Standards and Instructional Support - History and Archives

History and Development Process for the Colorado Academic Standards

History of Standards in Colorado

Standards for student learning are not new in Colorado. Passed in 1993, House Bill 93-1313 initiated standards-based education in Colorado. The statute required the state to create standards in reading, writing, mathematics, science, history, civics, geography, economics, art, music and physical education. These standards were known as the Model Content Standards, and the same statute also established the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) in 1996.

Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) Mountain shield

In 2008, the Colorado legislature passed Senate Bill 08-212, Colorado’s Achievement Plan for Kids (CAP4K). This new law called for the development of postsecondary and workforce-ready standards for students, also known as college and career-ready standards. The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) engaged in a year-long process to update academic standards in ten content areas (dance, drama and theater arts; mathematics; music; physical education; reading, writing and communicating; science; social studies; visual arts; and world languages) and English language proficiency standards. In addition to requiring Colorado to revise the content of its standards, CAP4K called for inclusion of 21st-century skills and standards that would result in postsecondary and workforce readiness for all Colorado students.

In May 2008, CDE convened a stakeholder committee consisting of leaders in K-12, early childhood and higher education as well as leaders from business and the military whose role was to advise the department on the development process and content of Colorado’s new standards. Stakeholders wanted Colorado to follow a process that was research-based, inclusive, and transparent. CDE received over 700 applications to participate in the creation of the new standards, and chose 250 Coloradoans to participate on ten content-specific standards committees. In addition to the committees, CDE conducted five series of public meetings in 10-13 Colorado cities between 2008 and 2010 to engage the public in providing input on the process and content of Colorado’s new standards. In the first series, Coloradans had the opportunity to provide input on a variety of elements in the standards, including but not limited to, 21st century skills and the descriptions of postsecondary and workforce readiness and school readiness. Three more public feedback tours were conducted to focus on specific content areas. The fifth series was designed to solicit teacher input regarding the implementation of the new Colorado Academic Standards.

The 2008-2009 standards writing process began with an analysis of old Colorado standards compared to national and international benchmarks and educational research appropriate for each content area. Content-specific reports were made available on the CDE website throughout the development, transition, and implementation processes. References to the benchmarking states and nations used, as well as other resources and research, can be found within the introduction of each of the Colorado Academic Standards documents. Drafts of each set of standards were disseminated to the Colorado public and national content experts for review. In addition to public feedback gathered through feedback meetings held throughout the state, individuals could provide line-by-line recommendations on each draft through an online feedback system. After this review process, subcommittees made final revisions, and the revised drafts were presented to the State Board of Education for adoption on December 10, 2009.

Common Core State Standards Initiative: Colorado’s Involvement and Decision-Making

Common Core State Standards Initiative: Preparing America's students for college and career

In 2009, while CDE was engaged in the standards development initiated by Colorado legislation, the Council of Chief State School Officers (a non-partisan organization of state commissioners of education) and the National Governors' Association (a bi-partisan organization of state governors) came together to start the Common Core State Standards Initiative. This initiative was an effort to develop standards in mathematics and English language arts that could be used by states nationwide. Given that Colorado was concurrently developing its own college and career-ready standards, Colorado was among six states asked to provide early feedback on the initial drafts of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in July 2009. Colorado was able to inform the conversation on the Common Core State Standards based on CDE’s previous experiences and decisions related to writing 21st-century standards, as well as benefit from the conversation. The concurrent and similar development processes of the Common Core State Standards and the Colorado Academic Standards resulted in two sets of standards that were closely aligned.

Following the release of the Common Core State Standards in June 2010, the department engaged WestEd to conduct a gap analysis comparing the 2009 version of the Colorado Academic Standards in mathematics and reading, writing and communicating with the Common Core State Standards in mathematics and English language arts. WestEd provided an annotated version of the Colorado Academic Standards in mathematics and reading, writing and communicating, identifying gaps and inconsistencies between the Common Core State Standards and the 2009 Colorado Academic Standards. The gap analysis confirmed the close alignment of the Colorado Academic Standards with Common Core State Standards. However, the report noted some critical instructional elements that existed in the Common Core State Standards, but were not evident in the 2009 Colorado Academic Standards. In addition, the report recommended that inconsistencies between the two sets of standards be considered and reconciled, where appropriate, to benefit Colorado teachers and students.

The Colorado State Board of Education adopted the Common Core State Standards in mathematics and English language arts on August 2, 2010. This decision was made with the expectation that CDE would honor the work and values of the Colorado Academic Standards previously written by Colorado educators and adopted by the board to create the best mathematics and reading, writing, and communicating standards for the State of Colorado. From August to December 2010, CDE engaged the mathematics and reading, writing and communicating subcommittees to assist in integrating the Common Core State Standards within the Colorado Academic Standards. In December 2010, CDE re-released the Colorado Academic Standards in mathematics and reading, writing and communicating inclusive of the entirety of the Common Core State Standards. In addition to the Common Core State Standards, the 2010 version of the Colorado Academic Standards in mathematics and reading, writing and communicating include components unique to Colorado. Some of these components (e.g., personal financial literacy in mathematics) were required by legislation; other components (e.g., research and reasoning in reading, writing and communicating) were included based on the recommendations of the Colorado standards subcommittees.

District Sample Curriculum Project (DSCP)

Following the development and release of the 2009 and 2010 Colorado Academic Standards, educational leaders from across the state collectively requested that CDE provide more support with curriculum aligned with the new standards. What emerged was the District Sample Curriculum Project, wherein CDE facilitated groups of local educators who worked to develop curriculum samples that demonstrated alignment to the new standards. The District Sample Curriculum Project was carried out in four phases:

Phase I: Development of Curriculum Overview Samples. In the Fall of 2012, over 500 Colorado educators, representing 61 school districts, participated in curriculum design workshops that resulted in the creation of more than 700 curriculum overview samples based on the Colorado Academic Standards (CAS). Using a Colorado-designed and refined template, the overviews provide organizing structures for addressing the grade level expectations (GLEs), evidence outcomes (EOs) and 21st century skills that build students’ mastery of the standards at each grade level. As voluntary resources for districts, the samples (a) represented the translation of the CAS into unit overviews for all (10) content areas and grades k-12, (b) illuminated possibilities for sequencing grade-level and content-specific standards across courses/years, and (c) offered one possible foundation for exploring standards-based curriculum and unit development. The Colorado Curriculum Overview Samples were written by and for Colorado educators as a way to understand and translate the state standards into curriculum. Users of the samples were free to copy, distribute and transmit the samples and to adapt them to fit their needs, with the request that they the Colorado educators that created these samples were honored by providing them attribution. These samples were not intended for commercial purposes.
Phase II: Collecting Feedback. In the Spring of 2013, CDE collected feedback about the curriculum overview samples and used the feedback to refine the materials and to plan future phases of the project.
Phase III: Development of Instructional Unit Samples. Between the Fall of 2013 and the Winter of 2015, CDE's content specialists worked with educators across the state to create instructional units based on the curriculum overview samples. These teacher-authored units include learning experiences, teacher and student resources, assessment ideas, and differentiation options. Using a Colorado-designed template, the unit samples provided educators with examples of unit creation at every grade and content area of the Colorado Academic Standards. These samples represented the work of teams of general education, special education, ELL, and gifted and talented educators/specialists and reflected the diversity of Colorado's schools and districts. These instructional units gave Colorado educators a way to understand and translate the Colorado Academic Standards-based curriculum overviews into instructional units. Users of the instructional units were free to copy, distribute and transmit the samples and to adapt them to fit their needs, with the request that they the Colorado educators that created these samples were honored by providing them attribution. These samples were not intended for commercial purposes.
Phase IV: Professional Development on Instructional Shifts. In the Summer of 2016, CDE convened educators from across the state to participate in a summer institute dedicated to lesson planning that reflected the instructional shifts demanded by the Colorado Academic Standards and the DSCP materials. This "All Students, All Standards" Institute used a set of lesson planning guides and templates to focus teachers' thinking on the context of the classroom, justifying lesson decisions, describing successful implementation, and reflection.