Assessments

State testing season is on the horizon. In Colorado, as well as many other states, state testing is a measure used to help identify successful practices in schools and districts and to learn from those practices. These tests also help identify schools and districts where students struggle so they can receive extra assistance. Colorado’s accountability system was created by the Education Accountability Act of 2009, a law based on the notion that every student should have an opportunity to receive an excellent education and graduate ready to succeed. The CMAS, PSAT, and SAT assessments are the assessments used by the Colorado Department of Education to determine how schools and districts rank. 

It is important to note that the system is set up to provide parents, teachers and the community comparable information about the performance of their children’s school, their district and the state’s public education system in general. While the system is not perfect, and doesn’t tell the whole story, it is the system in which we live. To help ensure that our schools’ and district’s results show all the amazing work we are doing in Englewood Schools, we need your help.  

In a small system like Englewood Schools, having high participation in testing is extremely important. The more students we have participating in these assessments, the more accurate the results show our school’s and district’s performance. When students do not participate in testing, we get an inaccurate representation of our student body and the incredible learning that is happening in Englewood Schools. Because the accountability system doesn’t tell the whole story of all the hard work that goes on every day in every classroom by teachers, staff, and students, we want to ensure that our results reflect as closely as possible to the reality of what we see in our classrooms. 

We know you may have questions about state testing and the accountability system. Please reach out to your building principal or Becky Jones our Learning and Assessment Coordinator for Englewood Schools. Each school also has a School Accountability Committee which meets monthly and is another great place to learn more about testing in schools. 

Who Tests:

CMAS Testing Testing Window: April 8-26

English Language Arts	Mathematics	Science
Grades 3-8	Grades 3-8	Grades 5, 8, 11

 

PSAT/SAT Testing Window: April 15-26

PSAT 8/9	PSAT 10	SAT
9th Graders	10 Graders	11th Graders