AURORA | The state education department announced Tuesday important school tests are canceled for the remainder of the year, also pausing the state’s annual rating for schools.
The Colorado Department of Education is canceling all state testing of elementary, middle and high school students that usually takes place across the state in the spring. That includes the Colorado Measures of Academic Success, or CMAS, viewed as an important measure of school success.
“With the extraordinary actions we are taking to prevent the spread of COVID-19, it’s clear that we need to press pause on our CMAS tests this year,” Commissioner of Education Katy Anthes said in a statement. “Students and educators need to feel a sense of stability and normalcy before state tests can be administered and produce valid results. This also means we plan to pause our school and district state accountability system as it relates to state assessments for a year.”
Colorado students were slated to take math, English language arts, science and other tests from April 6 through 24.
CDE is also working to make special accommodations for administering the PSAT and SAT tests, which can be crucial for college admissions and scholarships.
Officials say state testing is an important part of education policy, helping gauge the success of instructors in a school. Parents can use the Colorado Department of Education website and school ratings into account as a resource when deciding where to enroll children.
In Aurora Public Schools, testing data played a part in the state Board of Education’s order that Aurora Central High School hire another private firm to help improve the school. School systems that do not improve test scores and other factors enough in a time window can be handed other to private firms, as was the case in the Adams 14 school district last year.
Earlier Tuesday morning, the Colorado Education Association statewide teacher union called for all schools to close. According to the CEA, about 85 of Colorado’s 178 school districts have closed. APS and the Cherry Creek School District extended spring breaks and have shuttered schools until at least March 30.