Denver hit its early literacy target and missed its 3-8 reading goal, four years after publishing both

Denver Public Schools put numeric targets in Superintendent Alex Marrero's 2022 strategic plan — a 10 percentage point rise in students scoring at grade level — and the reporting checks the results four years on. Early literacy hit the mark: district-run schools reached 71 percent of K-3 students reading at grade level by spring 2026, and districtwide the rate rose from 60 percent in 2022 to 69 percent. State CMAS literacy in grades 3-8 did not, landing at 42.5 percent districtwide against a 49 percent goal. Gaps stayed wide, with roughly 27 percent of Black and 25 percent of Latino students meeting expectations versus 76 percent of white students. The published target is what makes the check possible.