December 2023 CDE Update for Superintendents and BOCES Executive Directors

Accountability, Performance & Support

• The 2023-24 accreditation contracts will be made available to superintendents via DocuSign and must be signed by both the district superintendent and the local school board president by Sunday, Dec. 31. 
• State Accountability Data tools and reports are available for the 2023-24 school year planning expectations and interpretation of accountability data. 
• View the Resources and Support webpage for additional Unified Improvement Planning Resources.
• 2023-24 Unified Improvement Planning submission feedback for schools and districts on performance watch and schools identified for comprehensive support under ESSA will be emailed to district accountability contacts on a rolling basis beginning in December. 
• On Nov. 8, the State Board of Education voted to keep 2024 framework targets consistent with 2019 and 2023 frameworks. Science will be re-introduced into the Academic Achievement performance indicator. ​For more information, see the  Nov. 13 communication to accountability contacts.
• The 2024 Teaching and Learning Conditions Colorado survey of all educators, special service providers, education support professionals and school leaders will be available Wednesday, Jan. 24. This year, the survey will be administered by Panorama Education.
• The Accountability, Accreditation, Student Performance and Resource Inequity Task Force, has been established to study academic opportunities, inequities and promising practices in schools and improvements to the accountability and accreditation system. The 1242 Task Force began meeting in August and will present a final report in November 2024.

Assessment

• Upon completion of the virtual Colorado Measures of Academic Success Administration Training, District Assessment Coordinators should use the link provided to them to notify CDE of extended English Language Arts and math windows for Computer Based Testing, early Grade 11 science testing windows and test format selections by school, grade and content area.

District Operations

Data and Security

No content for December 2023

Data Pipeline

• The Kindergarten School Readiness collection deadline is Tuesday, Dec. 12.
• Special Education Individualized Education Program interchange files and staff interchange files are currently being uploaded by districts and administrative units. A complete Snapshot prior to the duplicate phase is due Thursday, Jan. 25.
• All errors in the Staff Interchange files are expected to be resolved by Friday, Dec. 8, and the Human Resources Snapshot created at least once by Friday, Jan. 12.
• The 2023-24 Educator Shortage Survey is open and is administered in conjunction with the Human Resources snapshot.
• The 2022-23 December Finance collection is open and is due by Sunday, Dec. 31. Extensions are offered through the Office of State Auditor and approved extensions will be honored by CDE. To request an extension fill out the OSA form: https://apps.leg.co.gov/osa/lg. 
• The 2023-24 Designated Agency Data Collection is open and closes Aug. 30.
• The 2023-24 Teacher Student Data Link interchange file is open for file submission. The snapshot will open in February. 
• The State Board of Education will vote in December on proposed rules for the assignment of school codes which were noticed at the October board meeting. The proposed rules would codify the processes and policies already in place to provide transparent and predictable criteria for how codes are assigned, Stakeholder feedback was collected through Nov. 17.
• A series of learning cohorts for district teams to identify shared needs and share available migrant/refugee/newcomer resources will be available in December and January. Register for the in-person metro area cohort on Monday, Dec. 11 at 9 a.m. Information about a rural cohort will be available soon with an anticipated launch in January. See the Commissioner of Education’s Nov. 30 letter to superintendents and BOCES executive directors for additional information.

Finance

• To view previous and upcoming School Finance town halls and trainings, visit the School Finance Town Halls and Trainings webpage.
• Use this form to provide feedback on the proposed revisions to the school finance rules (1 CCR 301-39), by Feb. 7. This feedback will also be shared with state board members during the upcoming rulemaking process. The State Board of Education is expected to officially notice the rulemaking process at its December meeting.

Transportation

No content for December 2023

Educator Talent

No content for December 2023

Federal Programs & Support

ESSA

• ​The Stronger Connections Grant Round 2 Funding opportunity applications must be submitted through the online application form by Friday, Dec. 15.
• Local education agencies may link to the Every Student Succeeds Act Local Reports webpage to meet the statutory requirements of the ESSA. This webpage contains data from the 2021-22 school year and will be updated to include 2022-23 school year data.

ESSER

No content for December 2023

Nutrition & Health

No content for December 2023

Postsecondary Readiness

• ​The 2024-25 Innovative Learning Opportunities Pilot Program Intent to Apply form is due by Wednesday, Dec. 6, and applications are due by Wednesday, Dec. 13.
• The Accelerated College Opportunity Exam Fee Grant Program applications are due Friday, Jan. 12.
• Automatic Enrollment in Advanced Courses Grant applications are due Monday, Jan. 15. Schools, districts and BOCES may apply for funding to help automatically enroll qualified students in grades four through 12 in advanced coursework.
• The final report for the Secondary, Postsecondary and Work-Based Learning Integration Task Force,1215 Task Force, was released Friday, Dec. 1. See the full report and additional information regarding House Bill 22-1215 and the task force’s work on Secondary, Postsecondary and Work-Based Learning Integration Task Force.

Teaching and Learning

• On Nov. 30, the Governor announced an additional year of free access to Zearn Math for the 2024-2025 school year. Districts and schools serving K-8 students have free access to high-quality instructional materials, ongoing training for educators and tutoring resources through Zearn Math for the 2023-24 school year. Visit the Zearn Math for Colorado website for more information.

READ Act

• The Comprehensive Early Literacy Grant Cohort 7 and Professional Development funding opportunities will be available in the spring of 2024, with the awarded funds available for use in the 2024-25 school year. Additional information, application timelines and detailed guidelines will be announced and posted on the Early Literacy Grant website in January.
• New rubrics to review Spanish core, supplemental and intervention instructional programs for the READ Act Advisory List of Instructional Programming in are available.
• The distribution of 2023-24 READ Act per-pupil funds will begin this month. For more information, contact Anji Gallanos gallanos_a@cde.state.co.us. 

Standards and Instruction

• Residents of Colorado are invited to provide feedback on the proposed revisions to the Colorado Academic Standards for Computer Science through Friday, Jan. 5.
• See the computer science standards review and revision webpage for more information.

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