- State leaders disagreed over funding of new annual exams in the 2012 legislature, with Gov. John Hickenlooper declining to include the $25 million cost of new test development in his budget request. The result is TCAP is expected to be administered through at least 2014 and State Board of Education members must commit to one of two groups developing multi-state exams. Latest story and more background.
Testing in transition: From CSAP to TCAP and beyond
The Colorado Student Assessment Program, the state’s annual tests for more than a decade, was administered to students in grades 3 – 10 for the last time in spring 2011. CSAP was replaced by the TCAP – the Transitional Colorado Assessment Program – in spring 2012.
TCAP tests content common to both Colorado’s old Model Content Standards and its newly adopted Colorado Academic Standards. It will assess the same subjects and grades as the CSAP.
In spring 2013 and 2014, students will again take the TCAP plus they’ll see some pilot items from the new – as yet unnamed – state exams to be rolled out in spring 2015.
State Board of Education members unanimously adopted attributes of the new state exams in December 2010, including:
- Adding tests for students in preschool through grade 2 to check their readiness
- Adding a social studies exam to be given once in elementary school, once in middle school and once in high school
- Adding interim exams in every grade to check progress, though results will not be used for accountability
Why the transition?
CSAP was phased out as part of the implementation of the 2008 Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids, or Senate Bill 08-212. Former Gov. Bill Ritter’s education initiative called for preparing all students for postsecondary and workforce readiness.
CAP4K led to the adoption of new state academic standards in 2009. The standards are “fewer, clearer and higher,” according to the Colorado Department of Education.
“The transitional test will encourage districts to move forward with their implementation of the new standards, while providing time for the preparation of students for the higher expectations to come,” said Jo O’Brien, assistant commissioner in the CDE’s Office of Standards and Assessment.
“It is important for students to have been taught the new standards, including new learning skills, by the time the new assessment is in place in 2014.”
The end of CSAP
CSAP began in 1997 with reading and writing tests for the state’s fourth-graders. Additional grades were added each year and math and science exams were added in 2000.
Creating, administering and grading the exams eventually became a $16 million annual expense for the state. The CDE’s most recent contract with CTB/McGraw-Hill totaled $83 million for years 2007-2011.
CSAP results became the basis – in large part – for various state efforts at rating schools, from the “excellent” to “unsatisfactory” ratings favored by former Gov. Bill Owens to the current accountability system with labels ranging from “performance” to “turnaround.” Search here for your school’s rating.
As CSAP evolved, so did the sophistication with which test results were viewed. Colorado’s Growth Model, which pulls apart the results to gauge individual student progress from one year to the next, will continue to be used with new exams.
Did CSAP improve student achievement for Colorado pupils? In recent years, the headlines from the state’s annual press conferences was often, “Flat results.”
But statewide results did improve over the duration of the tests. In 1997, 55 percent of the state’s fourth-graders scored proficient or advanced in reading. In 2010, it was 66 percent. Writing results improved even more – the percent of fourth-graders achieving proficiency in 1997 was 38 percent, growing to 56 percent in 2011.
Math and science exams were added later. In 2000, the first math and science tests were given to the state’s eighth-graders. That year, 35 percent of eighth-graders scored proficient or advanced in math. In 2010, 51 percent of eighth-graders achieved math proficiency.
Science standards changed in 2007 so comparisons are not possible back to 1997. In 2008, 46 percent of eighth-graders were proficient or advanced in math and, by 2011, the figure was 49 percent.
Interactive Charts & Resources
EdNews coverage of state test results
- 2012 – TCAP reading results reveal trends (third-grade reading results only; additional results expected July 2012)
- 2011 – CSAP results mostly flat – again
- 2010 – Scores go up, scores go down
- 2010 – CSAP analysis: Signs of reform taking hold?
- 2010 – State testing mishap in Adams Five Star
EdNews coverage of changes in state testing
- Testing bill passes state Senate – May 1, 2012
- State Board of Education unconvinced on new tests – April 28, 2012
- Education angst, including testing costs, bared at Joint Budget Committee meeting – Dec. 16, 2011
- State Board previews tests of the future – Nov. 10, 2011
- Key surprises in governor’s budget include no new money for state tests – Nov. 1, 2011
- State Board of Education crosses fingers on new tests – Sept. 14, 2011
- Lawmakers zero in on testing – Jan. 26, 2011
- State Board of Education adopts framework for new state tests – Dec. 6, 2010
- Boards endorse social studies CSAPs – Nov. 29, 2010
Other resources on Colorado’s evolving state testing
- Colorado Department of Education assessment revision homepage
- Colorado Department of Education CSAP results homepage
- See the attributes for the new assessment system adopted Dec. 6, 2010 by the State Board of Education
- Read the CDE’s April 15, 2011 press release about revisions to the state testing system
