Colorado Academic Standards Online
Use the options below to create customized views of the Colorado Academic Standards. For all standards resources, see the Office of Standards and Instructional Support.
Prepared Graduates:
The P-12 concepts and skills that all students who complete the Colorado education system must master to ensure their success in a postsecondary and workforce setting.
Grade Level Expectation:
What do students need to know?
Grade Level Expectation: High Schools:
The articulation of the concepts and skills of a standard that indicates a student is making progress toward being a prepared graduate.
Grade Level Expectations:
The articulation, at each grade level, the concepts and skills of a standard that indicates a student is making progress toward being ready for high school.
Evidence Outcomes:
How do we know that a student can do it?
The indication that a student is meeting an expectation at the mastery level.
Academic Context and Connections:
Academic context and connections are the subject-specific elements needed to create context for learning. This right side section highlights essential skills, practices and other important connections necessary for students to understand, apply and transfer the knowledge and skills within the Grade Level Expectation.
Inquiry Questions:
Sample questions intended to promote deeper thinking, reflection and refined understandings precisely related to the grade level expectation.
Relevance and Application:
Examples of how the grade level expectation is applied at home, on the job or in a real-world, relevant context.
Nature of the Discipline:
The characteristics and viewpoint one keeps as a result of mastering the grade level expectation.
Supportive Teaching Practices/Adults May
Embed standards throughout daily routines, within and across the environment and activities to ensure developmentally appropriate learning opportunities.
Colorado Essential Skills
The critical skills needed to prepare students to successfully enter the workforce or educational opportunities beyond high school embedded within statute (C.R.S. 22-7-1005) and identified by the Colorado Workforce Development Committee.
Colorado Essential Skills and Mathematical Practices
This section describes ways students engage with the mathematical content using mathematical practices and essential skills needed to prepare students to successfully enter the workforce or educational opportunities beyond high school pursuant to Colorado Revised Statute 22-7-1005 and identified by the Colorado Workforce Development Committee.
Inquiry Questions
The sample questions that are intended to promote deeper thinking, reflection and refined understandings precisely related to the grade level expectation.
Coherence Connections
This section describes how the content described by the Grade Level Expectation and Evidence Outcomes builds from content learned in prior grades, connects to content in the same grade, and supports student learning in later grades.
Elaboration on the GLE
This section provides greater context for the Grade Level Expectation (GLE) through a description of the understanding about the core ideas that should be developed by students.
Colorado Essential Skills and Science and Engineering Practices
Skills and major practices that scientists employ as they investigate and build models and theories about the world. These terms are used to emphasize that engaging in scientific investigation requires not only skill but also knowledge that is specific to each practice.
Cross Cutting Concepts
The crosscutting concepts have application across all domains of science. As such, they provide one way of linking across the domains through core ideas.
Computer Science Practices
This section highlights computer science practices connected to the GLE which describe the behaviors and ways of thinking that computationally literate students use to fully engage in today’s data-rich and interconnected world. The practices naturally integrate with one another and contain language that intentionally overlaps to illuminate the connections among them.
Essential Questions
These "big picture" questions ask students to more deeply explore the concepts and skills expressed in the GLE.
Essential Reasoning Skills
These skills develop critical thinking, building awareness to multiple perspectives, and engage students in "thinking about their thinking" and to consider their own attitudes, beliefs, and biases on issues.
Colorado Essential Skills and Real-World Application
The critical skills needed to prepare students to successfully enter the workforce or educational opportunities beyond high school embedded within statute (C.R.S. 22-7-1005) and identified by the Colorado Workforce Development Committee. Connections to how these skills relate to lifelong learning have been provided.
Expand and Connect
Ideas that can be used to expand student thinking around the concepts, connect to other musical concepts, or connect to other content areas outside of music.
Colorado Essential Skills and Meaning Making
Ways in which students demonstrate the ability to form, grapple with, and convey concepts and ideas through visual art and design with real-world application.
Learning Experience and Transfer
Ideas that can be used to expand student thinking, encourage conceptual curiosity, and connect multiple disciplines and literacies.
Nature and Skills of History
The characteristics and viewpoint one keeps as a result of mastering the grade level expectation.
Nature and Skills of Geography
The characteristics and viewpoint one keeps as a result of mastering the grade level expectation.
Nature and Skills of Economics
The characteristics and viewpoint one keeps as a result of mastering the grade level expectation.
Nature and Skills of Civics
The characteristics and viewpoint one keeps as a result of mastering the grade level expectation.
Disciplinary, Information, & Media Literacy
The disciplinary, information, and media literacy skills necessary to demonstrate mastery of the Evidence Outcomes.
Nature of Dance
The characteristics and viewpoint one keeps as a result of mastering the grade level expectation
Health Skills
This section connects and focuses on the key health specific skills connected to this grade level expectation.
Components of a Physically Literate Individual
Connects the GLE to physical literacy and how it supports students ability to move with competence and confidence in a wide variety of physical activities in multiple environments that benefit the healthy development of the whole person.
Need Help? Submit questions or requests for assistance to bruno_j@cde.state.co.us