What is CMAS?
Colorado public-school students in grades 3 through 8 take the Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) in English Language Arts and Math each spring. Science CMAS is administered at grades 5, 8, and 11.
What does "% Met or Exceeded Expectations" mean?
It is the percentage of students at the school who scored at "Met Expectations" or "Exceeded Expectations" on the CMAS 5-level performance scale (Did Not Yet Meet, Partially Met, Approached, Met, Exceeded). Met and above is Colorado's grade-level benchmark. A higher number is better.
What does 19.9% mean for English Language Arts at Prairie Middle School?
It means about 19.9 percent of students tested at Prairie Middle School performed at grade level or above on the CMAS English Language Arts test in 2024-25. The statewide average for Colorado that year was 44.9%. The other students fell into the lower performance levels.
How is the state average calculated?
It is a weighted average, not a simple average of each school's number. We multiply each public school's score by how many of its students tested, add those together for all schools in Colorado, and divide by the total students tested that year. This way a big school with 1,500 students counts more than a small school with 50 students, which is the right way to ask "how did the typical student do this year?". District and county averages on this page use the same method, just scoped to that district or county.
Where does this data come from?
Colorado Department of Education (CDE), Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS). School-level overall results published annually by CDE. Headline metric is the cumulative "Met or Exceeded Expectations" rate (top 2 of CMAS's 5-level performance scale).
How often is it updated?
CMAS is administered once a year (spring). Results are released by the state in the summer or early fall. We refresh this page after each annual release.
