By Dan Karpiel

The Surveyor

The results for the 2019 Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) were published this month and the results show an improvement for Turner Middle School but slight dips in year-to-year results for the other three schools in Berthoud.

According to the Colorado Department of Education (CDE), “The Education Accountability Act of 2009 (SB 09-163) and HB18-1355 authorizes the Colorado Department of Education to conduct an annual review of the performance of public schools and districts in the state and to make recommendations to the State Board of Education concerning the type of school improvement plan to be implemented in each school and the accreditation category for each district.”

After the assessments have been completed, reports on district and school performance ratings are published based on the common set of metrics. These reports, in effect, score each district and each school on a scale of 1-100. A rating of 53 or greater means the school is performing across the board at a level acceptable to the CDE, which designates the school at the “performance plan” level. Scores lower than 52.9 result in the schools being placed into one form or another of an improvement plan. A score in the range of 42.0 to 52.9 places the school in the “improvement plan” category, 34.0-41.9 as “priority improvement” a score ranging from 0.0 to 32.9 results in a “turnaround plan” designation.

Districts are also scored with those receiving a rating of 56.0 or better receiving the “accredited” rating; districts that receive a score greater than 74.0 are given the “accredited with distinction” rating.

The CMAS assessment exams are given in the areas of English/language arts (ELA), mathematics and science at various first through eighth-grade levels, and the two performance indicators categories are academic achievement and academic growth at the district-wide level and at all three school levels. For the high schools, CMAS science assessments are used along with the PSAT/SAT assessments in evidence-based reading and writing and mathematics. The district at large and high schools are also scored on postsecondary and workforce readiness, in addition to academic achievement and growth.

Demographically, the results are subdivided into English learners (students for whom English is not their first language), students with disabilities, students on the free/reduced lunch program and minority students.

After the assessments are completed and scored, if the district’s or school’s mean score was above the 85^th percentile of state-wide results, the district or school receives the “exceeds expectations” rating, between the 50^th and 85^th “meets expectations,” between the 15^th and the 50^th “approaching expectations,” and below the 15^th percentile results in a “does not meet expectations” rating.

All four Berthoud schools exceeded the 53-point threshold and the Thompson School District (TSD) was scored 58.5, a slight uptick over the 57.8 score it received last year, and thus will retain its “accredited” rating. Ivy Stockwell Elementary once again was the best-scored school in Berthoud, receiving a rating of 81.2. That figure, however, is down from the 98.6 rating the school received in 2018, which resulted in the school receiving Governor’s Distinguished Award.

Berthoud Elementary scored a 71.8 in 2019, also down slightly from the 81.8 score in 2018. Berthoud High also saw a slight dip, scoring 64.6 in 2019, down from 71.1 in 2018. Turner Middle School graded out at a 58.5, pushing the school above the “improvement plan” threshold it occupied last year (57.8).

Ivy Stockwell met or exceeded expectations at every breakdown of the assessment results except for academic achievement in ELA (31^ss percentile) and math (46^th) for students with disabilities, where the school’s results received the “approaching expectations” rating. Berthoud Elementary also did reasonably well but received the “does not meet” expectations rating in academic achievement for students with disabilities in ELA (sixth).

Berthoud Elementary was also designated as “approaching expectations” in academic achievement in math for students with disabilities (40^th) and in academic growth in math for all students (44^th), free/reduced lunch students (41^st) and minority students (39^th).

State-wide, middle schools received the lowest scores of the three school levels and Berthoud was no exception. Turner’s total score was improved over last year when the school was put on the “improvement plan.” Turner did exceed expectations for all students in academic achievement in math (87^th). The school met expectations in academic growth for all students in ELA (76^th) and science (59^th). Turner students did not meet expectations in academic achievement in ELA (first) and math (first) for students with disabilities as well as academic growth in ELA for free/reduced lunch students (34.5) and for students with disabilities (31^st). In all other subcategories, Turner was scored as “approaching expectations.”

At Berthoud High, overall students met expectations in academic achievement and postsecondary and workforce readiness and was approaching expectations in academic growth. The results of the CMAS science assessments and the evidence-based reading and writing and math PSATs showed the high school failing to meet expectations in all three assessments for students with disabilities. Students with disabilities also failed to meet expectations in the postsecondary and workforce readiness results from the Colorado SAT in evidence-based reading and writing and math. All other subcategories, Berthoud High either met or was approaching expectations.

Further information can be found at http://www.cde.state.co.us/schoolview/performance.