4%

Black – 28.9%

Latino – 26.5%

https://www.cde.state.co.us/assessment/cmas-dataandresults-2025

go to District and School Disaggregated Summary Results

Additional disturbing details from Colorado’s 2025 state assessments (e.g. “CMAS/PSAT/SAT – reading and writing – over 70,000 students well below Meets Expectations” ) can be found in AV#291 - https://anotherviewphj.blogspot.com/

 

Endnotes

---

  [i] AV#290 - Reading/literacy: over 1/3 of Colorado 4^th graders well below grade level in 2024 (August 2025)

AV#291 – Knowing the READ Act is not enough, what is next step for Colorado? (Sept. 2025)

At website for Another View - https://anotherviewphj.blogspot.com/ 

[ii] From AV #290 –

   Last January, in presenting the 2024 NAEP scores for Colorado students in 4^th and 8^th grade, the News Release from the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) almost sounded upbeat. “Colorado students continue to outperform the nation….” AV #290 will show what many here overlooked in those NAEP results. The assessment from NCTE Commissioner Peggy Carr: “The news is not good.”^[ii] (More from Carr later. In February, the Trump Administration fired her.)

 

CDE’s News Release on NAEP 2024 results:

“Colorado students continue to outperform the nation on most NAEP assessments, but performance has not passed pre-pandemic levels,” Jan. 29, 2025. https://ed.cde.state.co.us/newsbureau/news-release-naep-12925

 [iii] “Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet on Why He’s Trying to Escape Washington,” – “The early favorite to become Colorado’s next governor says the Democratic Party dropped the ball on education under Biden.” Interview with Kevin Mahnken, The 74, August 5, 2025.

https://www.the74million.org/article/colorado-sen-michael-bennet-on-why-hes-trying-to-escape-washington/

 [iv] “Pathways to Opportunity: A View From the National Governors Association and Colorado,” Gov. Polis interviewed by Bruno Manno, Public Policy Institute, Dec. 4, 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlF2EGcRIAk.