María del Carmen Salazar, Michael Benitez & Marvin Lynn

Posted October 2, 2025

 

Denver Public Schools (DPS) is filled with promise—con promesa. With more than 90,000 students speaking 200+ languages, the district is majority Brown and Black (51% Latinx, 13% Black). Our district has a plethora of promise, with diverse cultures, native languages, and ways of learning and knowing that are strongly rooted in families and communities. Will we, as a community, commit to and transform promise into opportunity?

 

Progress & the Challenging Road Ahead

 

DPS has made undeniable strides. Recently released state assessment data indicate that students have rebounded from pandemic-related setbacks, with high school students showing steady gains in reading and writing, and the strongest gains in math and science growth and proficiency. Reading scores are on the rise, including for students significantly below grade level, students with disabilities, and students who qualify for Free & Reduced Lunch (FRL). Most recently, the district demonstrated impressive gains in early literacy with an increase of 19 percentage points from winter to spring 2025. Nearly three-quarters of kindergarten students are reading at grade level or higher. Graduation rates continue to surpass historic highs. Impressively, student growth outpaced state peers. In schools like Escalante-Biggs Academy and Munroe Elementary, literacy growth has soared by more than 30 percentage points in a single year. This progress has resulted in a “green” rating on the Colorado School Performance Framework for the second time in DPS’ history.

 

These wins demonstrate that with focused resources and effort, DPS students can and do thrive.

 

The progress is clear, and there is work to be done. While gains accelerated in upper grades, elementary and middle school math results remain flat. Chronic absenteeism has risen since the pandemic, potentially impacted by the mobility of recently arrived students. Charter school performance is lagging behind district-run schools and innovation zones. Most concerning, equity gaps persist along race, income, and disability lines. While growth is strong, proficiency remains below state averages for subgroups that have historically faced opportunity gaps.

 

Growth is happening, and it needs to be accelerated for every child with the support of every member of the DPS community.

 

A District with A Complicated Legacy

 

For more than a century, DPS has been both a great equalizer and an engine of inequity. It is easy to blame schools for not doing enough for their students and to cast blame on educators. We can certainly acknowledge the reality that DPS has persistent achievement gaps by race/ethnicity, disability, and FRL status. What we struggle to bring to the forefront of these conversations, however, are the systemic challenges these students and their families face. It is critical to unveil these challenges and work collaboratively with a focus on constructive accountability for every member of the DPS community, versus discrediting DPS leaders.

 

Beyond Test Scores: Redefining Thriving

 

DPS student success is judged by their performance on state exams. Test scores, on their own, cannot define what it means for our students to thrive.

 

Under the leadership of Dr. Alex Marrero, the district has a path for every learner to thrive through the DPS Thrives Startegic Roadmap. Since 2021, DPS has elevated student and family empowerment, launched a long-term operations safety plan with community input, expanded its infrastructure to support newly arrived students, and launched targeted initiatives like Black and Latinx/Hispanic Student Success. This work is connected to the DPS instructional core which aligns to the student experience.

 

These are steps in the right direction that must be accelerated and fully resourced. DPS future initiatives include early literacy, college and career success, family and community engagement, culturally competent staff, and climate and culture. These initiatives will help DPS to redefine thriving through:

 

• culturally sustaining policies and practices
• safe schools where students feel a sense of belonging
• pathways to postsecondary education
• careers that reflect student and family aspirations
• wellness supports that recognize trauma, resilience, and power in our communities
• family and community voices shaping what success looks

The Call to Action: From Promise to Opportunity

 

DPS students are showing promising growth at rates that surpass their state peers. Growth is happening—and it needs to be accelerated.

 

It is vital to move with intention, to turn promise into opportunity. If we commit to and resource early literacy and math, culturally competent teaching, family and community engagement, and accessible pathways to postsecondary education, every learner will thrive.

 

Bottom line, we need to invest in the resources and results we have seen under Dr. Marrero’s leadership. The path forward must continue to include tuning into students’ experiences in and out of the classroom, listening to and responding to the voices of the families and our local community, and building on the varied experiences of DPS students and their families.

 

What is DPS’ promise? Ultimately, the promise is not in its test proficiency; it is our people. Promise rooted in people is ultimately about a vision for the future and action that ensures every learner has the opportunity to reach their full potential. This demands courage and collaboration. What often gets lost is that we—families, students, educators, community partners, school board members, and district and city leaders— share the same fundamental goal: ensuring that every learner thrives. Ultimately, if every learner in DPS thrives—Denver thrives. ¡Adelante!

 

Dr. María del Carmen Salazar is Professor and Associate Dean at the University of Denver Morgridge College of Education, a DPS alum, and an expert in culturally responsive teacher evaluation and humanizing, culturally responsive education. Dr. Michael Benitez is Associate Professor of Multicultural Education and Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion at Metropolitan State University of Denver, and an expert in inclusive teaching, learning, and practice in education. Dr. Marvin Lynn is Professor and Dean of the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Colorado Denver and studies the recruitment and the work and lives of teachers of color.