Ignacio School District No. 11Jt is celebrating considerable academic jumps for all three of its schools when it comes to state testing.
The district jumped from the “Improvement & Priority Improvement” categories in 2023 to the “Performance Categories” in 2024 for progress made in academic growth, plus postsecondary and workforce readiness testing, according to a news release from the district.
School performance was based on results via Colorado Measures of Academic Success testing, the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test and the Scholastic Aptitude Test.
The district as a whole moved into the accredited status after jumping from a score of 46.9% in 2022-23 school year to 59.3% during the 2023-24 school year.
“As a school district, our eyes are wide-open,” said ISD superintendent Chris deKay. “We’re very pleased with the growth. We are pleased with the validation of our efforts based on this data.”
deKay said the district increased its student engagement and intervention efforts and utilized “data-driven decision-making” to guide its curriculum as a part of a five-year strategic plan it adopted in 2021.
“That’s all had a big impact,” he said. “As a district staff, they have worked very hard and diligently to really improve education for students, to improve outcomes. There’s a lot of work that was put in by the staff that we’re seeing the fruits of.”
Ignacio Elementary School saw the largest jump from 37.1% in 2022-23 to 62% in 2023-24. deKay said staff at the elementary school during its planning sessions focused on shoring up certain curriculum students may need extra time with.
Ignacio Middle School improved from 50.1% in 2022-23 to 60.5% in 2023-24. Ignacio High School improved from 44.9% in 2022-23 to 53.3% in 2023-24, all while seeing a 96.9% graduation rate among its minority students.
deKay also believes some changes made in the aftermath of COVID-19 restrictions played a role. Teachers prioritized working in small groups and extra Friday tutoring sessions so that students would receive extra support for each subject being taught, he said.
deKay also said that approach helped address learning gaps that may have been exposed, ensuring students could take that next big step academically.
“By learning and being fundamentally solid in the basic skills, then they’re going to see a rise in their academic performance on the state test,” he said.
To help sustain test result efforts going forward, deKay said the district will keep emphasizing mathematics and language arts curriculum because state testing directly reflects performance in those areas. The district also looks to keep addressing learning loss brought on pandemic restrictions.
mhollinshead@durangoherald.com
