Putting the Pieces Together: Educators on New Assessments

PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER:

Educators on New Assessments
Overview
Colorado educators are using updated assessments to better measure student
mastery of the new Colorado Academic Standards. The Colorado Measures of
Academic Success (CMAS) is replacing the Transitional Colorado Assessment
Program (TCAP). CMAS includes new social studies and science assessments
as well as English language arts and mathematics assessments from the
Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC).
Other assessments used statewide include early literacy assessments, the ACT,
the Colorado Alternate Assessment (CoAlt), and Assessing Comprehension
and Communication in English State-to-State (ACCESS), in addition to district-,
school-, and teacher-created assessments. Together, these assessments inform
decision-making to improve instruction and the measures of student learning
that districts included in educator evaluations.

About the Findings
In 2014, The Colorado Education Initiative
and the Colorado Department of Education
surveyed teachers and principals in 26 districts
across the state about their experiences with
assessments and the data they provide. Unless
otherwise noted, the findings presented here
reflect the percentage of teachers or principals
who agree or strongly agree.1

Preliminary results of a recent survey conducted in 26 districts by The Colorado Education Initiative and the Colorado Department
of Education suggest that the majority of teachers have access to different types of student learning, performance, and growth
data. They use these data in a variety of ways to improve student outcomes. However, the results also indicate that there is room for
improvement in developing measures of student learning for teacher evaluations. Districts should consider involving more teachers
in selecting measures of student learning used in their evaluations. Those who participate in the selection have dramatically more
positive perceptions of these measures and report that they use the data to inform their practice.

“I think
formative assessments
are very helpful. By the
time we get TCAP scores,
it is too late to make
adjustments.”
– Elementary
teacher

Alignment with the Colorado Academic Standards
Nearly three-quarters of teachers see alignment between the assessments their students take and the
Colorado Academic Standards. Interestingly, this percentage is slightly lower than the percentage of
teachers reporting that they see alignment in their district’s policies on assessments and standards
(see Connection with Other Initiatives).

Teacher Access to Data

Overall, most teachers report having access to student data, either by receiving data or finding the
data on their own (see Figure 1). These findings are similar to baseline data collected in 2013. The
majority of teachers (65 percent) also report that they receive student data in time to inform classroom and
instructional decisions. Teachers have the least access to data for making comparisons with similar schools, teachers, and students.

Figure 1. Teacher Access to Student Learning, Performance, and Growth Data

Classlevel data

S

S

New/
incoming
students

Similar
schools

24%
28%

28%
41%

1

parison dat
a
om
C
Similar
students

20%
29%

parison dat
a
om
C

:

parison dat
a
om
C

:

28%
41%

nt-level da
de
ta
tu

:

1

Former
students

Find this information on their own

:

45%
51%

nt-level da
de
ta
tu

:

nt-level da
de
ta
tu
Current
students

48%
33%

62%
30%

:

S

47%
48%

Receive this information

Districtlevel data

Schoollevel data

Similar
teachers

18%
25%

Most responses have a four-point scale: strongly agree, agree, disagree, and strongly disagree. If responses also include a neutral option, all responses are presented in the accompanying figures.