News Release - Colorado announces additional CMAS testing-time reductions, marking a decrease of more than one-third since 2015

Nov. 2, 2026

DENVER – The Colorado Department of Education is continuing its efforts to reduce the amount of time students spend taking state assessments, announcing additional reductions for spring 2027 that will shorten Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) mathematics and science testing from three sessions to two. The changes will reduce maximum testing time for each subject by approximately 23% compared with 2026.

The latest changes build on more than a decade of efforts to make statewide testing more efficient while prioritizing time for classroom instruction. With these changes, Colorado will have reduced maximum CMAS testing time by approximately 35% to 36% across grades three through eight since 2015. The changes are detailed in a comprehensive study submitted to the Colorado General Assembly.

CMAS Maximum Testing Time by Grade, 2015–2027

“Colorado has made significant progress in reducing state assessment testing time over the years,” said Colorado Education Commissioner Susana Córdova. “Our goal is to make statewide testing as efficient as possible while preserving the unique information these assessments provide about student learning.”

Statewide assessments provide unique information about how well students are meeting Colorado's grade-level academic expectations. In addition to helping families and educators understand individual student performance, they provide a consistent measure of achievement and growth across schools, districts and student groups. This information helps identify strengths, highlight opportunities for improvement and monitor progress over time, supporting informed decisions to improve student outcomes.

State-required assessments account for only a portion of the testing students experience throughout the school year. Schools and districts also administer locally selected assessments to monitor student progress and support instruction. While testing time is often discussed collectively, distinguishing between state-required and locally selected assessments helps put Colorado's progress in reducing statewide testing time into perspective.

What's changing in spring 2027

Students in grades three through eight will have fewer CMAS testing sessions, with students in grades five and eight benefiting from reductions in both mathematics and science. These changes will be made without removing test questions, reducing the academic content assessed or changing the information reported to families and educators.

Fewer testing sessions will also help preserve instructional time and simplify test administration for schools, including scheduling, proctoring, technology coordination and make-up testing.

Research and stakeholder input guide improvements

The changes follow a comprehensive study required by House Bill 25-1278 that examined shorter assessments, computer adaptive testing and opportunities to improve test administration. CDE worked with technical experts and Colorado education stakeholders to evaluate opportunities to reduce testing time. Stakeholders emphasized the value of fewer testing sessions to simplify scheduling, proctoring and make-up testing, while prioritizing reliable achievement and growth results and detailed reporting on student performance. These priorities helped guide the changes planned for 2027.

The study found that removing test content to reduce testing time could decrease the precision of results and limit the detailed performance information available to families and educators. Computer adaptive testing also did not demonstrate substantial time savings while maintaining Colorado's expectations for assessment content coverage and detailed reporting.

Instead, detailed analyses of actual student testing times identified opportunities to reduce scheduled testing time and the number of sessions while preserving assessment content and detailed reporting. The revised time allowances were informed by how long students actually take to complete the assessments, with a focus on providing sufficient time for students to thoughtfully respond to questions without feeling rushed.

“Our focus has been on making the most of the time students spend testing while preserving the meaningful information these assessments provide,” said Christina Wirth-Hawkins, CDE's Chief Assessment Officer. “By listening to educators and examining how students actually use their testing time, we've identified meaningful improvements that simplify test administration, prioritize classroom instruction, and maintain the quality and usefulness of assessment results.”

Continuing the work

Colorado's state assessment system has evolved significantly since 2015, with improvements extending well beyond testing time. Colorado educators contribute throughout the assessment development process to help ensure test content is aligned to the Colorado Academic Standards, appropriate for students and accessible to multilingual learners and students with disabilities. Student engagement sessions have provided valuable perspectives to help make assessment content more relevant to Colorado's diverse student population.

Improvements to reporting timelines have also made results available earlier, with student-level results available by the end of May in 2026 to better support instructional planning and decision-making. Looking ahead, CDE will monitor the spring 2027 changes and continue identifying opportunities to strengthen assessment quality, efficiency and usefulness.

Additional House Bill 25-1278 studies examine school and district accountability 

In addition to the assessment shortening study, CDE submitted two other reports required by House Bill 25-1278 to the Colorado General Assembly. These studies examined approaches to accountability for small schools and districts and opportunities to make school and district performance information more accessible through an enhanced accountability dashboard. Together, the reports reflect Colorado's continued commitment to strengthening its assessment and accountability systems through research, stakeholder input and ongoing improvement.

The three reports addressing all four study requirements under H.B. 25-1278 are available on CDE's website. 

Explore CMAS resources

Families, educators and community members can explore public CMAS results, access individual student score reports, and view sample test questions, scoring rubrics and reporting resources. Colorado educators can also help shape future assessments by signing up to participate in CMAS development committees.

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