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District and Authorizer Information
District & Authorizer Information
General Information
- Charter School Institute (CSI) - Authorized to accept applications for schools (1) in districts without exclusive chartering authority (ECA) and (2) in districts which have retained ECA, with permission to the applicant from the district's board of education. Click on the link to be directed to the CSI Web site.
- Exclusive Chartering Authority (ECA) - includes a list of Colorado districts with/without ECA.
- Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers (CACSA) - CACSA was formed by and serves the professional staff in Colorado authorizers who work on all tasks associated with charter school oversight. These education leaders created CACSA to support all of Colorado’s authorizers, with the goals of improving charter school authoring practices, the quality of charter schools, and the education for all students in the state.
Authorizer Dissemination In Conjunction with Charter School Institute
As a part of the dissemination activities included in the Federal Charter Schools Program Grant that the Schools of Choice Unit received in 2018, the Schools of Choice unit and Charter School Institute have partnered together to release a series of case studies to support charter schools across the state enhance their practices in the following areas: annual reporting, charter renewals, and charter accountability, particularly charter accountability during COVID-19.
- Annual Reporting Pre-recorded Webinar and Supporting Documents
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Charter Renewals Pre-recorded Webinar and Supporting Documents
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Charter Accountability during COVID-19 Pre-recorded Webinar and Supporting Documents
Templates
Standard Application Template and Evaluation Standards (2021)
Standard Application & Evaluation Standards 2021
Standard Application Rubric 2021
Sample Contract Template (2021 - CACSA)
As part of a national dissemination grant from the United States Department of Education, the Colorado Charter School Institute and the Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers was selected to develop a range of high quality charter authorizer documents - some of which are state specific. One such document is an updated model contract for Colorado. That document is available here:
Sample Contract Language and Attachments (as published by the Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers)
Editable Version (as published by the Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers)
Sample Renewal Framework (2021- CACSA)
As part of a national dissemination grant from the United States Department of Education, the Colorado Charter School Institute and the Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers was selected to develop a range of high quality charter authorizer documents - some of which are state specific. One such document is an updated sample renewal framework. This document was also developed in collaboration with WestEd in their role supporting activities of the National Charter School Resource Center. That document is available here:
Sample Renewal Framework (as published by the Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers and WestEd)
Sample Closure Framework (2011 - CDE)
A Colorado-specific guide to charter school closure. Closing a charter school can present many challenges, given the data that must be compiled and analyzed, public meetings that must be held, and the political considerations that must be addressed before a charter school chooses to voluntarily close or before the authorizer votes to not renew or to revoke the charter school contract. This checklist of tasks in a template format was developed to assist authorizers and charter schools with the closure process.
Sample Closure Framework (docx)
District & Authorizer Training Resources
Identifying Indicators of Distress in Charter Schools
When charter school leaders, governing boards, and authorizers identify the early signs of school distress, they can intervene before the issues become too deep, systemic, or extensive for schools to recover. Thanks to new research from the National Charter School Resource Center (NCSRC), the charter sector has the opportunity and the imperative to identify schools in distress while improvement is still feasible.
NCSRC has released tools, publications, and virtual learning opportunities to help school leaders, board members, and authorizers engage in its indicators of distress research. Explore these self-guided modules, which feature videos, reports, toolkits, and other downloaded materials.
School leaders and board members click here and Authorizers click here to review the courses and materials.
Charter Board Training
The Schools of Choice Team has been working diligently in conjunction with the Colorado League of Charter Schools, the Colorado Charter School Institute, and the Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers – incorporating feedback both from charter schools and charter school authorizers - to update the free, on-demand, governing board training that CDE has provided for many years. From this collaboration, we are now happy to announce Governance Board Training Resources accessible to all charter school practitioners .
To access this trainings please click here.
Equity Convenings
- November 2022: Equity Convening White Paper and Toolkit - Prepared in collaboration with the Colorado League of Charter Schools
- Fall 2022 Equity Convening Toolkit
- Equitable Student Enrollment and Retention Practices: Creating Choice for All White Paper to be released in 2023
- June 2022: Equity Convening White Paper and Toolkit - Prepared in collaboration with the Colorado League of Charter Schools
Spring 2021 Equity Convening: Applying Equity Frameworks to Advance Systemic Change in Education
- Plenary Sessions
- Workshops
- Authorizer Workshop
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Resources
Equal Access Series Authorizer Session: Authorizers’ Role in Continuous Improvement (Recorded on 4/17/2021)
March Authorizer Summit 2022
The March Authorizer Summit was recorded on March 5th. During this summit, the Schools of Choice Unit shared COVID-19 planning updates and updates on the CCSP grant. Renee Martinez, Principal Consultant of the Office of Online and Blended Learning, presented Remote Learning vs. Online Learning Beyond COVID-19. Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers (CACSA) presented updates and hosted a discussion on Community-Centered Charter Schooling facilitated by Dr. Karega Rausch, President, and CEO of National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA).
- Remote Learning vs. Online Learning Beyond COVID-19
- Community Centered Charter Schooling- A Discussion with Dr. Karega Rausch
Charter School Appeal Dispositions
- Charter Appeals 2020 to Present (pdf)
- Charter Appeals 2010 to 2019 (pdf)
- Table of Appeals through 2010 (pdf)
Related Links
NOTE: None of the documents represented on this page, or referenced under the provided links, are meant to represent legal advice or to lessen the need for charter school developers or operators to seek legal counsel.
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