Students in the Moffat County School District have been bettering their test scores. In a release from the district, students improved their scores in testing for the Colorado Measures of Academic Success for all areas of testing and all grades. Scores improved by 26% in English-Language Arts, and 33% in Math.

 

Here are more details in a press release from Moffat County School District; Aug. 23, 2024.

 

For immediate release: Moffat County School District students make notable strides with improved state testing results

 

CRAIG, CO — Moffat County School District students scored better in 2023-2024 in every area tested by Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) testing than the previous year, marking the most across-the-board improvement in a single school year since at least before the pandemic. Students improved their scores in all tested content areas: English-Language Arts (ELA), Math, and Science. This exceptional improvement across all areas of testing and all grades simultaneously is truly a notable feat.

 

While growth is still needed to catch up to state averages in some areas, district students’ achievement gap with the state closed substantially, demonstrating that the district is moving forward.

 

“It’s so exciting to see students making these strides in our schools,” said Maggie Bruski, MCSD Executive Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. “It speaks to the effort and ability of our kids, as well as to the enormous energy and work that has been spent by our instructional and support staffs to improve opportunities for those kids to learn and master material. We’ve still got work to do, but it’s very encouraging to see that hard work already paying off. We’re moving in the right direction.”

 

The district increased the percentage of students who met or exceeded expectations in ELA by 7 percentage points, a 26% improvement. It increased the percentage of students who met or exceeded expectations in Math by 5 percentage points, a 33% improvement. The 2023-2024 school year saw the highest percentage of students who met or exceeded expectations in Math since before the pandemic.

 

Only students in fifth, eighth and 11th grade are tested in Science for CMAS, but the district saw improvement in that sample, too. Students at the high school increased the percentage meeting or exceeding expectations by more than 10 percentage points. At the middle school, the Overall Mean Score met the state’s average, completely closing that grade’s six-point gap from the previous school year. And in fifth grade, students gained on the state by three points in Overall Mean Score.

 

“I am truly pleased to have taken over such a growth-minded team here in MCSD as the new Superintendent,” said Superintendent Dr. Mathew Neal. “The role of administration is to provide the tools and resources our exceptional teaching staff need to be successful, and in looking at these scores, it really seems we are on the right track. I am looking to support our teams moving forward with even more of the right ingredients through the professional learning communities we already have working this year. This will allow educators to continue to springboard off this notable achievement into next with intentions for increased achievement for a second year in a row.”

 

Looking to the future, Math mastery remains the top academic priority in the district, a need reinforced by this data.

 

“We are really proud, even as we recognize that we have work to do,” said Bre Ford, Student Programs Coordinator. “The district increased the percentage of students meeting or exceeding expectations in each subject, but the numbers still reveal a great deal of opportunity to improve. I’m looking forward to seeing this growth continue.”

 

The district is implementing several aggressive strategies to improve math instruction across the district to increase students’ mastery to higher levels, but the improvement from two years ago to last year’s results are extremely encouraging. It’s reasonable to expect this process to take some time, but students are already responding to district-wide efforts to improve outcomes.

 

CMAS data is measured in both achievement and growth metrics. The latter will be released to districts later this month.

 

The work is not over for Moffat County School District, and the district’s expectations remain much higher than its most recent results. However, it’s important to celebrate progress, and that’s exactly what’s been demonstrated in the previous school year’s CMAS data.