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Assessments of Learning

In Thompson School District, we encourage students to participate in assessments.

Student assessments provide information about student learning and progress over time on standards and college & career readiness. Educators monitor individual student progress and the effectiveness of instructional strategies. Throughout the year, students are given required assessments that fulfill legislative requirements or district guidelines.

A brief overview of the assessment including what subjects are assessed, when and how long the student is assessed, and how the assessment is used is included below. Greater details about the assessments can be found on the CDE's Assessment Webpage.

Assessment Benefits

Student success

An apples-to-apples comparison with other districts allows us to see where TSD students are performing well, and where the district needs to improve in order to help students perform better. Teachers also use the data to refine their instruction for individual students.

Curriculum and resources

The data provides TSD educators with the insight they need to choose curriculum and to allocate resources to better meet students’ needs, including meeting our goal to narrow the achievement and opportunity gap.

School and District Reputation

The scores determine the designation the state gives our school. Lower designations may impact a school’s reputation. The better we do on our tests, the better our grades on sites like CDE’s SchoolView, Niche, School Grades, etc. These grades are, in part, what prospective parents use to compare us with other schools in the area – and a pride point for our school community.

Thompson students consistently perform above the state average on the tests mandated by the State of Colorado. This high performance bolsters the reputation of TSD, which benefits everyone, especially our graduates.

For these reasons, please have your students participate and encourage them to show us their best!

TSD State and District Assessment Schedule

CMAS (ELA and Math) – 3rd through 8th grade students

  • Subjects: English Language Arts and Mathematics
  • Testing Window: April 8 - April 26th 2024 (dates vary by school)
  • Time for Administration: Varies by grade and assessment level, 8 to 10 hours
  • Purpose: Elementary and Secondary Education Act and State Accountability
  • Day(s) of testing: 2 to 5 days depending on grade
  • Required by: Federal and State
  • Use of Results: Measure student performance and growth in the Colorado Academic Standards, determine instructional needs for students, placement in some academic programs, Educator Effectiveness
  • Alternate Assessment for Students with Cognitive Disabilities: Dynamic Learning Maps

CMAS (Science) – 5th, 8th, and 11th grade students

  • Testing Window: April 8 - April 26th 2024 (dates vary by school)
  • High School Early Testing Window: April 1 - April 19th 2024 (dates vary by school)
  • Time for Administration: Varies by grade and assessment level, 3 to 4 hours
  • Purpose: Elementary and Secondary Education Act and State Accountability
  • Day(s) of testing: 1 to 2 days depending on grade
  • Required by: Federal and State
  • Use of Results: Measure student performance and growth in the Colorado Academic Standards, determine instructional needs for students, placement in some academic programs, Educator Effectiveness
  • Alternate Assessment for Students with Cognitive Disabilities: CoAlt

CO PSAT (College Preparatory Exam) - 9th and 10th grade students

  • Subjects: Reading, Writing/Language, Math
  • Testing Date: April 17, 2024
  • Time for Administration: 2 hours and 24 minutes (with breaks)
  • Purpose: Elementary and Secondary Education Act and State Accountability
  • Day(s) of testing: 1 day
  • Required by: Federal and State
  • Use of Results: Measure student performance and readiness for college and career. Instructional needs for students, placement in some academic programs, Educator Effectiveness.
  • Alternate Assessment for Students with Cognitive Disabilities: Dynamic Learning Maps

CO SAT (College Entrance Exam) - 11th grade students

  • Subjects: Reading, Writing/Language, Math
  • Testing Window Date: April 17, 2024
  • Time for Administration: 2 hours and 24 minutes (with breaks)
  • Purpose: Elementary and Secondary Education Act and State Accountability
  • Day(s) of testing: 1 day
  • Required by: Federal and State
  • Use of Results: Measure student performance and readiness for college and career, determine instructional needs for students, Educator Effectiveness
  • Alternate Assessment for Students with Cognitive Disabilities: Dynamic Learning Maps

Teaching Strategies Gold – Kindergarten

  • Testing Dates: October 20, February 2 and May 3
  • Time for Administration: Observational throughout the window
  • Purpose: Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids (School Readiness Plan)
  • Day(s) of testing: ongoing observation
  • Required by: State
  • Use of Results: Determine School Readiness

i-Ready Reading – Grades K - 12

  • Testing Window: August 21 – September 13, November 27 – December 15, April 29 – May 17 (dates vary by school)
  • Time for Administration: 45 minutes to 1 hour
  • Purpose: Colorado READ Act & District Literacy Assessment
  • Day(s) of testing: 3 days, one for each window
  • Required by: State of Colorado for 1st, 2nd, 3rd Graders and Kindergarten students on a READ plan; District for 4th-10th grade students and District for 11th and 12th grade students on a READ plan.
  • Use of Results: Determine instructional needs of students in reading skills, used to determine if a student qualifies for a READ plan as defined by CDE for grades 2 & 3, or is making progress towards grade level standards in grades 4th – 12th.

i-Ready Math – Grades K - 12

  • Testing Windows: August 21 – September 13, November 27 – December 15, April 22 – May 9 (dates vary by school)
  • Time for Administration: 45 minutes to 1 hour
  • Purpose: District Math Assessment
  • Day(s) of testing: 3 days, one for each window
  • Required by: District
  • Use of Results: Determine instructional needs of students and ensure they are making progress towards grade level standards in grades 1st – 12th. 

Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAt) – Grade 2

  • Testing Window: September - October (dates vary by school)
  • Time for Administration: 2.5 hours
  • Purpose: Gifted and Talented Identification
  • Day(s) of testing: 3 days
  • Required by: State
  • Use of Results: Identification of possible qualifications for Gifted and Talented services

Wida Access 2.0 – Kindergarten through 12th Multilingual Learners (ML)

  • Testing Window: January 8 – February 9, 2024 (dates vary by school)
  • Time for Administration: 3 to 4 hours
  • Purpose: English Language Acquisition Proficiency and Growth
  • Day(s) of testing: 4 days
  • Required by: Federal and State
  • Use of Results: Measures ML Students’ progress in acquiring academic English in the areas of: social and instructional language, language or science, language of social studies, language of language arts and the language of math

Pearson Tell

  • Testing Window: January 8 – February 9, 2024 (dates vary by school)
  • Time for Administration: 3 to 4 hours
  • Purpose: English Language Acquisition Proficiency and Growth
  • Day(s) of testing: 4 days
  • Required by: Federal and State
  • Use of Results: Measures ML Students’ progress in acquiring academic English in the areas of: social and instructional language, language or science, language of social studies, language of language arts and the language of math 

District Assessments

  • Assesses content in classes in which the student is enrolled
  • Testing Windows: Vary depending on content area and grade level
  • Day(s) of testing: 1 - 2 days, varies depending on content area
  • Required by: District, per specific grade or course requirements
  • Use of Results: provides information about student learning and progress over time on standards and college & career readiness, monitor individual student progress, determine effectiveness of instructional strategies, Educator Effectiveness

2023-24 Assessments by Grade Level

Diagram outlining the tests by grade level