Douglas County students scored higher on the Colorado Measures of Academic Success tests last year than most others in the state and earned higher scores than before the pandemic.

The 2023 CMAS scores show 61.6% of Douglas County School District students met or exceeded expectations in English language arts, and 50.7% of students met or exceeded expectations in math.

Douglas County’s scores are well above the state average of 43.7% of students meeting or exceeding expectations in English language arts and 32.9% doing so in math. The district also did better than surrounding districts, including Cherry Creek School District, Denver Public Schools and JeffCo School District. 

Superintendent Erin Kane said the district is incredibly proud of the students and staff for achieving these results.

“Our educators in our district absolutely killed it,” Kane said. “We are so proud of our kids, who worked really hard.”

2023 CMAS graphs

Compared to other school districts, Douglas County students had the fifth highest English language arts performance and the sixth highest math performance in the state. 

The district’s Learning Services Officer Matt Reynolds said it’s exciting to see the prioritization of improving literacy pay off in the scores.

“Our academic growth, based on academic peers, is continuing to grow” Reynolds said.

At a district level, scores showed some gaps exist. Students who qualify for free or reduced lunch had lower performance levels than other students, with 33% meeting or exceeding expectations in English and 21% doing so in math.

Similarly, 20% of students in special education met or exceeded expectations in English and 16% did so in math. 

White, Asian and mixed race students received higher scores in English and math than students who are Native, Hispanic, Black or Pacific Islander.

Overall test scores this year were higher than previous years, which Reynolds said shows students have recovered learning loss experienced during the pandemic.

“It’s an anomaly that we have kept that progress from pre-2020 to post-2020, which is a huge celebration,” he said.

School board directors said they were delighted with the results of this year’s testing and grateful for the work that has gone into maintaining high scores.

“Congratulations to our entire system, this really is amazing news,” board member Susan Meek said. 

School board President Mike Peterson and member David Ray also tied the results to the district’s ask for a $66 million mill levy override, which would go to increasing staff pay.

“Sustaining this amount of incredible success will be near impossible if we can’t attract and retain the staff that we have that made this possible,” Peterson said.