Assessment & Performance

The CMAS assessments are Colorado’s standards-based assessments designed to measure the Colorado Academic Standards (CAS) in the content areas of mathematics, English language arts (ELA), and science. The purpose of the CMAS assessments are to indicate the degree to which students have mastered the expectations of the CAS in each content area at the end of the tested grade level. Results are intended to provide one measure of a student’s academic progress relative to the CAS. Results should be taken into consideration alongside other achievement information available locally.  

CMAS Math Assessment is taken by 3rd - 8th graders

CMAS ELA Assessment is taken by 3rd - 8th graders

CMAS Science Assessment is taken by 5th, 8th and 11th graders

CoAlt Assessment is taken by a small number of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities who meet specific criteria.

SAT

The SAT is taken through College Board and is closely aligned to challenging classroom work of Colorado schools and focuses on the key skills and concepts that evidence shows matter most for college and career readiness, including:

• Mathematical concepts, skills, and practices important for success in career training programs.
• Reading, comprehending, and writing high-quality essays supported by evidence.

The SAT also serves as an admission test and is accepted by every college in the United States. 

PSAT

The PSAT tests the same skills and knowledge as the SAT in a way that makes sense for 9th and 10th-graders. It builds on the Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) tests in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. The PSAT also aligns with Colorado Academic Standards (CAS) and with the SAT that students will take in 11th grade.

ACCESS for ELLs is a secure large-scale English language proficiency assessment given annually to Kindergarten through 12th graders who have been identified as English language learners (ELLs). It provides educators and parents information about the English language proficiency level in the language domains of Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing.

Colorado law allows parents to excuse their children from state assessments. This law requires districts to have policies that explain how parents may excuse a student from participating in one or more state assessment and notify parents of those policies.

State Assessment Opt-Out Form

DIBELS ® (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) is a set of procedures and measures for assessing the acquisition of literacy skills. They are designed to be short (one minute) fluency measures that can be used to regularly detect risk and monitor the development of early literacy and early reading skills in kindergarten through eighth grade.

DIBELS

MAP Growth, part of the Growth Activation Solution from NWEA, is the most trusted and innovative assessment for measuring achievement and growth in K–12 math, reading, language usage, and science. It provides teachers with accurate, actionable evidence to help inform instructional strategies regardless of how far students are above or below grade level. It also connects to the largest set of instructional content providers, giving educators flexibility in curriculum choices. 

NWEA