A Think Twice Review of:

Review of Systemwide and Intervention-Specific Effects of Denver Public Schools' Portfolio District Strategy on Individual Student Achievement

Think Twice - Nov 07, 2024

Publisher/Think Tank - Center for Education Policy Analysis at the University of Colorado Denver

Author(s) - Parker Baxter, Anna Nicotera, David Stuit, Margot Plotz, Todd Ely, and Paul Teske

A recent report from the Center for Education Policy Analysis at the University of Colorado Denver attempts to assess the effect of a "portfolio district strategy" on student performance in the Denver Public Schools. As was the case with its 2022 predecessor (reviewed here), advocates for portfolio reforms have trumpeted the new study as showing that this "portfolio" package of reforms has a positive and large impact on student outcomes. The review, however, concludes that the study lacks the ability to so definitively link Denver's improved outcomes to these particular reforms.

Reviewer(s) - Robert Shand, American University

In his review, Robert Shand of American University finds that the assertions in this year's report, titled Systemwide and Intervention-Specific Effects of Denver Public Schools' Portfolio District Strategy on Individual Student Achievement, are exaggerated in both magnitude and certainty.