Office of Special Education

COVID-19 and Special Education

CDE's Office of Special Education has gathered resources to help answer questions around the COVID-19 pandemic as it relates to special education.

COVID-19 and Special Education

COVID-19 resources

About the Office of Special Education

This office administers both the state's Exceptional Children's Educational Act (ECEA) and the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for children with disabilities. This website is a resource for teachers, administrators, and parents of students with exceptional educational needs due to disability, or learners who are culturally and/or linguistically diverse or have some other special need. The Office of Special Education is one of three offices within the Exceptional Student Services Unit (along with the Office of Facility Schools and the Office of Gifted Education).

Quick Links

ESSU Responsibility List (PDF)
Find Your Special Education Director
Topic Index - alphabetical list of areas within the Office of Special Education
Technical Assistance Documents
Guidance Documents
CDE Professional Development

Update your Special Education Director and Fiscal Contact

It is critical that ESSU has current contact information for all Special Education Directors and Special Education Fiscal Contacts, please submit your information at the link below. In order to be included in the listserv you must complete this form annually.

Special Education Director and Fiscal Contact Submission Form

What's New

IDEA Part B Application - Public Review and Comment

The Colorado Department of Education is making available for public review and comment the following proposed document: (1) The State of Colorado's Part B Application for grant funding under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act for federal fiscal year 2020. Hard copies of the proposed document may be requested by calling Kim Boylan at (303) 866-6690. Written comments will be accepted until 5:00 pm Monday, May 11, 2020. Send written comments to Kim Boylan, Colorado Department of Education, Exceptional Student Services Unit, 1560 Broadway, Suite 1100, Denver, CO 80202-5149, by fax to (303) 866-3808, or by email to boylan_k@cde.state.co.us

IDEA Part B Application FFY 2020 (PDF)

Spring 2020 Directors' Meeting cancelled

When: April 29 - 30, 2020

Based on Centers for Disease Control and Colorado Department of Education guidance regarding COVID-19, the Special Education Directors' meeting scheduled for April 29-30, 2020 is cancelled.

Strategies to Increase Student Participation in Post-school Outcomes Interviews

Do you have or need strategies to increase student participation rates in the post school outcomes (PSO) interview process?!

If you have strategies or would like to know more about how to increase student participation rates in your district, please join the discussion, Tuesday, February 25, 1-2pm on Zoom to find out strategies used by your colleagues and to share the strategies you've used to contact youth.

If you have additional questions or would like to share you strategies, please email me at lott_g@cde.state.co.us. I look forward to hearing from you!

CSDB Report - Program Review for the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind

Read the independent program review team's CSDB report - a report of the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind (PDF).

Change in Reporting Requirements for Measuring Indicator 13 Compliance.

View the memo, webinar handout & compliance tips on CDE's Indicator 13 webpage

Ways to Search this Site

You can use the Google Search box (only searches CDE) at the top right side of the webpage and type in what you are looking for.
You can use our Topic Index - alphabetical list of topics for the Office of Special Education.

Find what you were looking for?

If you have problems with broken links or accessing the content on this page, please contact our web content coordinator Amanda Timmerman at Timmerman_A@cde.state.co.us. Please copy the URL link for this page into the email when referencing the problem you are experiencing.