Charter School Capital Construction Program and BEST Grant Program Overview

Recorded on Tuesday, March 9th, 2023, Meg Donaldson, Regional Program Director of the Capital Construction Unit, Colorado Department of Education, and Brandon LaChance, Regional Program Manager for Charter Schools, Colorado Department of Education provided an overview on both the Charter School Capital Construction Program and Best Grant Program, shared information on charter schools’ qualifications, and provided strategies on how to identify and prioritize capital construction projects.

• Recording link
• Charter School Capital Construction Program and BEST Grant Program Overview

Innovative Strategies to Promote Educator Recruitment and Retention for Charter School Leaders

Recorded on Tuesday, March 14th, 2023. Travis Garoutte, Educator Workforce Development Manager, Educator Talent, Colorado Department of Education, and members of the Educator Recruitment and Retention team; Derrick Martin, Educator Retention and Recruitment Specialist, and Heather Grantham, Educator Retention and Recruitment Specialist highlighted effective strategies for recruitment and retention and services offered by the Educator Recruitment and Retention team.

• Recording Link
• Innovative Strategies to Promote Educator Recruitment and Retention for Charter School Leaders

School Nutrition Overview, Guidance and Updates for Charter School Practitioners

Recorded on Tuesday, February 14th, 2023, Ilene Augustin, School Nutrition Program Manager at the Colorado Charter School Institute (CSI), provided updates on School Food Authorities, updates on Proposition FF and strategies for working with your authorizer to implement and leverage school nutrition programs.

• Recording Link
• School Nutrition 101 Prop FF PPT

Transportation Overview for Charter School Practitioners

Recorded on Tuesday, January 10th, 2023, Susan Miller, Transportation Supervisor, School Transportation Unit, Colorado Department of Education, and Transportation Consultants Fred Stewart and Rebecca Sykes from the Colorado Department of Education. .  The transportation unit provided an overview of federal and state guidelines for purchasing various types of transportation, considerations when making a vehicle purchase and other transportation innovation topics. 

• Recording Link
• School Transportation Overview PPT

READ Act Overview and 2023 Updates 

Recorded on Tuesday, December 13th, 2022, Anji Gallanos, Director, Elementary Readiness and School Literacy, Colorado Department of Education, and Tammy Yetter, READ Act Implementation Project Manager, Elementary Readiness and School Literacy, Colorado Department of Education, provide an overview of READ Act requirements, curriculum timelines, and READ Act updates to begin in 2023. 

• Recording Link
• READ Act Overview and 2023 Updates Presentation

Blended and Online Readiness: Overview of the Blended Learning Initiative

Recorded on Tuesday, November 8th, 2022, Mallorie Klemm, Blended Learning Education Senior Consultant, Office of Online and Blended Learning, Colorado Department of Education, provided a high-level overview of the Blended Learning Initiative detailing the purpose and future of this initiative. She highlighted the Blended Learning and Supplemental Online Course Variance Waiver and its benefit to charter schools and charter school authorizers.

• Recording link
• Blended and Learning Initiative Overview 

Adult Resilience and Stress Management within a We-Care Culture

• Link to Recording
• Building Resiliency for Charter School Practitioners, How to Support both Staff and Students 

Equitable Distribution of Teachers Updates and Guidance for Charter School Practitioners

Recorded on March 8th, 2022, Niko Kaloudis, ESEA Titles I and II Specialist at the Colorado Department of Education, provided a high-level overview of Equitable Distribution of Teachers (EDT). During this session, he shared updates and information around recent EDT disparities between charter schools and charter school authorizers and strategies and techniques that charter school practitioners can implement to prevent EDT disparities.

• Recording link
• Equitable Distribution of Teachers for Charter Schools (PDF)

Charter School Finance Part 2: Strategic Planning, Forecasting and Budgeting

Recorded on Tuesday, February 8th, 2022. Amanda Karger, Owner of Paragon Financial Services and Christopher Scott, Director of Finance at Ascent Classical Academies discussed budgeting best practices including, long-term planning and forecasting, essential players in the budgeting process, how to advocate for equitable funding for charter schools and the introduction of a new budgeting tool.

• Recording
• Charter School Financial Planning and Strategy Presentation PDF
• Budget Projection Tool ( Excel)
• Budget Self-Assessment ( Excel)

Charter School Finance Part 1: Financial Oversight 

Recorded on Tuesday, January 11th, 2022. Amanda Karger, Owner of Paragon Financial Services, facilitated an introductory discussion on financial oversight, highlighting topics including roles and responsibilities, financial reports, and audits.

• Recording link
• Charter School Finance Oversight Presentation (PDF)
• Financial Report Self-Assessment ( Excel)
• Financial Responsibility Inventory ( Excel)
• Internal Control Self- Assessment (Word)
• Audit Scavenger Hunt (PDF)

Strategies to Foster Authentic Family, Community and School Partnerships for Charter School Practitioners 

• Recording link 
• Strategies to Foster Authentic Family, Community and School Partnerships for Charter School Practitioners PDF

Special Education Cost Accounting: What Charter School Practitioners Need to Know 

• Link to Recording
• Challenges to Charter School Special Education Funding Arrangements: Preliminary Findings PDF 

Spring 2021 Equity Convening: Applying Equity Frameworks to Advance Systemic Change in Education

• Plenary Sessions
  • Welcome & Keynote
  • Panel/Presentation: Leveraging Parents & Community When Applying Equity Frameworks
• Workshops
  • Moving from Theory to Practice: Workshop #1 Culturally Responsive Trauma Informed Care
  • Moving from Theory to Practice: Workshop #3 Targeted Universalism
  • Sharing Power: Centering Parents in our Models
• Authorizer Workshop
  • Authorizer Workshop: Community Centered Authorizing Authorizer
• Resources
  • 2021 Equity Convening: Applying Frameworks to Advance Systemic Change in Education Presentations and Additional Resources (DropBox)

Tools for Addressing Inequities in Discipline of Students with Disabilities

• Tools for Addressing Inequities in Discipline of Students with Disabilities
  • Addressing Inequities Slide Deck

Accountability and School Improvement Training: Understanding Student Engagement for Improvement Planning 

Recorded on May 12th, Dan Jorgensen, Accountability Support Manager, Improvement Planning & Support, and Amy Werpy, Expelled and At-Risk Student Services Program, explored the concept of student engagement, including how it may be used to support improved instruction and improvement planning work in charter schools. Additionally, they shared  engagement measures, including attendance, perception data, and critical data considerations to support the adoption of student engagement data sources within Unified Improvement Plan(s). 

• Accountability and School Improvement Training: Understanding Student Engagement for Improvement Planning
  • Understanding Student Engagement for Improvement Planning Slide Deck

Anti-Racist Strategies to Disrupt Racial Inequities in Charter Schools (Part 2)

Recorded on March 9th, 2021. Aaron Green, Social Work Consultant and Trainer concluded the two-part webinar series on equipping charter school practitioners with the tools and strategies needed to disrupt known and unknown racial inequities.

• Anti-Racist Strategies to Disrupt Racial Inequities in Charter Schools (Part 2)
  • Ant-Racist Strategies 
  • DR Workbook
  • Example: Racial Equity Action Plan
  • Template: Racial Equity Action Plan
  • Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture
  • Ode to Alkebulan

Equal Access Webinar Series in Conjunction with Charter School Institute

• Equal Access Series Session 1: School Policy Review Through a Multicultural Lens (Recorded on 02/10/2021)
  • Equitable Policy Review Protocol
  • Reviewing School Policies Through Equity Len - Presentation 
  • Session 1 -  Policy Data Table 
• Equal Access Series Session 2: Identifying and Addressing Enrollment Barriers for Multi-Lingual Families (Recorded on 3/10/2021)
  • Agenda 
  • Creating Diversity Goal
  • Enrollment Policy Checklist
  • Enrollment Barriers for Multilingual Families
• Equal Access Series Session 3: ELD Implementation and Program Evaluation (Recorded on March 17th, 2021)
  • Document Guide 317 ELD Implementation and Program Evaluation
  • March 17 ELD Slide Deck  (PDF)
• Equal Access Series Session 4: Equity of Access and Outcomes Screener for Special Populations (Recorded April 20th, 2021)  
  • Equity of Access and Outcomes Interactive Agenda
  • Equity of Access and Outcomes Slide Deck
  • Equity of Access and Outcomes Toolkits
  • Equity of Access Report (Interactive Tableau Dashboard)
• Equal Access Series Session 5: Accurate Identification for Multilingual Learners (Recorded May 5th,2021)
  • Accurate Identification of MLLs 
  • Interactive Agenda
  • BOE for CLD
• Equal Access Series Session 6: Accountability for Non-Traditional School Models (Recorded on May 10th,2021)

  • Accountability for Non-Traditional Schools

Anti-Racist Strategies to Disrupt Racial Inequities in Charter Schools (Part 1)

Anti-Racist Strategies to Disrupt Racial Inequities (Part 1)- Recorded on March 23rd, 2021. Aaron Green, Social Work Consultant and Trainer facilitated the first of a two-part webinar series on equipping charter school practitioners with the tools and strategies needed to disrupt known and unknown racial inequities.

• Anti-Racist Strategies to Disrupt Racial Inequities in Charter Schools (Recorded on 02/23/2021)
  • Power Point Presentation 
  • Shared Language Resource

Governance Board Training Resources 

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 .

These free courses are accessible via the Colorado League of Charter Schools (CLCS) YM online platform. Please use your CLCS membership credentials to access this training, or create a free profile on their website.

• Governance Board Basics
• Non-Discrimination Training for Charter School Boards
  • Power Point Presentation

Equity and Inclusion: Creating a Sense of Belonging Through Tiered Systems of Support

• Creating a Sense of Belonging Through Tiered Systems of Support (Recorded 01/12/2021)
• Creating a Sense of Belonging Through Tiered Systems of Support Slide Deck

Technology Funding Opportunities for Colorado Charter Schools

Recorded on December 8th, 2020, DeLilah Collins, ESEA Office Assistant Director, Federal Programs Colorado Department Of Education, conducted a webinar that discussed technology funding opportunities for charter schools, highlighting the federal E-Rate Program as other technology funding opportunities.  

• Technology Funding Opportunities for Charters Recording (Recorded on 12/8/2020)
• Technology Funding Opportunities for Charters Slide Deck
• E-Rate Guidance One Pager (Released October 2020)

Mental Health During a Pandemic: The Three C's to Mental Health 

Recorded on Tuesday, November 10th, 2020, Dr. Morgan Beidleman, founder and chief clinician at Reach Learning Services, conducted an interactive webinar to teach academic and social-emotional competencies. 

• Mental Health Webinar Recording (Recorded on 11/10/2020)
• Mental Health Webinar Resources 

English Language Development Programming in Charter Schools

How can you enhance your knowledge around obligations provided for English learners? This webinar, recorded on July 21, 2020, addressed how fulfilling obligations in the areas of state and federal requirements for ELD programs/services for English learners in Colorado, specific for charter schools, including identification, re-designation, programming, evaluation, and parent communication are key to providing learning opportunities for English learners. Listen to Lindsay Swanton and Doris Nguyen from The Office of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education at CDE cover a plethora of information concerning ELD programming. 

• ELD Programming Webinar Recording (Recorded on 7/21/2020) Coming Soon
• ELD Programming Resource Folder 

Accountability & Improvement Foundations

Interested in learning more about Unified Improvement Plans (UIP) and Accountability? Recorded in June of 2020, Erin Loften and Dan Jorgensen from the Colorado Department of Education provide an in-depth training on CDE's accountability system and UIP process.  

• Accountability and Data Overview Recording (Recorded on 6/2/2020)
• Accountability and Data Overview PowerPoint (pdf)
• UIP Overview & Data Analysis Recording (Recorded on 6/4/2020)
• UIP Overview & Data Analysis PowerPoint (pdf)
• UIP Action Planning & Best Practices (Recorded on 6/11/2020)
• UIP Action Planning PowerPoint (pdf)

From Survival to Quality: Refining Your Online Model to Increase Student Access to High-Quality Education

Recorded on May 12, 2020, Kaci Coats (Executive Director of The Collaborative for Exceptional Education) facilitated a discussion among four charter school leaders who are each taking specific steps to ensure their remote learning models during the time of COVID-19 are inclusive of all students. As we move towards an uncertain future for fall learning, this webinar focused on the importance of considering how to move towards a quality approach to online education. 

• From Survival to Quality Resource Folder
• From Survival to Quality Recording (Introduction and Closeout)
• From Survival to Quality Webinar Recording (Breakout Rooms)

Five Promising Practices for Intentional Equity 

Recorded on March 10, 2020, Dr. Aaron J. Griffen, Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion at Denver School of Science and Technology, and Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Prosperity Educators, LLC  guided us through our fears of implementing diversity equity and inclusion programming.  In this Topic- Based Webinar, Dr. Griffen challenges organizations to unpack the WHY and WILL to intentionally promote educational equity and ultimately encourage organizations to access your readiness to implement intentional equity into your organizational planning.

• Five Promising Practices for Intentional Equity Webinar Recording
• Five Promising Practices for Intentional Equity PowerPoint (pdf)

Equitable Distribution of Teachers

Recorded on February 27, 2020, Jeremy Meredith, ESEA Senior Consultant, Title II explains how the Colorado Department of Education compiles and evaluates Equitable Distribution of Teachers (EDT) data. Jeremy will provide strategies to charter schools in working with their authorizers to meet statutory requirements and address gaps in this area. 

• Equitable Distribution of Teachers Webinar Recording
• Equitable Distribution of Teachers PowerPoint (pdf)
• Equitable Distribution of Teachers: Indicators and Document Guidance (pdf)

Foundations of Effective Governance: Session 2

Recorded on January 14, 2020, Dr. Jorgensen concludes the Effective Governance Topic-Based Webinar series. During this webinar, Dr. Jorgensen reviewed the first five principles of the ten principles of the Policy Governance and provided an in-depth analysis of the remaining five principles of Policy Governance. 

• Foundations of Effective Governance: Session 2 Webinar Recording
• Foundations of Effective Governance: Session 2 PowerPoint (pdf)