State Testing

Students in grades 3 through 11 will be taking the required annual state assessments this April. These include the PSAT and SAT (high school only) and Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS), which includes assessments in science, mathematics, and English Language Arts. CMAS assessments for this school year include:

• English Language Arts: Grades 3 through 8
• Mathematics: Grades 3 through 8
• Science: Grades 5, 8, and 11

We would like to thank you for your support last year and to encourage all students to participate again this year. State assessments play an important role in helping us measure student learning, strengthen instruction, and demonstrate our school’s performance within the broader educational landscape.

These assessments provide a valid and reliable external measure of student progress toward state standards and evaluate higher-order skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and source analysis. The results give families meaningful statewide comparisons, help teachers and school leaders refine instruction and evaluate curricular effectiveness, and contribute to our school’s state designation and public ratings. These ratings include those published by the Colorado Department of Education’s SchoolView and platforms such as Niche, which prospective families often review.

You can find more information about these tests, our opt-out policy, and the specific dates your student will be testing on the Spring Testing page of our website. If you have questions, please email James Fuller (james.fuller@bvsd.org). Opt-out requests must be received by March 5th, which is the district deadline for submitting written requests to opt a student out of testing.