Despite gains, the majority of students do not meet or exceed expectations in math or English

Math emerged as a bright spot in Colorado’s latest standardized test results, with students posting record scores in a subject where they have historically lagged behind English language arts.

Colorado hasn’t closed the math-English achievement gap, but math has been doing virtually all the moving.

Across the state, 37.3% of students met or exceeded expectations in math, up from 35.9% last year and marking the fourth consecutive record high, according to the 2026 Colorado Measures of Academic Success, or CMAS, released Wednesday.

Meanwhile, English scores — which returned to pre-pandemic levels last year — remained essentially flat, dipping slightly from 44.8% to 44.7%.

“State assessment results provide important information about the health of the Colorado public education system because they give us the only consistent measure of student achievement across schools statewide,” Colorado Education Commissioner Susana Córdova said in a Tuesday news conference. “They help us see where students and schools are making progress.”

Returning to or even exceeding slightly the pre-pandemic levels does not mean high performance: Despite the gains, only slightly above a third of students are meeting or exceeding math expectations and less than half are doing the same in English.

The gains extended across metro Denver, although the statewide averages obscure wide differences among Denver-area districts.

The following districts in metro Denver outperformed the state:

• Boulder Valley: 56.2% (math), 65.3% (English)

• Douglas County: 57.2% (math), 63.8% (English)

• Littleton Public Schools: 58.4% (math), 62.1% (English)

• JeffCo Public Schools: 44.6% (math), 53.7% (English)

• Cherry Creek School District: 44.2% (math), 49.5% (English)

These school districts fell below:

• Adams 12 Five Star Schools (Adams 12): 35.5% (math), 42.3% (English)

• Denver Public Schools (DPS): 35% (math), 42.5% (English)

• Aurora Public Schools: 20.5% (math), 26.1% (English)

CMAS is administered by the Colorado Department of Education to third-through-11th graders each spring, testing students’ proficiency in reading and math. Students are also tested, to a lesser extent, in science and social studies.

The release on Wednesday also included PSAT and SAT assessments, which measure college readiness.

Because the state reports multiple results across subjects and grade levels, The Denver Gazette created a composite to provide a single measure for comparing performance among school districts.

As it has previously done, The Denver Gazette ranked districts by averaging the percentages of students who met or exceeded expectations in state English and math tests. The Denver Gazette has conducted the analysis annually since 2023.

Several metro Denver school districts have climbed in The Denver Gazette’s statewide rankings over that period.

Boulder Valley, for example, ranked second in the analysis this year, followed by Douglas County at fourth and Littleton at sixth. Jeffco ranked 20th, Cherry Creek 24th, Adams 12 43rd and DPS 46th.

Douglas County School District

With roughly 61,500 students, Douglas County rose to fourth in The Denver Gazette’s statewide analysis — its highest position since the newspaper began conducting the ranking in 2023.

The district ranked seventh that year.

Paula Hans, a Douglas County School District spokesperson, said the district is particularly proud of its students’ performance in math.

“Our focus for the last several years has been to provide our students with high-quality instruction and learning opportunities that are aligned to the rigorous expectations of the standards,” Hans said in an email. “That continued focus has produced meaningful results for our students.”

JeffCo Public Schools

District officials pointed to Jeffco’s performance above statewide averages in several measures.

The district has also steadily improved its standing in The Denver Gazette’s analysis, climbing from 28th statewide in 2023 and 2024 to 25th last year and to 20th this year.

“Seeing our students make such consistent gains across both CMAS and PSAT/SAT assessments is a testament to the hard work happening in our classrooms every day,” Renee Nicothodes, Jeffco chief academic officer, said in an email to The Denver Gazette.

“These results — from the steady improvements in math and ELA, with our scores outpacing the state average, to our high school students showing strong college and career readiness — reflect the impact of our focused commitment to high-quality resources and the dedication of our educators to student-centered learning,” Nicothodes said.

Second in size only to DPS, JeffCo serves about 74,100 students.

Adams 12 Five Star Schools

Adams 12, which serves about 30,000 students in communities ranging from Broomfield to Federal Heights, jumped 11 places this year to 43rd in The Denver Gazette’s statewide analysis, also its highest position since the newspaper began the ranking in 2023.

The district has consistently ranked in the top third of those included in the analysis, even though its English and math proficiency rates remain below the statewide rates.

“We can’t teach kids if they’re not in front of us,” said Megan Cain, Adams 12 chief academic officer. “We want to consistently stack good days for kids. They need a good teacher Monday through Friday.”

Cain was not surprised by the ranking.

With roughly 46% of the district’s students Hispanic and qualifying for free or reduced-price meals, an indicator of economic disadvantage, Cain said Adams 12 isn’t “fancy” like Cherry Creek or as diverse as DPS, the state’s largest school district.

But it has something the others don’t, the officer said.

“We are almost like a home-grown school district,” Cain said.

Denver Public Schools

DPS made one of the larger moves among metro-area districts in The Denver Gazette’s analysis this year, climbing to 46th after ranking 59th in each of the previous three years.

DPS has also essentially regained its pre-pandemic performance in English, with 42.46% of students meeting or exceeding expectations this year compared with 42.7% in 2019. In math, the district has surpassed its pre-pandemic performance: 34.99% met or exceeded expectations this year, up from 32.7% in 2019.

Last year, when state officials were touting a return to pre-pandemic test levels for most subjects, DPS lagged just slightly behind.

Among the highlights the district is touting:

• Early literacy: 69% of K-3 students finished the year reading at grade level or above, up 3 percentage points from last year. The share significantly below grade level fell from 21% to 19%.
• Broad CMAS improvement: 63% of DPS schools improved in math and 57% improved in English language arts. Black and Hispanic students each posted 2-percentage-point gains in math proficiency.
• Student growth: DPS outpaced the state in both subjects, with a median growth percentile of 55 in English and 53 in math, compared with 50 statewide in each subject.

“I am particularly proud of the growth we are seeing among our Black and Hispanic students, as well as students with IEPs,” Alex Marrero, DPS superintendent, said in a statement.

“While there is always more work to do, these achievements demonstrate that our commitment to equitable, high-quality instruction is delivering real progress for the students we serve.”

Cherry Creek School District

Cherry Creek rose to 24th in The Denver Gazette’s statewide analysis this year, continuing a rebound after falling from 27th in 2023 to 32nd in 2024. The district climbed to 28th last year before gaining another four places this year.

The movement coincided with gains in both subjects. The percentage of Cherry Creek students meeting or exceeding expectations increased from 48.2% to 49.5% in English and from 42.7% to 44.2% in math.

District officials highlighted particularly strong gains among fourth graders in English and eighth graders in math, with proficiency increasing 6.4 and 6.2 percentage points, respectively.

“These results are a testament to the hard work of our students, educators and school communities and the continued implementation of our Strategic Plan in classrooms across the district,” Jennifer Perry, Cherry Creek’s interim superintendent, said in a statement.

Perry also acknowledged more work remains.

“We know there is more work to do to raise achievement levels for all students and eliminate gaps,” Perry said.