CDE Charter School Topic-Based Webinars

CDE Schools of Choice Unit organizes Topic-Based Webinars presented by experts from the field to support the charter school community with knowledge of best practice and evolving policy changes.

Charter School Renewal Process: Data Considerations

Recorded on Tuesday, January 23rd, Jennifer Strawbridge, President, and Founder of Analytical Discoveries explored pivotal strategies for making data-informed decisions to enhance the charter school renewal process. During this session, she focused on essential considerations for both the Unified Improvement Plan and Strategic Plan and shared practical tips and best practices, empowering you to proactively prepare for the impending renewal process.

Colorado Multi-Tiered System of Supports (COMTSS): Advancing Educational Equity

Recorded on Tuesday, December 12th, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) specialists Milcah Hawk, Dr. Arlisha Lawson Watford, and Dr. Erin Ax provided a comprehensive exploration of MTSS, shedding light on the current resources available within the COMTSS framework and insights that can significantly enhance school climate and culture. This session covered the foundational elements of MTSS and practical strategies for cultivating a shared understanding of equity within the COMTSS context.

Economic Mobility Considerations for Charter School Practitioners Talent Development and Career Learning

Recorded on Tuesday, November 14th,2023, Colorado Succeeds representatives Shannon Nicholas, Chief of Staff, and Rachel Van Brocklin, Director of Communication, will provide an overview of the current context for talent development and career-connected learning and gain insights on the latest trends, strategies, and resources to support your school in preparing students for an opportunity-filled future.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Adult Resilience and Stress Management within a We-Care Culture

Recorded on May 10th, 2022, Andrea Pulskamp, State Transformation Specialist, Student Pathways Teaching and Learning at the Colorado Department of Education, Michelle Malvey, School Health Training Consultant, Health and Wellness Unit at the Colorado Department of Education, and Morgan Seiler Project Aware Program Coordinator, Health and Wellness at the Colorado Department of Education provided guidance and strategies to show how school climate impacts staff well-being indicators and how a culture of we-care is essential to supporting teacher resilience and stress. This interactive webinar provided social-emotional wellness tools and resources that apply to anyone working in schools or supporting them.

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.

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

Recorded on December 7th,2021. Bill de la Cruz, Belonging Thought Leader, and founder of De La Cruz Solutions led an invigorating discussion on how to build and nurture strong family, community, and school partnerships and drive equitable outcomes for members of your school community.

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

Recorded on November 9th,2021. Alex Medler, Executive Director of the Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers (CACSA), provided an overview of Special Education Cost Accounting through the case study of the St. Vrain school district. Charter school authorizers then weighed in on this case study. As the Colorado Department of Education has statutory obligations related to special education accounting costs, the suggestions and recommendations highlighted in this training are not reflective of the Colorado Department of Education.

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

This one day convening, held Friday June 18th, 2021 assembled charter school leaders and authorizers to discuss how best to leverage frameworks when making systemic decisions around school improvement and policy change to advance equity. This event featured expert guest speakers, panel discussions, and workshops designed to build awareness and opportunities for peer-to-peer strategizing for implementation of equity frameworks at the school level and oversight and support activities for authorizers. Below are the recordings of each session of this event and the DropBox with additional resources.

Tools for Addressing Inequities in Discipline of Students with Disabilities

Recorded on May 11th, Candace Hawkins Esp. Director of General Supervision and Monitoring in the Exceptional Student Services Unit (ESSU) at the Colorado Department of Education provided guidance on equitable discipline strategies for 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)

Equal Access Webinar Series in Conjunction with Charter School Institute

In conjunction with Charter School Institute, the Equal Access Webinar Series is a six (6) part webinar series that highlights equitable practices for multilingual/multicultural learners. We hope to equip both authorizers and charter school leaders with the support needed to ensure that charter schools are open to all students. There are no barriers to access for diverse students in school policies or programs.

The first session of this webinar series: School Policy Review Through a Multicultural Lens, was recorded on February 10th, 2021. Justo Yanez and Jessica Welch of Charter School Institute facilitated an introductory session on spearheading a review of school policies for equitable practices for multicultural learners.

Equal Access Series Session 1: School Policy Review Through a Multicultural Lens (Recorded on 02/10/2021)
Equal Access Series Session 2: Identifying and Addressing Enrollment Barriers for Multi-Lingual Families (Recorded on 3/10/2021)
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)
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.

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

Recorded on Tuesday, January 12th, 2021, Dr. Amy McCart, co-director of SWIFT, helped us re-image the concept of inclusion and explore how to make staff, students, and community members feel genuinely welcome. Dr. McCart provided strategies to evaluate school culture and provide guidance on how to intentionally welcome all students.

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 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.

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.

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.

Understanding Special Education Teacher Retention

Recorded November 12, 2019 (rerecorded due to technical issues Dec. 13, 2019), Meagan Gillcrist discusses how to proactively plan for the retention of special educators in order to build better outcomes for diverse learners.

Foundations of Effective Governance: Session 1

Recorded on December 3, 2019, Dr. Jorgensen provides a high-level overview of the ten principles of Policy Governance, focusing on the first five principles for the first of two training webinars in this series. The second webinar, Foundations of Effective Governance: Session 2 will be held on January 14, 2020, where the remaining five principles will be explained.

Recordings to Comply with TA Requirements

Database Dashboards

Recorded May 13, 2019, "What gets measured gets done," Denise Mund provides an overview of the data dashboard process. This critical tool helps governing boards and school leaders keep an eye on the important measurables.

Evaluation Practices

Recorded on February 21, 2017, Jennell Verow and Clare Vickland provide information on teacher evaluation, evaluation cycle and common challenges.

Evaluation Practices Webinar Recording
Evaluation Practices PowerPoint and Presenter Notes (PPTX)
Evaluation Practices Assessment Inventory (DOCX)
Performance Improvement Plan Template (DOCX)
Additional information: The evaluation cycle does not need to be followed in sequence and should be tailored to your school. "Leverage Leadership" by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo is referenced as a resource.

Leadership Self-Evaluation

Recorded February 17, 2016, Dr. Terry Croy Lewis presents information to charter school board members on effective leadership evaluation for themselves as well as school leaders.