News Release - State Board of Education supports normal administration of state assessments in spring 2022

Dec. 16, 2021

State Board of Education supports normal administration of state assessments in spring 2022

Board supports changes to accountability to create transition period

DENVER - The State Board of Education today voted to support the normal administration of state assessments in spring 2022 and advance adjustments to state law that would establish a transitional year for school and district accountability.

The board’s policy positions come as the General Assembly prepares to begin discussions about assessments and accountability during the 2022 legislative session starting in January.

Last year, the legislature amended – and the U.S. Department of Education approved –  a one-year-only plan to reduce the number of assessments given to students and pause the accountability frameworks.

The board supports policy, including current statute, that returns to the normal schedule of administering Colorado Measures of Academic Success assessments in both English language arts and math to students in grades three through eight as well as the PSAT in grades nine and 10 and the SAT in grade 11. Science assessments are also scheduled to be given in grades five, eight and 11.

The board supports key adjustments to the accountability laws to create a transitional period and ensure opportunities for schools to access school improvement resources. The board voted to support current state law and proposed legislation that would:

• Resume the calculation and reporting of school and district performance frameworks;

• Assign school and district plan type ratings of Turnaround, Priority Improvement, Improvement, Performance, as well as the Distinction rating that is available only for districts;

• Direct school improvement resources, including the School Transformation Grant, based on 2022 results;

• Not automatically advance any school or district on the accountability clock and allow schools and districts to request reconsideration of their rating to move off the clock;

• Enable the board to use 2022 frameworks to evaluate possible new or different directed action for any school or district with current state board orders for improving chronically low student achievement.

In addition, the board voted to support board-level policy that would:

• Require a 90% total participation rate on 2022 state and local assessments to have a request to reconsider their plan type rating;

• Maintain 2019 cut scores for the performance frameworks.

More information about the board’s discussion and votes is available here.