The Colorado Department of Education

Offices | Staff Contacts | Colorado.gov

Developing Colorado’s High School Graduation Guidelines

Announcement!

Webinars

CDE hosted a live webinar providing a progress update on high school graduation guideline recommendations on Tuesday, November 27, 2012. Click here to view the webinar.

CDE will be hosting a second live webinar with progress on the development of the high school graduation guidelines on Friday, January 4, 2013 at 11 a.m. MST. Click here to participate.

Background

State statute (section 22-2-106) requires the State Board of Education to adopt a set of guidelines for high school graduation by May 2013. Local school boards may use their own locally developed graduation requirements so long as they “meet or exceed” any minimum standards or core competencies/skills adopted by the State Board. The law outlines several considerations that the State Board must take into account when adopting a set of guidelines, including:

  • Alignment with the description of postsecondary and workforce readiness
  • Alignment with postsecondary academic admission standards
  • Recognition of multiple and diverse pathways to a diploma
  • Articulation through a standards-based education system
  • Attainment of skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century
  • Importance of academic and career planning

Process and Timelines

The Graduation Guidelines Council, a representative group of educators and community members established in statute, has been meeting since June of 2012 to draft and refine guidelines for high school graduation. CDE staff will be sharing drafts of the guidelines with educators and interested constituents over the course of this fall/early winter. Presentations will be made to the State Board of Education periodically with adoption scheduled by May 2013. Districts will have the 2013-14 school year to adopt local graduation requirements that meet or exceed the state guidelines. Districts will then implement their requirements with the ninth grade class of 2014-15 for their graduation in 2018.

We want to hear your thoughts

The Colorado Department of Education is currently meeting with interested constituents to solicit feedback on the development of these new graduation guidelines.  If you or your group is interested in being part of the conversation, we would like to hear from you. 

Please contact Kady Lanoha to inquire about scheduling a meeting or joining our email list.