3rd Grade Reading: Students will read at grade level by the end of 3rd grade

Reading at grade level by the end of 3rd grade is an important indicator of a student’s chances of graduating from high school and succeeding in college. In third grade, students transition from learning to read to reading to learn. We are using the CMAS English Language Arts Assessment results to track progress in reading for students in 80214.

What is CMAS?

To accurately measure student mastery of 21st century college and career skills and expectations, Colorado adopted assessments that align with the Colorado Academic Standards. Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) assessments are the state’s common measurement tool of student progress at the end of the school year in English language arts (ELA), math, science and social studies.

CMAS Performance Levels

Each performance level is a broad, categorical level defined by a student’s overall scale score and is used to report overall student performance by describing how well students met the expectations for their grade level/course. Each performance level is defined by a range of overall scale scores for the assessment. According to the Colorado Department of Education, the top two CMAS performance levels (Met and Exceeded Expectations) are on track for college and career.

There are five performance levels for CMAS assessments:

Level 5: Exceeded exceptions
Level 4: Met expectations
Level 3: Approached expectations
Level 2: Partially met expectations
Level 1: Did not yet meet expectations