The Light Bearer

How Black students are performing in Colorado schools

In Colorado, 24.5% of Black students are proficient in math at the typical school — against 45.2% of White students. Within Adams-Arapahoe 28J alone, the gap between the best and worst schools for Black children is 80 points. This tool helps you find the right one.

Search Colorado schools ›
31.4%
All students
26.7%
Black
23.6%
Hispanic
46.2%
White
49.1%
Asian

Share of students meeting proficient at the typical Colorado school. Groups are shown wherever Colorado reports them; a group is omitted from a school when too few students were tested to report safely.

These figures come from CMAS 2025, measuring proficient in ELA & Math · Grades 3–8. Across 15 districts, 195 Colorado schools report enough results to be included.

At the typical Colorado school the picture is black students at 26.7%, hispanic students at 23.6%, white students at 46.2% and asian students at 49.1%. That is a 25.5-point spread between the highest and lowest group, inside the same schools, the same districts and the same state — which is what this tool exists to make visible.

What the Colorado data shows

Opportunity
89.1 %

at Aurora Quest K-8 in Adams-Arapahoe 28J

Across 175 Black student results — the strongest in the state at scale. Challenge School in Cherry Creek reaches 86.5% across 126. Two schools showing the ceiling is not fixed.

Disparity
80.4 pts

gap between the best and worst schools for Black students in Adams-Arapahoe 28J

Aurora Quest K-8 reaches 89.1%. East Middle School, in the same district, sits at 8.7%. Across 36 schools in one district, a child's address decides which end they land on.

Statewide
29 pts

separates Black and White students in Colorado math

19.7% of Black students are proficient, against 48.7% of White students. Reading is 28.8 points.

Where Black students are doing best in Colorado

These are the schools where Black students most often meet proficient, among those with at least 25 Black student results reported. Every group's result is shown alongside, because a school that serves one group well and another poorly is telling you something too.

SchoolAllBlackHispanicWhiteAsian
Aurora Quest K-8Adams-Arapahoe 28J 90.5% 89.1% 88.2% 93.3%
Challenge SchoolCherry Creek 5 Magnet 91.1% 86.5% 91.4% 94.8%
Cherry Creek Charter AcademyCherry Creek 5 Charter 82.4% 77.6% 79.8% 88.2%
Rocky Mountain Prep CreeksideDenver County 1 Charter 48.5% 65.9% 29.3% 59.5%
American AcademyDouglas County Re 1 Charter 69.5% 63.9% 60.8% 66.5% 81.2%
Indian Ridge Elementary SchoolCherry Creek 5 62.2% 58.5% 50% 66.8% 65.6%
Black Forest Hills Elementary SchoolCherry Creek 5 63.9% 57.1% 46.2% 66.7% 72%
Aurora Frontier K-8Adams-Arapahoe 28J 53.4% 55.7% 37% 65.9% 66.9%
William (Bill) Roberts ECE-8 SchoolDenver County 1 80.1% 53.1% 62% 85.8% 71.8%
DSST: Cedar Middle SchoolDenver County 1 Charter 62.4% 52.1% 44.7% 77.8%

Flags show magnet, charter, alternative and virtual schools. Some campuses — early college and specialized academies among them — also admit by application, and this page cannot yet identify all of them. Check with the district before assuming a school is open to your address.

Where Black students are struggling most

The same measure at the other end of the range. In many of these schools every group is falling short, which points at the school rather than at the students in it.

SchoolAllBlackHispanicWhiteAsian
Joe Shoemaker SchoolDenver County 1 13.9% 7.9% 8.6% 33.3%
East Middle SchoolAdams-Arapahoe 28J 8.2% 8.7% 7.4% 13.6% 20.5%
Wildflower Elementary SchoolHarrison 2 21.9% 8.8% 18.3% 42.6%
Virginia Court Elementary SchoolAdams-Arapahoe 28J 13.4% 8.8% 11.1% 34.1%
Marrama Elementary SchoolDenver County 1 14.5% 9.6% 15.7% 30.4%
Aurora Hills Middle SchoolAdams-Arapahoe 28J 9.6% 9.7% 6.9% 25.3% 23.3%
Mrachek Middle SchoolAdams-Arapahoe 28J 13.9% 9.9% 10.6% 18.4%
Aurora West College Preparatory AcademyAdams-Arapahoe 28J 3% 10% 4.4%
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Early CollegeDenver County 1 14.3% 10.5% 12.3% 36.6%
Lansing Elementary Community SchoolAdams-Arapahoe 28J 10% 10.7% 8.5%

One district, two outcomes

In Adams-Arapahoe 28J, Aurora Quest K-8 reports 89.1% of Black students meeting the standard. East Middle School, in the same district, reports 8.7%. That is a 80.4-point spread across 36 schools under one administration, serving one community, funded by one tax base — the clearest illustration of why address matters more than it should.

Colorado districts

Districts with at least ten schools reporting Black student results, by school count. The percentage shown is the average across that district's schools for Black students.

Denver County 1 — 55 schools, 24.3% average
Adams-Arapahoe 28J — 36 schools, 24.8% average
Cherry Creek 5 — 35 schools, 31.8% average
Harrison 2 — 9 schools, 23.2% average
Colorado Springs 11 — 7 schools, 25.6% average
Widefield 3 — 6 schools, 24.6% average
District 49 — 5 schools, 30.2% average
Fountain 8 — 5 schools, 20.6% average
Charter School Institute — 4 schools, 24.1% average
Academy 20 — 3 schools, 34.6% average
Greeley 6 — 3 schools, 36.9% average
School District 27J — 3 schools, 38.9% average
Douglas County Re 1 — 1 schools, 63.9% average
Fort Morgan Re-3 — 1 schools, 29.7% average
Jefferson County R-1 — 1 schools, 28% average
How these averages are calculated. The figures above average across Colorado schools, giving each school equal weight. They describe the typical school, not the state's tested population, and will differ from the headline figure CMAS 2025 publishes — that one weights every student equally, so larger schools count for more. Use the state's own published figure when citing a statewide number.

How to read the school data. Colorado suppresses results for groups with too few students tested — 195 schools have reportable Black student results. Coverage is grades 3–8; high schools are not included. This ranking reflects the 2024–25 administration, grades 3–8. Results are refreshed annually as new data is published. Because every state sets its own proficiency standard, Colorado's figures should not be compared directly against another state's.

Other states

Texas Alabama Florida Georgia Illinois Louisiana Mississippi Minnesota Missouri Virginia Ohio California District of Columbia Delaware Connecticut Indiana Kentucky Massachusetts Maryland Michigan New Jersey Nevada New York Oklahoma Pennsylvania Washington Wisconsin North Carolina South Carolina Tennessee