New test scores show many Colorado students have shaken off pandemic setbacks, but gaps remain

Colorado students in many grades made promising gains in math, English language arts and science on state standardized tests last spring, according to results released Tuesday morning by the Colorado Department of Education.

The outcomes mark a forward step in students’ academy recovery coming out of the pandemic after many kids suffered learning setbacks while bouncing between remote and in-person learning.

Still, 2024 results from the Colorado Measures of Academic Success, PSAT and SAT exams show there is more progress to be made. High schoolers, for instance, hit notable deficits with math scores on the PSAT and SAT while fourth grade students experienced the biggest decline of any grade on the CMAS English language arts test. Echoing test results from previous years, students of color, children with disabilities, kids from low-income families and students learning English continue to significantly trail their peers. 

Colorado Education Commissioner Susana Córdova painted an optimistic picture of student progress during a media conference Tuesday morning while also doubling down on the need to address chronic achievement gaps.

Figuring out how to close those gaps is among the most pressing and daunting challenges hanging over educators, Córdova said.

“That probably is the question that weighs most heavily on both the minds and hearts of educators in Colorado,” she said. “I think we all come into this profession with a real focus on ensuring that students who are some of the most vulnerable kids in our systems have the kinds of supports that they need to be successful in school.”

The state conducts standardized tests each spring to measure both student proficiency — whether students are meeting state standards in subject areas — and student growth, which gauges how much progress students demonstrate from one school year to another compared to their classmates.

While kids in grades three through eight take CMAS exams in math and English language arts, students in fifth, eighth and 11th grades take CMAS tests in science.

Data released Tuesday reflects statewide test results broken down by individual grades and subjects and by specific groups of students. School- and district-level test results will be made public Aug. 29.

Some grades’ test results surpassed pre-pandemic scores, the state education department noted. Student growth has also largely taken a turn for the better, reaching growth levels recorded before the pandemic. But that growth must be “sustained to rebound fully,” according to CDE officials.

About 500,000 students took state exams in April. Participation rates among some sets of students on CMAS exams in the spring were similar to participation rates in 2023. Other groups of students participated at slightly lower rates, according to CDE data.

Participation rates still lag behind participation in 2019 before the pandemic, CDE noted.

In a select set of grades and subjects, participation was so low in the spring that state education officials caution drawing conclusions from the test data. About half of 11th graders took the science CMAS exams in the spring, for instance.

“Interpreting our 11th grade data is difficult, and we encourage caution when doing so,” said Joyce Zurkowski, chief assessment officer for the state education department.

“Extremely large” gaps between different student demographics

Overall test results revealed that more students met expectations on CMAS assessments this year than in 2023. However, for most of the tests, the percentage of kids who met or exceeded expectations remained lower than scores from 2019, Córdova said.

On some exams, test-takers in 2024 outperformed students in 2019, including on CMAS English language arts exams, in which a higher percentage of students in both third and sixth grades met or surpassed expectations this year than right before the pandemic. 

Among some other highlights of test outcomes, in third, sixth, seventh and eighth grades, a slightly higher percentage of kids met or exceeded expectations in English language arts compared with results from 2023.

Every grade except eighth showed a higher percentage of students meeting or surpassing expectations on CMAS math exams compared with 2023. And student growth in math reflected “sustained improvement” within all grades compared with pre-pandemic figures.

However, stubborn achievement gaps that continue to put students with additional challenges behind in school tempered the bright outcomes. Zurkowski described some of the gaps as “extremely large.”