Colorado is currently transitioning its major state student assessments. After using the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) assessment for English language arts and mathematics assessments for a number of years, Colorado implemented the Transitional Colorado Assessment Program (TCAP) assessment starting in the 2012 school year. That year, Colorado also joined the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) consortium. Limited pilot testing for PARCC took place in some districts in Spring 2014, with the assessment entirely replacing TCAP in the 2014-15 school year.
Overall, Colorado districts succeeded in administering the state's first online state wide assessments. Challenges were encountered along the way; however, districts and schools were committed to working through them in a manner that allowed students to complete testing. Lessons learned during the science and social studies administration and the PARCC administration will be invaluable to improving next year's assessment administration. Many of the issues and concerns expressed by districts affirmed the list of improvements that had already been identified and prioritized by CDE. CDE will continue to work with districts, schools, Pearson and PARCC to support districts in continuously improving future online administrations.
The 2012 School Finance Act required the CDE to issue a competitive request for proposals (RFP) for state purchase of an early literacy assessment tool that teachers may use to obtain real-time assessments of the reading skill levels of students in kindergarten through third grade. The intent was to support state purchase of software that provides individualized assessments with immediate results, stores and analyzes those results, and recommends activities based on those results.
