March 2024 CDE Update for Superintendents and BOCES Executive Directors

Welcome to the CDE Update! This monthly publication for district superintendents and BOCES directors will show you what is happening in key priority areas at CDE and include details on implementation, milestones, deadlines and resources.

If you have any feedback regarding the CDE Update, email [email protected].

Jump to guidance for supporting Muslim students during Ramadan

Dear Superintendents and BOCES directors,

It was wonderful to have a chance to see so many of you and your team members during the CASE Winter Leadership Conference! It is always great to listen to and learn from you, and I am particularly grateful for the folks who joined my collaborative dialogue sessions to discuss ongoing needs as we emerge from the pandemic and how ESSER funds–should any remaining funds be returned to CDE–could be used to address them in the short term.

If you need to adjust the budget for any of the funds in your 90% allocation, please reach out to our federal programs team - they are happy to help! If you have an allocation or grant under the 10% state set-aside and think you might not be able to spend it all, please reach out to your program team and CDE will help you to either adjust your budget to another allowable use or, if that is not possible, to adjust your award so that the funds can be reallocated for a different use in the state.

Updates from the 2023 legislative session

The CDE team is monitoring many bills during this legislative session. I am including a few of those most related to your workforce, for your information below.

HB24-1320 – Educator Safety Task Force would create a task force to review, investigate, and make recommendations related to the safety and well-being of Colorado public school staff.
SB24-132 - Evaluation Protections & Educators would extend the existing confidentiality requirements for evaluation reports and public records used in preparing the evaluation reports for licensed personnel to all teachers, principals, administrators, special service providers, and education support professionals.
HB24-1087 - Professional Endorsement Special Education Teaching would allow educators with a professional license to obtain an endorsement in special education through an alternative teacher preparation program while remaining in their current teaching position.
HB24-1096 - School Psychologist Licensure Interstate Compact would enact a compact to facilitate the interstate practice of school psychology in educational or school settings, thereby improving the availability of school psychological services to the public. The state board has taken a support position on this bill.
HB24-1264 - Supporting the Educator Workforce would create an online career support and pathways portal for educators, staff, school districts, and educator preparation programs. The bill would also expand the Educator and Recruitment and Retention Program to include applicants who are enrolled in a teacher degree apprenticeship program or enrolled in an educator program to attain a special services provider license with the appropriate endorsement.
HB24-1290 - Student Educator Stipend Program would appropriate money from the state education fund to fund stipends under the Student Educator Stipend Program.
SB24-099 - Public Employees' Retirement Association Employment after Retirement for Rural Schools and HB24-1044 - Additional PERA Service Retirees for Schools would increase the flexibilities that schools and certain districts have in hiring a PERA service retiree without that service retiree receiving a reduction in benefits. SB24-099 would add superintendents and principals to the list of qualifying employees. HB 24-1044 would remove the limits on the number of service retirees that can be hired under certain circumstances.

It is important to remember that these bills must still make their way through the legislative process before becoming law. The 2024 legislative session will end on May 8, 2024.

Guidance for supporting Muslim students during Ramadan

March marks the beginning of Ramadan for our Muslim students and families. Ramadan is a month of worship for Muslim families that includes (with some exceptions) daytime fasting and special prayers, and this year it is observed from Sunday, March 10 through early April. The end of Ramadan (Eid al-Fitr) will most likely be on Monday, April 11 or Tuesday, April 12 (due to the lunar cycle). The following links provide resources and recommendations for educators and system leaders supporting Muslim students:

Thank you for all that you do,

Susana

Teaching and Learning Conditions Colorado survey deadline has been extended!

The Teaching and Learning Conditions Colorado survey window has been extended to Friday, March 8, to give schools and districts additional time to reach the 50% participation threshold.

The survey is available in Spanish. Packets of codes are being mailed to sites that have not begun the survey. Click here for more information and promotional materials. We expect to release the results in April - we will send them to districts first and then share them publicly at www.tlccsurvey.org.

School leaders and Colorado Education Association representatives received site survey codes in January. Contact [email protected] or [email protected] if your site needs survey codes.
If your district is part of the Student-Centered Accountability Project cohort, you should have received a link to the TLCC/S-CAP survey on Feb. 1.

Help CDE simplify the state grant application process

The CDE 2024 Grants Project is working alongside the GAINS grant management system to align state resources with identified student needs and identify additional ways to reduce grant-related administrative burden for CDE and school districts. Take the project kick off survey by Friday, March 15 and share it with anyone in your district who works with state grants. For more information, contact Project Manager Kate Bartlett.

Accountability, Performance & Support

We are re-introducing science achievement for all schools and attendance and truancy for Alternative Education Campuses into 2024 performance frameworks. Informational data files were released on Jan. 31 to district accountability contacts. View details about the release on the Accountability, Performance and Support webpage.
The Alternative Education Campus application and renewal collection opens on Wednesday, March 13. AECs reapplying for the 2024-25 school year and schools applying for AEC designation for the first time (if notified CDE by Jan. 31) will have their pre-populated data uploaded to the Data Pipeline system automatically. Details about the collection are available on the Alternative Education Campus Collections webpage. Email April Thompson at [email protected] with questions.
UIPs for schools and districts on Performance Watch, including Priority Improvement, Turnaround, On Watch, On Hold, or ESSA Comprehensive Support are being reviewed by the School Improvement and Planning Team. Feedback will be in the collaborate tab of the Online UIP System. Reach out to the UIP team for support in accessing or applying feedback.
The School Improvement Planning team is rolling out a new, optional streamlined Unified Improvement Plan Template on Monday, April 15. The new template will be accessed by district staff in the online portal, and school users can be given access by district LAM assignment. Register for an informational webinar on the new streamlined template at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, March 22.
The 1241 Task Force on Accountability, Accreditation, Student Performance and Resource Inequity has been established to study academic opportunities, inequities and promising practices in schools and improvements to the accountability and accreditation system. The task force began meeting in Aug. 2023 and will release an interim report in March and a final report in November. Find task force updates and meeting information on the 1241 Task Force webpage.

Assessments

ACCESS for ELLs Student Biographical Data Review is open from March 11-20. Districts are strongly encouraged to connect with the data respondent for each state assessment SBD collection to help ensure the accuracy of the final district demographic and invalidation data that will be used in accountability calculations.
State content assessments are scheduled to be administered across Colorado in April. Specific timelines for spring 2024 Colorado state assessment windows are available on CDE’s General Assessment Information webpage.
CMAS and CoAlt social studies testing will resume in spring 2025 and CDE seeks feedback on the preliminary assessment frameworks. Individuals familiar with the revised social studies Colorado Academic Standards should complete the CMAS Social Studies Assessment Frameworks Questionnaire and the CoAlt Social Studies Assessment Frameworks Questionnaire by Friday, March 29.
CDE created a communications toolkit to help communicate with families about upcoming statewide assessments, including the Colorado Measures of Academic Success tests and the PSAT and SAT. The toolkit contains drop-in letters and fact sheets for parents and students. Materials are also available in Spanish. For more information, contact Jeremy Meyer, CDE communications director at [email protected].

District Operations

The Rules for the Administration of the Public School Finance Act of 1994 define the requirements for students to be eligible for public school funding. The State Board of Education held a hearing on the proposed rules in February and is expected to vote on them at their March meeting.
The 2022-23 December finance collection is open and was due by Dec. 31, 2023. With an approved extension, the submission was due on Thursday, Feb. 29. If submitted after the extension due date, the Office of the State Auditor will start the process for property tax withholdings. Information on training opportunities is on the School Finance Town Halls and Trainings webpage.
The Report Card March collection window is March 6 to April 10.
Alternative Education Campus Application/Renewal and Planned Measures Collection windows are Wednesday, March 13 to Friday, April 26.
The reduced academic calendar, formerly the four-day school week, application for 2024-25 is open through Friday, May 10. Districts may also request school code changes for the 2024-25 school year until Friday, June 28.
The Teacher/Student Data Link interchange file and snapshot are due Friday, Aug. 25. For the 2023-24 school year, all districts are required to report TSDL data for students in grades 6 – 12 only. Additionally, all courses are required to be reported for 8th-12th grade migrant students.
The 2023-24 Designated Agency data collection is open in the Data Pipeline for alternative licensure educator preparation programs to enter 2023-24 candidates until Aug 30th.
The 2023-24 Student End of Year data collection has a soft open phase beginning Monday, April 1 with the collection officially opening on Thursday, May 2. Training begins Wednesday, March 6, and continues throughout the collection. To prepare for this collection, districts should upload their initial graduation guidelines file for 2023-24 by Thursday, April 11.
The READ Spring Assessment data collection window is Monday, April 1 to Friday, June 14.
The READ Literacy Programs and Assessment data collection window is Monday, April 1 to Friday, June 28.

Educator Talent

The Educator Preparation Programs Report featuring new Colorado teacher information has been refreshed with an additional two years of alternatively prepared teacher data.

Federal Programs & Support

As we transition the Consolidated Application into CDE’s new grants management system, GAINS, various training and work session opportunities will be provided this spring to support districts and BOCES with developing their use of ESSA funds plans and budgets in the new system. Information will be posted to the RNM webpage as training and meeting dates are finalized.

Postsecondary Readiness icon of a graduation cap.

Postsecondary Readiness

The 2024-25 Concurrent Enrollment Expansion and Innovation Grant is open until Monday, March 18. This grant provides up to $50,000 for allowable activities to be used during the 2024-25 school year.
The Intent to Participate for the 2023-24 Career Development Incentive Program and Matriculation Data Submission is open until Sunday, March 31.
The Colorado Education Initiative is offering free Meaningful Career Conversation Trainings through Sunday, June 30. These trainings are designed for anyone in a position to guide learners seeking to enter the workforce, pursue a specific career path or change careers.

Teaching and Learning

The Office of Standards and Instructional Support will seek public feedback on recommended Computer Science Standards for kindergarten through 8th grade until Thursday, March 14.
The 2024-25 Early Literacy Assessment Tool Project application is open until Wednesday, April 10. The ELAT Project supplies a State Board of Education-approved early literacy assessment tool at no cost to a school or district so teachers may obtain real-time assessment of the reading skill levels of students in K-3rd.