Statewide test results released Thursday morning show small improvements in elementary school math scores while participation rates were mixed, state education officials said.
About 408,000 students in grades 3 through 9 were tested this past spring in English language arts. About 377,000 took the math tests.
The Colorado Department of Education released school and district overall results in the two tests Thursday. were released in August.
There was a slight uptick in the percentage of third- through fifth-graders who met or exceeded expectations, said Joyce Zurkowski, CDE’s executive director of assessment.
“We’re really interested to see if that truly is a trend,” Zurkowski said.
Large district math results
Percentage of 3rd through 5th-grade students who met or exceeded expectations on the 2016 math CMAS tests for the five largest school districts in Colorado.
But officials won’t know for sure until next year.
Two years of data from the statewide Colorado Measures of Academic Success — or CMAS — tests is not enough to signal a trend, say officials.
They also say the tests, although aligned with Colorado Academic Standards, are just one measure of a student’s achievement.
“The complete picture of a student’s academic progress comes from looking at a child’s whole school experience, and that includes test scores, classroom grades and teacher feedback,” said Colorado’s interim Education Commissioner Katy Anthes.
Parents should also weigh participation rates at schools and districts when evaluating test scores, said Anthes.
While participation was stronger at the elementary school level, some high schools reported fewer than half of their ninth-graders took the tests.
Legislation passed in 2015 legislation eliminated CMAS tests in math and English language arts for students in 10th and 11th grades. Students in 10th grade now take the PSAT-10, which saw participation rates much higher than last year.
The PSAT-10 is a precursor to the SAT, and is likely seen as good practice by college-bound students for the SAT, Zurkowski said.
“It provides some indications at what skills you have mastered and what skills and concepts you might want to work on,” she said.
