Data: 2021 test scores dropped statewide

Student assessment numbers lower than before pandemic

Statewide assessment scores for Colorado’s elementary and middle school students dropped in 2021 compared with scores recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the same time, the number of students who took the test plummeted across the state compared with previous years, according to data compiled by the Colorado Department of Education.

Reading scores for third, fifth and seventh graders fell 1.2% to 3.9% per grade level from 2019 to 2021, while more than 70% of

students in fourth, sixth and seventh grades — in each respective grade — failed to meet or exceed expectations on the standardized math assessment, according to the state.

Experts who spoke to The Denver Gazette said the numbers don’t tell the entire story.

“We’re being very cautious to say that we shouldn’t use the statewide assessments as this end-all, be-all or sole indicator of what’s happening with student learning, because we know that there are other data points that we have to look at to get a full picture,” said Amie Baca- Oehlert, president of the Colorado Education Association.

Families have had the option to opt out of the Colorado Measures of Academic Success since the mid-2010s, but participation rates held steady until 2021, according to state data.

In 2019, participation rates for the English language arts and math assessment — which were required for all students in third through eighth grade — were over 94%.

Participation rates dropped between 20% and 30% in 2021, which has made comparing the results of the assessments more difficult, said Joyce Zurkowski, the chief assessment officer at the Colorado Department of Education.

Zurkowski said participation rates in lower elementary grades and high school were around 20%, while upper-middle school ages were closer to 30%.

Some grade levels saw greater drops in certain districts than others. For example, Adams County School District 14 saw a 56% decline in the number of seventh graders who took the English language arts assessment in 2021 compared to 2019, while Douglas County Public Schools saw only a 10% decrease for the same assessment.

Denver Public Schools saw a decrease in participation ranging from 39% to nearly 60% across all assessments between grades three and eight, according to state data.

Some believe students who traditionally met or exceeded expectations on the assessments were the ones who opted out, while others believe it was students who traditionally struggle on standardized tests who didn’t take them.

Zurkowski said students of color, specifically Black and Hispanic students, opted out more than other students. Historically, white students have opted out more often than students of color.

“I think in part it’s (a reflection) of how our communities were impacted (by the pandemic,) and it was disproportional,” Zurkowski said. “Our students who were in Hispanic and Black communities were impacted more by COVID than our students who were not in those communities. And I’m not saying that students who were in the suburbs weren’t impacted, but we know that our Hispanic and Black communities were impacted more.”

Because of the lack of representation from Hispanic and Black communities, Zurkowski and others at the Colorado Department of Education created two data sets comparing previous results to the 2021 scores and a “matched” data set that provides “an indication of what results would have looked like had 2021 testers had more similar demographic characteristics, including district setting, as 2019 testers,” according to a presentation given to the State Board of Education in August.

If there would have been greater participation, the scores would have marginally decreased between .6% and 1.7%, the matched results showed.

When analyzing the 2021 results, parents and students can compare their individual scores with the state’s standards. However, it is challenging to compare one school or district to another because of the variance in the amount of pandemic quarantines and time spent learning online.

“We discourage folks from doing too much of that and really encourage them to look at their own individual scores and their own community,” Zurkowski said.

Baca- Oehlert recommended parents look at all the data points provided by educators to get an idea of how their child matches up.

The state assessment “is just one data point that we need to look at, and it’s telling us something, but we need to look at a whole post of things,” Baca- Oehlert said. “I myself am a parent, and I can look at so many things that tell me what’s going on with my child and how they’re learning.”

She added that parents can get a better understanding of where their student is by looking at interim assessments — which vary by district — or by speaking with their child’s teacher.

Paul Teske, dean of the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver, said Coloradans should look at graduation rates and dropout percentages to get a more accurate under

standing of the state’s education status.

Last year, Colorado’s four-year graduation rate was 81.7% — lower than 2020, but higher than 2018 and 2019. However, it was well below the U.S. average of 86%, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Similarly, dropout rates marginally decreased, with 270 fewer students dropping out during the 2020-21 academic year, according to the state.

While these numbers can help paint a better picture of Colorado’s learning situation, experts said there is still much we don’t know about the impacts of the pandemic.

Zurkowski and others said they are waiting for the 2022 assessments to be released in August. They believe they will help educators better understand the pandemic’s lasting effects.

“We are not expecting a return (of participation) to 2019 levels, but we are expecting a significant increase in what we saw last year,” Zurkowski said. “I believe it will provide a clearer picture than what we were able to get from last year’s data.”

“No one number can tell the entire picture, but as part of a larger kind of portfolio of information, it’s a critical piece,” Zurkowski said of the state assessments. “One of the reasons why CMAS was put into place in the first place was specifically to make sure parents were getting information about how their child was doing against the state standards, which they don’t always get as clearly, as bluntly, as they get with the state assessments, so this information helps them get a better understanding of where their student is.”