Office of Special Education

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 (Updated 12/2018)
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

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).

ASD Literacy Institute, Tier 1

This statewide institute will be conducted by nationally recognized experts on literacy and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and will focus on a balanced approach to literacy including instruction in phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and writing. Learn more!

Revised Specific Learning Disability Guidelines

The newly revised guidelines provide specific guidance in the implementation of the eligibility criteria and identification process for identifying students with Specific Learning Disabilities in Colorado (PDF).

Save the Date!

READ Conference

Dates: October 10-11, 2019

Location: Grand Junction

Equity & Excellence

Dates: October, 24-25, 2019

Location: Denver Metro Area

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.