The Colorado Department of Education

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Colorado's Race to the Top Phase 3 Grant Program

Advancing the State's Reform Agenda

In December 2011, Colorado was one of seven states to receive a Race to the Top Phase 3 grant award from the United States Department of Education.  The award will advance targeted K-12 reforms aimed at improving student achievement. Click here to read the news release.

Focus of the Grant

The state's $17.9 million grant, disbursed over four years, is focused on four major areas designed to advance the state's education reforms:

  1. Leveraging and expanding the state's capacity to support district implementation of the state's reforms;
  2. Implementing the Colorado Academic Standards through the work of Content Collaboratives (teams of educators with content and assessment expertise who will develop tools and assessments to assist educators in implementing the new standards and with accessing multiple measures of student learning for use in educator evaluations);
  3. Supporting district implementation of the state's educator effectiveness law (S.B. 10-191); and
  4. Increasing access to STEM education across the state.

Click here to access Colorado's submitted application.
(Updated February 9, 2012 - updates reflect refinements to performance measures and budget items; this document is the final submission to USED)

Race to the Top Components

High Quality Assessment and Instruction
This work will focus on the creation of Content Collaboratives that engage educators in the identification of instructional materials and classroom-level assessments.

Effective, Supported Educators
Race to the Top funds will augment work already underway and provide support, information and tools to districts as they work to implement comprehensive educator evaluation systems.

Embedded, Innovative STEM Content
Colorado plans to use Race to the Top funds to ensure STEM is integrated and embedded across all content areas and through teacher instruction and evaluation. RTTT funds will also be used to create a STEM in Action program that will connect educators and students to the everyday work of scientists, engineers, high-tech workers, and researchers in Colorado's labs, universities, museums and companies.

Strategic State Action and Support
The focus of the Race to the Top efforts will be to ensure the grant's reform initiatives are integrated and coordinated with other reform efforts. CDE will also create a Resource Bank containing assessment and instructional tools, and evaluation resources and available to districts and schools.

STEM in Action Grant - Request for Proposals is now available

The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) has released a new STEM in Action Grant Request For Proposal (RFP).  This grant program is intended to provide opportunities for students and teachers to experience Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in Action by connecting educators and students to the everyday work of scientists, engineers, high-tech workers, and researchers in Colorado’s labs, universities, museums, and companies. Funding can be used to build the capacity of teachers to meaningfully connect STEM learning inside and outside of the classroom with the intent of creating partnerships between K-12 education, industry, and the community, including higher education. The intent of the grant is to provide resources to inspire and prepare students historically underrepresented in STEM careers and/or students in rural areas.

Funding for this grant is through Colorado’s Race to the Top program. A total of $500,000 is available in the grant program and approximately 4-6 grants will be awarded (approximately $60,000 per year, maximum $125,000 total award) for the 2 year period. An application training webinar will be held on Friday, February 22 from 1:00-2:00 p.m. and proposals will be due on Tuesday, March 19, 2013.  To register for the webinar and to access the RFP, please visit the Web site below. 

(http://www.cde.state.co.us/stem/index.asp)

Expanding Student Learning

When we intentionally integrate...

We can personalize learning and ignite the potential of every student.

 


For a summary on the RTT-D program, click here.

To access the US Department of Education RTT-D website, click here.