The results of the Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS), a system of standardized tests where state education officials measure performance metrics of Colorado students, have been released for 2021 and the results show a marked decline in academic achievement across the board from 2019, the last year the assessments were conducted.

This year, the Colorado General Assembly passed a bill that reduced the number of tests conducted and the Colorado Department of Education (CDOE) stated in a press release that participation rates also saw significant decreases in the most recent year.

“These test results give us sobering data that confirm just how hard last year was with school closures, class quarantines and remote learning,” Colorado Education Commissioner Katy Anthes said in a press release.

For students in the Thompson School District (TSD), only 23.1% met or exceeded expectations in the 2021 science assessment, down from 30.6% in 2019, 32.7% in 2018 and 38.4% in 2017. Turner Middle School students, while performing better than their counterparts at the district’s other middle schools, with 26.7% meeting or exceeding expectations, that figure has declined from the 2019 (35.3%), 2018 (29.5%) and 2017 (31.4%).

The same trends hold true, both at Turner and district-wide, with the number of students who only partially met expectations; in 2019, 44.4% of Turner students and 47.8% of all TSD students achieved that lowest-ranking metric. In 2019, only 29.3% of Turner students and 30.1% of TSD middle school students only partially met expectations.

In should be noted that, for the 2021 testing period, only eighth-grade students were given the science assessment whereas in prior years science assessments were conducted for fifth graders and high school students in addition to eighth-graders.

Similar declines were recognized in the mathematics – conducted among fourth, sixth and eighth-grade students – and in English/language arts (ELA) – conducted among third, fifth and seventh grade students.

For the 2021 ELA assessment, 40.9% of TSD students third-graders, 51.7% of fifth graders and 39.0% of seventh-graders met or exceeded expectations while 18.7%, 6.0% and 14.8% did not yet meet expectations, according to the data. The good news is that in 2021, the 51.7% of TSD fifth-graders who met or exceeded expectations in ELA was higher than in 2019 (49.4%), 2018 (48.2%) and 2017 (48.3%), the other two grade levels given the assessment saw declines from previous years.

Berthoud Elementary third (57.9%) and fifth-graders (56.3%), Ivy Stockwell fifth graders (72.2%) and Turner seventh graders (50.0%) all outperformed the TSD average in ELA in 2021; only Ivy third graders (41.7%) had a lower percentage of students who met or exceeded expectations on ELA than the overall district mean.

The trends, however, from recent years are down in 2021. Except for Ivy fifth graders, each of the other four grade levels at all three schools had a lower percentage of students who met or exceeded expectations in 2021 in the ELA assessment than in 2019, 2018 and 2017, with seven of the 15 declines exceeding 10 percentage points. The largest declines from 2019 came at Berthoud Elementary where 12.5% fewer fifth and third-grade students met or exceeded expectations in ELA.

The data from the mathematics assessments look similar. Berthoud students, at both elementary schools as well as Turner largely overperformed their TSD counterparts but also saw declines in those who met or exceeded expectations and increases in those who failed to meet expectations relative to previous years.

District-wide, 29.5% of fourth-graders, 21.4% of sixth graders and 24.6% of eighth-graders met or exceeded expectations in mathematics. A solid 56.4% of Berthoud Elementary fourth-graders met or exceeded expectations in math, as did 37.9% of Ivy fourth-graders, 36.1% and 38.0% of Tuner sixth and eighth graders, respectively, did the same. Those figures, however, are all significantly lower than marks set in prior years.

The state did announce that, for the second year in a row, the overall school accountability assessment grading system will not be completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the CDOE website, “A second year of Accountability Pause (2021-2022) has been authorized by the Colorado legislature. The state’s accountability system has been paused for 2020-21 and 2021-22.” It is unknown at this time if the state will lift the accountability pause for the 2022-23 school year.

Further information on the state’s school assessment metrics can be found at the CDOE’s website at https://www.cde.state.co.us/assessment/cmas-dataandresults-2021.