HB26-1353 • 2026

Student State Assessment in Social Studies

The act eliminates the requirement for the department of education (department) to administer a state assessment in social studies to elementary school students and specifies that the department is on

Budget Education Taxes

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: Rep. K. Brown, Rep. R. Taggart, Sen. J. Amabile, Sen. J. Bridges, Rep. E. Sirota, Sen. B. Kirkmeyer, Rep. L. Goldstein, Rep. T. Story, Sen. L. Cutter, Sen. T. Exum, Sen. C. Kipp, Sen. C. Kolker, Sen. W. Lindstedt, Sen. J. Marchman, Sen. K. Wallace
Last action: 2026-05-28
Official status: Governor Signed
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official text states the act takes effect 'upon passage,' but does not explicitly state which school year these testing changes apply to.

Changes to Social Studies Testing for Students

This law stops the state from requiring social studies tests for elementary students and requires testing only in seventh grade.

What This Bill Does

Removes the rule that required a social studies test for all elementary school students.
Requires the Department of Education to give a social studies test only to students in seventh grade at public schools.
Stops the requirement to test a sample group of public schools every year.
Reduces funding by $302,835 from the state education fund for testing programs if the 2026-27 budget bill becomes law.

Who It Names or Affects

Elementary school students who will no longer be required to take this specific state test.
Seventh-grade students in public schools who must now take the social studies assessment.
The Colorado Department of Education, which administers these tests and manages funding.

Terms To Know

State Assessment: A test given by the state to measure what students have learned in a subject.
Appropriation: Money that the government sets aside for a specific purpose, like testing programs.

Limits and Unknowns

The funding cut only happens if the state passes its budget bill for the 2026-27 school year.
School districts or charter schools not in the required sample may still request to give the test, but it is no longer mandatory.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

L.003

Second Reading

Lost [**]

Plain English: This amendment changes the grade level for a social studies test from seventh to tenth.

The bill would stop requiring state social studies tests in elementary school and instead require them starting in tenth grade.

The full text of the original bill is not provided, so it is unclear if other parts of the law were changed.
This amendment was voted down (lost) during its second reading, meaning this specific change did not become part of the final bill.

Bill History

2026-05-28 Governor
Governor Signed
2026-05-27 Governor
Sent to the Governor
2026-05-27 Senate
Signed by the President of the Senate
2026-05-27 House
Signed by the Speaker of the House
2026-04-16 Senate
Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments
2026-04-15 Senate
Senate Second Reading Special Order - Passed - No Amendments
2026-04-14 Senate
Senate Committee on Appropriations Refer Unamended to Senate Committee of the Whole
2026-04-13 Senate
Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Appropriations
2026-04-11 House
House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments
2026-04-09 House
House Third Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
2026-04-08 House
House Second Reading Special Order - Passed - No Amendments
2026-04-06 House
House Committee on Appropriations Refer Unamended to House Committee of the Whole
2026-04-02 House
Introduced In House - Assigned to Appropriations

Official Summary Text

The act eliminates the requirement for the department of education (department) to administer a state assessment in social studies to elementary school students and specifies that the department is only required to administer a state assessment in social studies to students enrolled in seventh grade in a public school.
The act also eliminates the requirement that the department administer a state assessment in social studies in a representative sample of public schools each year.
The act reduces by the appropriation made in the annual general appropriation act for the 2026-27 state fiscal year to the department of education from the state education fund for the statewide assessment program by $302,835.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

HOUSE BILL 26-1353
BY REPRESENTATIVE(S) Brown and Taggart, Sirota, Goldstein, Story;
also SENA TOR(S) Amabile and Bridges, Kirkmeyer, Cutter, Exum, Kipp,
Kolker, Lindstedt, Marchman, Wallace.
CONCERNING STATE-ADMINISTERED SOCIAL STUDIES ASSESSMENTS, AND, IN
CONNECTION THEREWITH, REDUCING AN APPROPRIATION.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
SECTION 1. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 22-7-1006.3, amend
(l)(a) introductory portion and (l)(a)(III) as follows:
22-7-1006.3. State assessments - administration - rules -
definitions.
(1) (a) Beginning in the 2015-16 school ,ear, The department of
education, in collaboration with local education providers, shall administer
the state assessments in the instructional areas of English language arts,
mathematics, science, and social studies, as adopted by the state board
pursuant to section 22-7-1006, as follows:
(III) The department shall administer a state assessment in social
Capital letters or bold & italic numbers indicate new material added to existing law; dashes
through words or numbers indicate deletions from existing law and such material is not part of
the act.
studies to students enrolled in publie elementary and middle schools
thrnughout the state. The department shall seleet the speeifie grades in
whieh to administer the state soeial studies assessment, ensuring that
students take the state soeial studies assessment onee in elementary sehool
and onee in middle sehool. The department shall administer the soeial
studies assessment required by this subseetion ( 1 )(a)(III) in a r epr esentati v e
sample ofpublie sehools eaeh sehool year, ensuring that it administers the
social studies assessment in eaeh publie sehool at least onee every three
years. A sehool distriet, fm one or more of the sehools of the sehool distriet
that are not ineluded in the r epr esentati v e sample, or a eharter sehool that
is not ineluded in the representative sample, may request that the
department administer the assessment in the distr iet sehool m eharter
sehool. The department shall administer the soeial studies assessment in the
requested sehool in the sehool year following the sehool year in whieh it
reeeives the request SEVENTH GRADE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS THROUGHOUT THE
STATE.
SECTION 2. Appropriation - adjustments to 2026 long bill.
(I) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, to implement this
act, the cash funds appropriation from the state education fund created in
section 17 ( 4 )(a) of article IX of the state constitution made in the annual
general appropriation act for the 2026-27 state fiscal year to the department
of education for the statewide assessment program is decreased by
$302,835.
(2) Subsection (I) of this section does not require a reduction of an
appropriation in the annual general appropriation act for the 2026-27 state
fiscal year if:
(a) The amount of the cash funds appropriation from the state
education fund made in the annual general appropriation act for the 2026-27
state fiscal year to the department of education for the statewide assessment
program is less than the amount of the adjustment required in subsection (I)
of this section; or
(b) The annual general appropriation act for the 2026-27 state fiscal
year does not include a cash funds appropriation from the state education
fund to the department of education for the statewide assessment program.
SECTION 3. Effective date. This act takes effect upon passage;
PAGE 2-HOUSE BILL 26-1353
except that section 2 of this act takes effect only if the annual general
appropriation act for the 2026-27 state fiscal year becomes law, in which
case section 2 takes effect upon the effective date of this act or of the annual
general appropriation act for state fiscal year 2026-27, whichever is later.
SECTION 4. Safety clause. The general assembly finds,
determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety or for appropriations for
PAGE 3-HOUSE BILL 26-1353
the support and maintenance of the departments of the state and state
institutions.
J~
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES
v~~
Vanessa Reilly
CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES
ames Rashad Coleman, Sr.
PRESIDENT OF
THE SENATE
Esther van Mourik
SECRETARY OF
THE SENATE
APPROVED ""'To VKcitu ~ 2 ;e-'{In 2.ID4i ev\- \ O: 30 c,)'n
(Dale and ime)
Jare
GOVE
PAGE 4-HOUSE BILL 26-1353