When Baraf became principal last year, he promptly became aware of the complexities of running a charter school -- and the Colorado Student Assessment Program, the state-mandated tests that measure student progress and determine how much funding a school receives and whether it will be allowed to remain open.
On a scale of Excellent, High, Average, Low or Unsatisfactory, the Colorado Department of Education rated Skyland Low for the 2005-2006 school year.
Tony Gallagher
Skyland principal Arthur Baraf believes his charter school will be successful.
Related Content
More About
"We're at a disadvantage for scores at the outset," Baraf says. "Students typically come here either because they dropped out of school or because they were counseled out. It doesn't mean we shouldn't hold the kids to the same academic standards as the rest of the state, but it takes a while. Studies have shown that a lot of kids, especially students from cultures of poverty, need to be engaged in things that are relevant to them and that are hands-on. It's a real skill for our advisors to infuse the projects, which are very hands-on and vocation-based, with all of the skills they are tested for on the CSAP, but it takes a little time."
Last year Skyland was given a one-year renewal contingent on a School Improvement Plan. Now that renewal is up, and the school board is looking at Skyland's CSAP scores from last year -- scores that reflect a time period before Baraf took over as principal.
Since the beginning of the school year, Baraf has ensured that all students take quarterly Measure of Academic Progress tests, indicators of how a student would fare on a CSAP, and they have shown improvement. Baraf just hopes it's enough.
"The CSAP scores the board will be looking at poorly reflect a time period before a lot of changes and new leadership came into place. That's what I'm hoping to convince them of -- that they should give us more time. Not because we don't want to be held accountable, but because why close a school that's really on the up-and-up?"
Of the two committees advising the board on Skyland, one recommended that it be granted a one-year renewal, and the other suggested that the school be shut down based on substandard CSAP scores. It'll be a guessing game right up to February 15 to know which way the board will vote.
"We are putting a lot of scrutiny on the traditional skills right now," says school board treasurer Kevin Patterson. "The board is beginning to ask the same questions of charter schools. The charter schools have contracts where they write out what they expect to do, and we're asking to see the outcomes of that. We need them to be equal to or greater than our regular district schools."
It's a goal Baraf shares. "I don't think that charter schools are necessarily the answer for a whole district, but they do serve the needs of students who are not being served by the traditional schools," he explains. "It's obvious we are failing students of color, we are really failing students of poverty. Why is that? These are challenges we all have to face, but if charter schools are keeping kids in school who have dropped out of other schools, maybe they're doing something different that's working. I think you need that innovation; you need a few mavericks out there. That's what keeps any industry moving forward."
But with the turmoil surrounding Manual High School and potential future school closures, no one is entirely sure what the will of the board is. So at a public-comment session at DPS headquarters late last month, several Skyland students stepped up to the podium and spoke about why they thought it should be allowed to remain open.
"At Skyland, we are not a class, we are not a seating chart," said senior Marcus Adaire, who has already been accepted to Evergreen State College in Washington. "No one falls through the cracks here. Skyland has given me so much. I would love to be able to come back and visit as an alumnus."
