Colorado Education results show mixed progress in student achievement and growth for 2026
DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) -- The Colorado Department of Education released 2026 student achievement and growth results Wednesday, providing additional data on how students performed on statewide assessments administered this spring.
The results include achievement and growth data from the Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS), PSAT and SAT assessments, including results broken down by student groups.
The data shows math achievement increased in most elementary and middle school grades compared with 2025. Elementary English language arts scores also increased in fourth and fifth grades.
At the same time, achievement declined in middle school English language arts, while science results were largely unchanged in middle and high school. Fifth-grade science scores decreased from 39% to 36.1%.
In math, the percentage of students meeting or exceeding expectations increased in five of the six CMAS-tested grades between 2025 and 2026. Eighth grade recorded the largest increase, rising from 34.7% in 2025 to 37.8% in 2026.
Fourth-grade math increased from 36.5% to 39%, while seventh-grade math increased from 31.8% to 32.9%.
Third-grade math changed little, increasing from 41.2% to 41.5%. Fifth-grade math increased from 39.1% to 39.3%, and sixth-grade math rose from 31.4% to 32.7%.
In English language arts, fourth-grade achievement increased five percentage points, from 42% in 2025 to 47% in 2026. Fifth-grade achievement increased from 48% to 49.9%.
Achievement decreased in third through eighth grades in several middle and elementary ELA results. Third-grade ELA fell from 42% to 40.8%, while sixth-grade ELA declined from 44.2% to 41.6%.
Seventh-grade ELA fell from 48.8% to 46.6%, and eighth-grade ELA declined from 43.9% to 42.2%.
State officials said overall growth remained near statewide expectations in 2026. Math growth increased among several student groups, including multilingual learners, students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, students with individualized education programs and students from historically underserved racial and ethnic groups.
The Department of Education said students performing below grade-level expectations will need accelerated growth over time to close those gaps.
The department identified middle school English language arts and science as areas requiring continued attention.
State education officials cited several ongoing efforts aimed at improving student outcomes, including implementation of the Colorado READ Act and Science of Reading, statewide mathematics initiatives, high-impact tutoring and expanded learning programs.
The 2026 results are available by state, district and school through the Colorado Department of Education. Families can access individual CMAS results through the Family Score Report Portal, while PSAT and SAT results are available through students’ College Board accounts.
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