The State Board of Education has come around on CMAS

The State Board of Education, in a 4-3 vote last night, voted to reject the recommended scoring system on the CMAS tests that Colorado high school seniors took last fall. Per The Denver Post:

The move means that families, schools and districts awaiting the results of tests taken last fall will not get them -- at least soon -- and gives the state no way to use the tests in its accountability system, state officials say.

The board members who voted in favor of the motion cited "concerns that too many students would fall short of expectations, that students were tested on subjects [that] weren't taught, and also questioned the makeup and formation of the committee that set the so-called cut scores."

These are, of course, very similar to the concerns we students expressed about the tests last fall. For instance, we pointed out that economics was tested, despite not being a required course for Colorado high school students. From the Denver Post:

[Board member Steve] Durham said it's fundamentally unfair to test students on subjects they have not had the opportunity to learn. Most high schools do not teach economics, he said, and the proposal was to base more than a fourth of a social [studies] score based on that subject. He said it would lead to an unfair characterization that we really have a bunch of social studies illiterates in the state.

Essentially this move means that, for now, the state, districts, teachers, parents, and students won't use these scores.  We hope this is a step toward eliminating the CMAS test entirely.