Recently released TCAP scores show steady improvements made by Adams County School District 50. The results were released throughout the state Aug. 8, and in the case of District 50, 19 out of 27 testing categories showed improvements for students across all grade levels.

According to the Colorado Department of Education, District 50 was the only turnaround or improvement district to show “statistically significant” increases in the percentage of students testing proficient or advanced in all four categories: reading, writing, math and science.

The district also improved or maintained its scores in all assessments at the elementary level and reading improved across nearly all tested grade levels.

Chief Education Officer Oliver Grenham is pleased with the results but said there is still work yet to be done. Over the past couple of years, Grenham said the teachers and the administrators in the district have focused on their competency based system, analyzing data to find out where each student is in the learning process. The teachers are also focused on individualized instruction to help take each student get to the next level.

“The teachers are really digging into that data on each and every student,” he said. “Teachers are having conversations around the data, and finding ways to take student to the next level, as well as creating action plans from the data.”

Grenham said there has been a lot of anticipation surrounding the results of the tests. Instead of dreading the results, Grenham said most teachers are looking forward to seeing the results.

“This is a new kind of attitude towards the TCAP results,” he said. “Because of the data the teachers gather throughout the year, they are able to predict the results for the TCAP tests. So there is some excitement there.”

Superintendent Pamela Swanson said the results show that the district’s focus on rigor and accountability is paying off, especially at the elementary level. With school starting on Aug. 27, Swanson said the improving test scores are a reminder to students that work still needs to be done to ensure that all of the students are reaching higher levels in their education.

“We are pleased with our progress but know a lot of work is still ahead of us,” she said. “While we believe we are on the right track, steady incremental progress will be the true measure of success.”

TCAP, Transitional Colorado Assessment Program, measures student proficiency in math, reading and writing in grades three through ten with inclusion of science in grades five, eight and ten. This year the TCAP tests replaced the Traditional Colorado Student Assessment Program.