Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

Colorado's ESSA State Plan

In December of 2015, the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was signed into law. The title of the reauthorized legislation, which replaces the No Child Left Behind Act, is the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The passage of ESSA provides a much anticipated opportunity to improve outcomes for all students and gives states more flexibility and decision-making power at the local level. This law also requires states to develop plans that address standards, assessments, school and district accountability and special help for struggling schools. You can read the Every Student Succeeds Act here.

As part of ESSA, each state had to conduct significant outreach to collect input for their plans. The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) engaged with thousands of Coloradans in the development of the plan through 2016 and the early part of 2017. This process provided Coloradans a chance to closely examine the state’s education system, adjust some priorities and gather feedback about what is working and what should be changed. Please visit our Hub and Spoke Committees pages and the ESSA Feedback page to read about the process and comments received throughout stakeholder engagement. CDE also releases an overview of Colorado’s ESSA state plan. This ESSA summary report is intended to provide a clear explanation of the issues addressed in Colorado’s plan.

On May 9, 2017, CDE submitted Colorado’s ESSA state plan and went through a number of revisions as state officials worked with federal reviewers to clarify how the state plans met with ESSA’s statutory requirements. Colorado's state plan was approved by USDE on May 7, 2018.

In January 2023, CDE submitted a plan amendment to the U.S. Department of Education to revise its ESSA identification methodology to address the impact of the pandemic years on availability of data. The proposed changes were approved by the USDE on June 22, 2023, for implementation beginning with the fall 2023 ESSA identifications.

In August 2024, CDE submitted a plan amendment to the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to revise its ESSA identification methodology to address changes in SAT cut scores due to changes in assessment administration. The proposed changes were approved by ED on August 22, 2024, for implementation beginning with the fall 2024 ESSA identifications.

In January 2025, CDE submitted a plan amendment to the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to implement the following changes:

To use the more asset-based term of “Multilingual Learner” instead of “English Learner” in the plan, our website, and the ESSA identification category of Targeted Support and Improvement
For the School Quality and Student Success (SQSS) Indicator:
- Resume using the definition of chronic absenteeism (excused and unexcused) like prior to the pandemic
- Add science back in
- Add chronic absenteeism for K-2 schools
Identify and exit schools for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CS) - Low Graduation Rate based on the three-year weighted average of the 7-year graduation rate
In the 21st Century Programs
- Make five-year awards to 21st CCLC subgrants
- Funds can no longer be used for activities during the school day

The proposed changes were approved by ED on April 18, 2025, for implementation beginning with the fall 2025 ESSA identifications.

Final Amended ESSA State Plan (PDF) (Approved April 18, 2025)
- Approval letter from U.S. Department of Education outlining the approved changes
Final Amended ESSA State Plan (Word) (Approved August 22, 2024)
- Approval letter from U.S. Department of Education outlining the approved changes
Final Amended ESSA State Plan (PDF) (Approved June 22, 2023) [Note: Revised on February 7, 2023 to address the impact of the pandemic on availability of data]
- Approval letter from the U.S. Department of Education outlining the approved changes
Final ESSA State Plan (PDF) (Approved May 7, 2018) [Note: Revised on Nov 8, 2018 to fix an error in Appendix A data table]
ESSA State Plan Approval Letter (PDF) (May 7, 2018)
ESSA Assurances (PDF) (June, 2017)
Stakeholder Feedback on Colorado's ESSA State Plan Draft (Archive)
Colorado's ESSA Listening Tour (Archive)

News and Updates

New: October 8, 2024 - Opportunity to Provide Public Comment on Proposed Changes

The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) will be submitting in January 2025 proposed changes to its ESSA State Plan to the U.S. Department of Education (ED). Before submitting proposed changes for ED review and approval, CDE is seeking public comment on the following proposed changes:

Under ESSA, high schools that have a graduation rate below 67% must be identified for the ESSA Identification category of Comprehensive Support and Improvement - Low Graduation Rate. Currently, Colorado uses three consecutive years of 4- and 7- year graduation rates for identifying and exiting high schools from support and improvement based solely on graduation rates. The proposed change is to use the three-year average of the 7-year graduation rate only to align with statutory requirements.
Throughout the plan, change “English Learner” to the more asset based language of “Multilingual Learner”. No other changes will be made to the student group and the students who are counted in this group for ESSA identification purposes will remain the same.
When science was removed from the School Performance Frameworks (SPFs, state accountability) due to changes in assessments, it was also removed as one of the SQSS indicators. Therefore, science is not currently part of the ESSA identification methodology. With science assessments being used for points in the SPFs again, the proposal is to add science back into the SQSS indicator for ESSA identification.
The School Quality and Student Success Indicator (SQSS) for elementary and middle schools is chronic absenteeism. Due to the impact of the pandemic, in 2021, the methodology was changed to exclude parent excused absences from the SQSS indicator calculations. The proposal is to add excused absences back into the calculation of the chronic absenteeism rate for the purpose of calculating the SQSS indicator.
Unde ESSA, Colorado is required to have a methodology for identifying all schools for support and improvement, including schools that only serve Kindergarten through Second Grade (K-2). The current methodology does not include a School Quality and Student Success Indicator (SQSS). The proposal is to add chronic absenteeism as the SQSS indicator in the methodology for identifying K-2 schools for support and improvement.

The following resources are available for anyone who would like to learn more about these changes and/or to provide feedback.

Table summarizing the proposed changes
PowerPoint slides and recordings diving deeper for each topic area
- CS-Low Graduation Rate - Average of 7-Year Graduation Rates : PowerPoint | Recording
- Science as an SQSS Indicator: PowerPoint | Recording
- Chronic Absenteeism - Inclusion of Excused Absences: PowerPoint | Recording
- K-2 SQSS Indicator - Chronic Absenteeism: PowerPoint | Recording
- Using Multilingual Learner: PowerPoint | Recording
Survey to Provide Feedback

Archive of News and Updates

Key ESSA Resources and Links

Colorado's ESSA State Plan

Final Amended ESSA State Plan (PDF) (Approved June 22, 2023) [Note: Revised on February 7, 2023 to address the impact of the pandemic on availability of data]
Final ESSA State Plan (PDF) (Approved May 7, 2018) [Note: Revised on Nov 8, 2018 to fix an error in Appendix A data table]