News Release - State Board reviews proposal to adapt Next Generation Science Standards for Colorado

DENVER - The Colorado State Board of Education at its two-day monthly meeting voted to approve proposed revisions to the state’s academic standards for the visual and performing arts and world languages. The board also adopted voluntary computer science standards for secondary students.

Final recommendations for the math, science and social studies content areas were presented by members of the respective review and revision committees. The board is expected to vote on the math and social studies standards revisions at its May meeting, a vote on the science committee’s proposal to adapt the Next Generation Science Standards for Colorado will likely take place in June.

A schedule of content presentations and decisions by the board on the revised Colorado Academic Standards are available on the standards review and revision homepage.

Board recognizes Milken educator

Lisa Rogers, the most recent Colorado recipient of the Milken Award, was recognized by the state board on Wednesday. The Milken Educator Awards provides recognition and unrestricted financial awards of $25,000 to exceptional elementary and secondary school teachers, principals and specialists around the country. Rogers is a science teacher at Grandview High School in the Cherry Creek School District. She was awarded the title during a surprise ceremony in October 2017.

Rules for the administration of the accreditation of school districts approved

The board approved rules requiring an early childhood needs assessment as part of the school and district improvement planning process, aligning the accreditation rules to legislation passed in 2017.

The legislation requires an early childhood education needs assessment for schools and districts with the lowest ratings of Priority Improvement and Turnaround on the state’s accountability framework. Private preschool providers are not required to provide information for the needs assessment. Schools and districts may only examine publicly available resources as part of the needs assessment, including the availability of quality early childhood programs, home visitation programs, early intervention services, library programs and family resource centers.

Multi-district online school application denied 

The application from West End RE-2 authorizing the district to grant Colorado Online Academy multi-district online school status was denied by the state board. The decision to deny the application was due to irregularities with respect to the vendor, A3 Education.

In other actions, the board:

• Approved board policy for contractor student data breaches.
• Approved awards for the Computer Science Education Program. Through the program, districts can receive funding from CDE for teachers to pursue computer science professional development. The board also approved a change that will allow districts to apply for more than the initial $10,000 funding cap.