August 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].

Dear Superintendents and BOCES directors,

Welcome back to the 2024-2025 school year! Summer is still going strong, with the warm weather, longer days and beautiful outdoors that makes Colorado such a great place to call home. I hope that you have had the chance to rest, recharge and reinvest in what initially drew you to our profession.

It was wonderful to see and connect with so many of you at CASE last week and to learn about the work you and your teams are doing to transform student learning and educator working experiences. As I shared in my lunch session, CDE’s role is to serve, guide, and elevate Colorado’s schools and districts so that we can all improve student outcomes and ensure that Colorado students and families have access to high quality schools.

One of the ways that we elevate our school districts is by sharing best practices and key learnings from districts who are “beating the odds” on academic performance and student engagement. Over the past few months, we have been highlighting district best practices through a video series that we call “Commissioner’s Chats.” In addition to posting these chats as short videos on our social media channels (Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / Instagram), we are making the full 15-20 minute conversations available on our website. You can visit our digital news bureau to learn about:

Academic turnaround at Englewood Schools with Superintendent Joanna Polzin;
Improving student attendance and the Portrait of a Graduate with Durango Superintendent Karen Cheser;
Building strong relationships and essential skills at Carson Middle School in Fountain Fort Carson with Superintendent Keith Owen and Principal Anthony Greco

I am looking forward to continuing these conversations in the 2024-2025 school year; please feel free to contact me if you are interested in participating.

Thank you for all that you do,

Susana

NEW Integrated timelines for the 2024-2025 school year are available! These timelines are designed to help guide superintendents and principals through key implementation work during the 2024-25 school year. They include the main tasks associated with implementing the standards, assessments, educator evaluations and accountability requirements.

Spread the word about upcoming FAFSA in Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Denver, and Fort Collins. The US Department of Education is hosting a week of student loan repayment and FAFSA events here in Colorado. Please use these flyers to help get this information out to your communities.

Accountability, Performance & Support

Registration is open for our 2024-2025 professional learning cohorts. These collaborative problem-solving sessions focus on topics ranging from Chronic Absenteeism to Rural Leadership. Visit the CDE Leadership Learning Cohorts webpage for a full list of offerings and apply today.
Upcoming Data Release
- Attendance, discipline, and behavior data from the 2023-24 school year will be released later this month. We will communicate with districts and share embargoed data prior to the release and notify districts when it is posted publicly. Both data sets will be included in the Learning Environment District Profile reports that will be released in early September. Reach out to Annette Severson or Johann Liljengren with questions.
- Preliminary frameworks will also be released to districts later this month. Preliminary ratings will be posted on our website approximately a week later. WIDA ACCESS growth data was made available June 26th.
- CMAS and PSAT/SAT growth data will be released to districts in early August and then released publicly at the State Board meeting on Aug. 28-29. Visit the Frameworks Results webpage for accountability resources.
The State Board of Education will review and approve applications for Alternative Education Campuses designations at their Aug. 28-29 meeting. The approved list will be published on our website afterward and listed schools will be able to use the AEC Frameworks for accountability purposes. Visit the AEC webpage for more information.
All districts must submit the Accreditation Form indicating the district and local school board’s accreditation ratings for their schools by Monday, Sept. 23. The form is available to District Accountability Contacts on the Accreditation Portal within the UIP/ACI online system. Districts may indicate if they want to participate in the request to reconsider process to adjust the district or school’s plan type. Visit the School Accreditation webpage for additional guidance and opportunities for support.
The 2024-25 school and district pre-populated reports will be updated in the Unified Improvement Plan Online System in late August. These reports include customized information about submission deadlines, state and federal expectations, and certain grant requirements that apply specifically to the schools and district.

Assessments

We are scheduled to release embargoed final state-level assessment data and embargoed growth data files to districts on Aug. 12. We will release the final state-level summary achievement data and growth data publicly on Aug. 20. The district-, and school-level overall and disaggregated achievement data and growth data will be posted following the Aug. 29 State Board of Education meeting. Schools and districts received confidential student-, school- and district-level results throughout June and July.
- Please share final CMAS student performance reports with parents as soon as possible.
- English and Spanish assessment communication toolkits are available for you to use with your school communities.
- If you have had personnel changes, please be sure to let us know about your new District Assessment Coordinators Submit your updates through the DAC Appointment Form or DTC Appointment Form.

District Operations

Need help selecting your district’s education technology? The State Educational Technology Directors Association and other leadership organizations provide guidelines for choosing education technology. Learn more on SETDA’s website.

Federal Programs & Support

The amended Title IX regulations go into effect on August 1. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has new resources to support schools and districts with implementation:
- Title IX Regulations: Pointers for Implementation: provides key components of the 2024 Title IX regulations.
- Drafting Nondiscrimination Policies, Notices of Nondiscrimination, & Grievance Procedures under the 2024 Title IX Regulations: provides information to help schools draft, adopt, and implement required policies and procedures.
- These resources complement previously released technical assistance documents, including a fact sheet, a brief overview of key provisions of the final regulations, and a resource for drafting Title IX nondiscrimination policies, notices of nondiscrimination, and grievance procedures.
Register for the Institute of Education Sciences’ second annual Success of English Learners Conference. The “Improving Instruction, Assessment, and Policies for Secondary English Learners Across the Content Areas” conference will be Sept. 16-17 at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Learn more and register on the conference webpage.
Bookmark the ARP-ESSER III Countdown to Closeout webpage, which includes steps for LEAs to prepare for the closeout of ESSER, monthly reminders and links to helpful information. With questions, contact your ESSER Lead.
ARP ESSER III and ARP EANS late liquidation extension requests. The U.S. Department of Education developed a process for requesting a liquidation extension for ARP-ESSER III and ARP EANS, which has NOT changed the original obligation requirement of Sept. 30, 2024. We will collect requests from LEAs in the fall to ensure all are included in one template. If your LEA may need a liquidation extension, email Nazie Mohajeri-Nelson at [email protected].

Teaching and Learning

Reminder about student enrollment requirements. Colorado’s School Attendance Law requires that every Colorado resident between the ages of 6 and 21 is entitled to attend public school in the district where he or she is a resident, except for a limited number of circumstances. The following may be grounds for denial of admission to a public school:
- Physical or mental disability such that the child cannot reasonably benefit from the programs available;
- Physical or mental disability or disease causing the attendance of the child to be a danger to other students.
- Having been expelled from any school district during the preceding 12 months;
- Not being a resident of the district.
Register for our Enhancing School Safety Regional Training
- Alamosa: Friday, Aug. 2, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Adams State University.
- Grand Junction: Wednesday, Aug. 21, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at R-5 High School.
- Sterling: Friday, Sept. 20, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Northeastern Junior College.