Growth in math and literacy stretched across all grade levels in Summit School District, excluding third- and fifth-graders, based on state standardized testing results, while persistent achievement gaps remain for Hispanic and multilingual students — even as those students increasingly gained ground.
The latest Colorado Measures of Academic Success results show districtwide reading proficiency continuing an upward trajectory, with particularly strong gains among fourth graders. The assessments, taken in the 2025-26 school year by all third- through 12th-graders across the state, measures whether students meet grade-level expectations in English language arts, math and science, according to Colorado Academic Standards.
The only declines in test scores for English language arts included third grade with a 16.3 percentage point drop and fifth grade with a 13.8 point drop. Both grades also declined in math, with a 13.8 point drop for third-graders a 4.6 point drop for fifth-graders. Eighth grade also saw a slight dip in math scores with a 1.3 point decrease. All other test grade levels through eight grade saw test scores increase, year over year.
In Summit County, fourth-grade reading proficiency jumped nearly 14 percentage points to 53%, the largest increase among grade levels compared to last year, while sixth-grade reading proficiency rose nearly 5 points to 48%. Districtwide, 43.3% of students met grade-level expectations in reading, marking a second consecutive year of improvement.
Yet district officials say proficiency scores provide only one measure of student performance, particularly for students learning academic content while also acquiring English language skills. Growth data showed some of the strongest progress among students who have historically faced the largest achievement gaps. Hispanic elementary students posted above-typical reading growth districtwide, with the strongest results at Summit Cove, Upper Blue and Silverthorne elementary schools.
Still, elementary CMAS results show a roughly 44-percentage-point reading achievement gap between white and Hispanic students and a roughly 31-point gap in math.
“Our data has told us that kids are growing when they’re with us,” said Laura Cotsapas, chief transformation officer for the district. “But kids are not catching up fast enough to close the gaps.”
Students already on track generally continue to progress or accelerate, Cotsapas added. Students who begin behind also made progress, but the district aims to accelerate their growth so they can reach grade-level expectations and close longstanding gaps.
That distinction between achievement and growth is key to how district officials view this year’s results. A student can remain below grade-level proficiency while making substantial academic progress, especially among the county’s multilingual learners who simultaneously acquire English language skills while learning grade-level content.
Elementary Hispanic students, for example, posted a reading growth score of 54 this year, compared with 47 last year and 40 in 2022. Cotsapas said a score of 50 represents typical growth over a school year, meaning this year’s results indicate those students collectively gained ground. She called the 14-point jump since 2022 “very huge” and said the district aims to build on that momentum.
“We are making progress with and accelerating that growth with our students who are behind, but not fast enough,” Cotsapas said. “So that’s what we’re really dialing in on this year: Who are those students and what do they need?”
Reading proficiency trending upward
Across the district’s 3,378 students and nine schools, this year’s state standardized testing results reflect progress after several years of uneven performance, particularly in elementary literacy.
Districtwide reading proficiency declined for two consecutive years beginning in 2022-23 before reversing course last school year. Most grade levels continued that improvement this year, though third grade stood out as an exception, with proficiency falling nearly 14 percentage points in math and more than 16 points in English language arts. Fewer than three in 10 third graders met grade-level expectations in either subject.
The sharp decline contrasted with gains among fourth-grade students. Cotsapas said third- and fourth-grade reading and math scores can help predict students’ later academic success, making early literacy a major focus across the district’s elementary schools.
Part of that work centers around creating greater consistency from one classroom to another. Cotsapas said the district’s elementary school principals have increasingly collaborated on curriculum to provide more uniform classroom experiences across the district.
“What we discovered a few years ago is our curriculum was being implemented inconsistently,” Cotsapas said. “We’re really focused on making sure that we’re teaching to the level of rigor of those (curricular) standards.”
Elementary principals began testing a more standardized approach last school year, with greater alignment around classroom content and the rigor expected at each grade level. Cotsapas said the district believes that consistency will help improve academic results while also making it easier to identify students who need more support beyond core classroom instruction.
“I think it will accelerate our results and then allow us to really see where there are gaps,” Cotsapas said.
At the same time, administrators cautioned against attributing changes in test results entirely to what happens in an individual school or classroom. The district compares the performance of the same grade level year over year. But Kerstin Anderson, the district’s communications director, noted each year represents different groups of students and needs. Instead, Anderson said officials are increasingly tracking the same “cohort” of students as they move from one grade to the next. That matters in a relatively small school system with declining enrollment, where Anderson said a group of 50-100 students can produce substantial volatility in annual percentages.
“That (volatility) has a lot more to do with changes in student population than widely divergent teaching patterns that are occurring in a school,” Anderson said.
Demographics also differ significantly between individual schools. At Breckenridge Elementary, which this year received the state’s John Irwin School of Excellence Award for high achievement, 63% of students met grade-level expectations. White students at Breckenridge Elementary posted 66.7% achievement. Upper Blue Elementary, by comparison, recorded nearly 59% overall achievement and 72.5% among white students.
“It was interesting to see that school closing achievement gaps,” Anderson said. “I think we should celebrate, or just acknowledge that our schools are pretty similarly performing. The level of teaching is consistent across the school district.”
Language acquisition adds context to achievement gaps
For many of the Hispanic students, CMAS measures academic proficiency while they’re still developing proficiency in English.
Most Hispanic students in the district currently learn English or previously learned it at school, according to a press release issued by the district Aug. 19. Administrators said that means proficiency results can capture students at a point of limited English-language skills.
For example, 47 students at Upper Blue Elementary moved from no English-language proficiency to limited proficiency, while another 35 advanced from limited to full proficiency.
“So while those students are scoring at like 12% on CMAS, they’re learning language acquisition as well as content,” Anderson said. “There’s deep learning happening, but that is not necessarily reflected in these scores.”
Hispanic students at Summit Cove Elementary earned a reading growth score of 63, while Hispanic students at Upper Blue recorded a math growth score of 64. Silverthorne Elementary, the district’s largest elementary school serving students with the highest needs, recorded Hispanic student reading growth at 55 points.
Each exceeded typical growth, though administrators said the goal remains to make that level of acceleration more rapid, sustained and widespread.
“Students are not moving toward full English proficiency as quickly as they should,” Anderson wrote in the press release.
At the high school level, every student group improved PSAT and SAT scores in both reading and math. English learners showed some of the strongest gains, with reading growth increasing by more than 10 points and math by nine. Students receiving special education services increased their math score by 16 points, the largest gain among all groups reported, while Hispanic students also improved in both subjects.
Yet English proficiency scores have remained relatively flat for approximately a decade. Administrators are continuing to examine how to provide multilingual learners enough support to access rigorous grade-level material without inadvertently reducing expectations or slowing a student’s development of independent English skills.
“We’re really looking at different scaffolding and tools to help students, but to provide that bridge without over-scaffolding,” Cotsapas said.
She referred to educator and author Zaretta Hammond’s concept of a “warm demander” to describe that approach of pairing appropriate student support with high expectations.
“You can love your students and expect more from them, and that’s what they deserve,” Cotsapas said.
Keeping momentum
Cotsapas said the district is focusing this school year on identifying practices already working in its strongest classrooms and applying them more consistently.
As a precursor to CMAS testing, the district recently began its STAR interim assessments, a much shorter exam taken multiple times a year, allowing educators to track student performance over time and compare with state results to identify students in need of additional support.
Writing has also become a larger priority across grade levels. Elementary schools have dedicated writing time each day, while secondary educators are emphasizing the writing process and more pencil-to-paper assignments to improve memorization and critical thinking.
Another strategy gaining traction is “looping,” where teachers advance to the next grade alongside the same students. Cotsapas pointed to Dillon Valley Elementary Principal Kendra Carpenter, who previously followed students from second to third grade and saw what Cotsapas described as “phenomenal results.” Other teachers have since opted into the approach. Participation remains optional, though Cotsapas said she has hopes of pursuing grand funding to incentivize more teachers to try the model.
Anderson said the district’s longer-term reading proficiency results provide evidence that some of its instructional work has begun to take hold.
“I think there’s this perception out there that there’s this radical decline when actually, no, we’ve dropped that decline,” Anderson said. “We are on an upward trajectory.”
But raising districtwide averages alone won’t close the gaps for students who remain behind state expectations.
“Education is supposed to be the great equalizer, and it’s not yet,” Cotsapas said.
“Those achievement gaps have real consequences to people’s long-term economic viability,” Anderson added. “We take that responsibility seriously for all of our students.”
