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Denver Public Schools is setting ambitious goals for Latino students, families, and employees in response to a report from earlier this year that highlighted “serious barriers” to their success.
The La Raza Report was commissioned by the district and based on historical research, as well as dozens of focus group interviews and thousands of survey responses. Released in March, it found unequal resources between schools, a dearth of Latino teachers, and a “perpetual undervaluing” of Latino culture, among other issues.
The 266-page report included 35 recommendations ranging from those focused on systemic issues to others focused on individual schools.
The district’s new Latine Student Success Team worked with an advisory council to narrow those recommendations down to five goals, which were presented to the school board Thursday. The school board did not need to vote on the goals.
Perhaps the most prominent goal is for 80% of Latino students in DPS to read at grade level by the end of third grade by 2027. Last school year, 54% of Hispanic students in kindergarten through third grade were reading at grade level or above, according to early literacy test data released Thursday in the district’s annual report.
The other four goals DPS aims to achieve by the 2026-27 school year are:
- to significantly increase the number of Latino students enrolled in rigorous classes and career and technical education programs. According to the annual report, 38% of Hispanic students who attended district-run schools last year were enrolled in rigorous classes, such as Advanced Placement and college-level courses.
- to ensure DPS staff demographics match student demographics. Whereas 52% of the district’s 88,000 students last year were Hispanic, only 32% of DPS school leaders, teachers, and paraprofessionals were Hispanic, according to the annual report.
- to increase the percentage of Latino students and staff who say on district surveys that they feel a sense of belonging and safety, which the district hopes will increase student attendance and staff retention. The attendance rate for Hispanic students was 86% last year, slightly below the district average of 88%. The retention rate for Hispanic staff was 88%, higher than the district average of 87%.
- to increase the number of Latino families holding leadership positions on district and school committees that drive decision-making.
Board members praised the ambitiousness of the goals. They also encouraged the district’s Latine Student Success Team to work in tandem with its Black Student Success Team, whose work was sparked by a similarly critical report on outcomes for Black students and staff in DPS.
“As a parent, when my kids started school and I looked at what were the predictors that would happen to my twins, it wasn’t the best,” board member Marlene De La Rosa said. “I will continue to be committed to supporting the work of this, because I do want to see our Latino students reach their potential and do everything we believe they can do.”
Now that the Latine Student Success Team has identified its goals, it will begin crafting a three-year implementation plan. The five-person La Raza Advisory Council, which includes local leaders with longtime ties to DPS as well as former New York City Department of Education chancellor Richard Carranza, will meet quarterly to review and adjust that plan.
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org .
