Boulder Valley students make math gains
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Boulder Valley middle schoolers made significant leaps in math this year, following the district's revamped curriculum and increased focus on the subject.
Why it matters: Boulder Valley School District's math push appears to be gaining traction, putting the district on track with a broader rebound across Colorado.
Driving the news: The state this week released scores from its annual language arts and math tests, known as the Colorado Measures of Academic Success, for students in third through eighth grade.
Zoom in: Boulder Valley followed the statewide math upswing, with middle school math proficiency rising 2.9 percentage points.
- The improvements were bigger for Hispanic students, up 4.5 percentage points, and multilingual learners, up 4.6 points.
- Elementary reading proficiency rose 1.2 points.
- Overall, 65.3% of BVSD students met or exceeded expectations in English language arts, while 56.1% did so in math.
Between the lines: Hispanic and multilingual middle schoolers in BVSD posted some of the district’s biggest improvements.
- But gaps remain. Hispanic, Black and multilingual students, as well as students from lower-income families, still lag their peers, per the district.
- That mirrors the statewide trend, with historically underserved students struggling particularly in math.
Zoom out: Math scores improved in every tested grade statewide in 2026, according to Chalkbeat Colorado.
- Elementary literacy also gained ground, particularly in fourth and fifth grades.
Middle school English was a weak spot statewide, with proficiency falling in grades six, seven and eight.
The bottom line: Boulder Valley’s math gains suggest progress is reaching students who have historically trailed their peers — but sizable achievement gaps remain.
- “We can celebrate the tremendous achievement happening across BVSD while also being clear-eyed about where we still have work to do,” superintendent Rob Anderson said in a statement.