Closing schools results in academic gains

A long hallway with a multicolored pattern on the floor

Closing struggling schools helped student achievement in Denver, study finds

The architects of Denver Public Schools’ former reform efforts are lauding a new study that validates a strategy that largely has been abandoned both in Denver and nationwide: closing low-performing schools and opening new ones that might serve students better.

The analysis from University of Colorado Denver researchers finds that most students who left closed Denver schools and attended new ones saw their test scores go up, with greater gains for English learners and students with disabilities.

Student achievement also went up districtwide, which study authors attribute to years-long efforts to give school leaders more autonomy, hold them accountable for results, and make it easier for families to choose among a range of schools.

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