CMAS/SPF 2026 Results: progress in some places, challenges remain across 27J Schools

The 2025–26 school year brought a renewed focus on improving middle school academic performance, but the 2026 results show a more nuanced picture across 27J Schools. While several individual schools made meaningful gains, elementary and middle school performance remains uneven, and districtwide achievement continues to trail state averages in several tested grades and subjects.

The Colorado Department of Education released CMAS results from the annual tests administered this past spring as well as School Performance Ratings last month.  

Here are key notes about this year’s overall CMAS results.

• The district saw year-to-year drops in most elementary categories by an average of 2.5 percentage points with the exception of 4th-grade English Language Arts (ELA) where student achievement increased by 1.7 percentage points. 
• These drops followed 2025 when elementary grades saw noticeable gains in ELA and math at each grade level as well as science (5th grade).
• At the middle school level, student achievement dipped across most testing categories by an average of 2.7 percentage points with the exception of 7th-grade math where students stayed mainly even.
• Eleventh-grade students taking the evidence-based reading and writing SAT test and 10th and 11th grade students taking the math PSAT/SAT held mostly steady compared to 2025 results.

Visit 2026 CMAS Results Breakdown, which includes a more detailed look at how 27J Schools performed.

School Performance Ratings released

The Colorado Department of Education released preliminary school ratings Aug. 31. The ratings, also known as school performance frameworks (SPFs), are part of the state’s school accountability system and are used to accredit school districts and assign school ratings. 

Here's a quick review of our results and how to learn more.

Among district-managed schools, this year's ratings included 15 schools in the green Performance or yellow Improvement tier - one school shy of last year’s numbers.

• Five district elementary schools - Brantner, Northeast, Padilla, Reunion and Second Creek - maintained their Performance ratings. A small number of elementary schools moved down in ratings, either to Improvement - Henderson, Pennock, Southeast, Southlawn and Thimmig or to Priority Improvement - West Ridge.  
• Discovery Magnet K-8, the only district-managed magnet school, maintained a Performance rating.  
• Quist Middle School moved up to the Performance level, while Prairie View, Overland Trail and Stuart middle schools also showed gains. Stuart moved from Priority Improvement to Improvement.  
• Riverdale Ridge maintained its Performance rating, while Brighton and Prairie View high schools retained their Improvement ratings. 

The state’s Accountability Clock is a designation for schools and districts that receive the two lowest ratings (priority improvement or turnaround). If a school or district has been on the Accountability Clock for five consecutive years, the state board directs a course of action. 

27J Online Academy is on year two of performance watch with a Turnaround rating. Vikan Middle School is on year five of performance watch with a rating of Priority Improvement. Overland Trail Middle School maintained an improvement rating in 2026 so they are no longer on performance watch.

Stuart Middle School is on year 6 of performance watch with a Improvement rating. Stuart’s status as a turnaround school has meant additional oversight and review from the Colorado Department of Education. In 2026, Stuart underwent a review from a state panel of education experts, and a state accountability hearing before the state board. 

Academic Dashboard

CMAS results are just one piece of the 27J student data picture and academic achievement is one way the district measures students’ success. District Common Assessments, administered at intervals throughout the school year, offer a more real-time view of student academic growth and feedback.

The district also factors student academic achievement and the performance of schools into a larger equation known as its Performance Dashboard. In the Dashboard, academic achievement is one piece of data and is considered alongside school climate and culture; parent and staff survey results; Social Emotional Learning and behavior. The Dashboard is meant to create a more robust picture of student and school achievement and also serves as the tool for the Board of Education to measure the district’s progress toward academic goals.