State Mandated Assessments

English Language Development (ELD)

W-APT

• Assessment Purpose: W-APT™ which stands for the WIDA-ACCESS Placement Test is the screener used to assist in the identification of students, in Kindergarten through 12th grade, that qualify for English Language Development (ELD) programming.
• Results Used for: Information from the W-APT screener assists educators with programmatic placement decisions such as identification and placement of English Learners. The W-APT is one component of English Learner (EL) identification.

ACCESS 2.0

• Assessment Purpose: The ACCESS for ELL assessment is an English language proficiency assessment given to Kindergarten through 12th graders who have been identified as English learners (ELs). It is given annually to monitor students' progress in acquiring academic English.
• See more at www.cde.state.co.us/assessment/ela
• Results Used for: ACCESS for ELLs provides educators and parents information about the English Language proficiency level in the language domains of Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing.
   

School Readiness and Read Act

PALS

• Assessment Purpose: P.A.L.S. is a diagnostic assessment designed to determine whether a student has a significant reading deficiency. The READ Act (HB 12-1238) requires the use of an interim assessment to determine whether a student has a significant reading deficiency in grades K through 3.
• Results Used for: P.A.L.S. diagnostic results provide information for instructional specialists to design targeted and intensive instructional intervention plans for individual students to work toward achieving reading competency.   
   

TS GOLD (Teaching Strategies Gold)

• Assessment Purpose: The TS Gold Assessment is used in Kindergarten, to gather individual student information in multiple social/academic learning areas including; unique thinking, reasoning and language abilities, social-emotional well-being, and ability to understand reading and math concepts.
• See more at: http://teachingstrategies.com/about-us/
• Results Used for: Information from the TS Gold Assessment assists educators in designing a focused instructional program plan for the individual learning needs of each student. Teaching Strategies GOLD has shown to provide predictors of school readiness and future school success. 

Measurement of Yearly Progress

CMAS

• Assessment Purpose: The Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) are the state’s common measurement of students’ progress at the end of the school year in English language arts, math, science and social studies given to students in 3rd-8th grade. Designed to be administered online, the tests feature a variety of interactive questions that are more engaging and aligned with 21st-century teaching and learning practices. 
• See more at: www.cde.state.co.us/communications/cmasfactsheet
• Results Used for: With the new standards-aligned assessments, educators and parents will know how their students are performing and growing over time, and how they compare to their peers across the district and the state. In the case of the English language arts and math tests, students and parents will also be able to compare performance with students around the country.
   

The Colorado Alternate Assessments (CoAlt)

• Assessment Purpose: The Colorado Alternate Assessments (CoAlt) is administered to students in grades 3-11 with significant cognitive disabilities who are instructed and assessed on alternate achievement standards. A Student's IEP team makes the determination if a student qualifies for the alternate assessment following criteria provided by the Colorado Department of Education Exceptional Student Services Unit via the eligibility worksheet.  This standards-based assessment program is designed specifically for students with significant cognitive disabilities using the elements of universal design. For students who qualify to take alternate assessments.
• See more at:  www.cde.state.co.us/sites/default/files/documents/assessment/documents/parents/coalt_parent_brochure.pdf
• Results Used for: The CoAlt is an indicator of student progress toward the expanded academic standards which are linked to the Colorado Academic Standards in the content areas of English language arts, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. The assessment is meant to provide a picture of student performance to schools, districts, educators, parents and the community. The data should is used to keep abreast of individual student progress toward attaining achievement in the content areas. 

College Readiness   

PSAT-9

PSAT-10

• Assessment Purpose: The PSAT focuses on the knowledge, skills, and understandings that research has identified as most important for college and career readiness and success. In addition to helping 9course work. It provides more data than ever before about academic strengths and weaknesses as well as access to millions of dollars in scholarships.

SAT

• The SAT also serves as an admission test and is accepted by every college in the United States. At the time of testing, students can send their scores to up to four colleges for free. The SAT essay can also be taken as part of the Colorado school day SAT administration. The SAT essay is optional and voluntary and can be added at no cost to students. The SAT is given to all Assessment Purpose: The SAT focuses on the knowledge, skills, and understandings that research has identified as most important for college and career readiness and success. 11th grade students across the state.
    

District Assessments

NWEA MAP

• Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) creates a personalized assessment experience by adapting to each student’s learning level—precisely measuring student progress and growth for each individual student in grades 2 through 10.
• Assessment Purpose: See more at: www.nwea.org/assessments/map/#sthash.dtloy3z8.dpuf
• Results Used for:  Establishing instructional goals reflecting on local curriculum, assessing goal attainment, forecasting standards mastery, and using assessment information to guide differentiated instruction and professional development.