Announcement
Love the Bus
Attn: Administrators
The American School Bus Council (ASBC) is honoring school bus drivers nationwide during February for “Love the Bus Month.”
The Love the Bus Program was founded in 2007 and is coordinated by the American School Bus Council (ASBC). Love the Bus is celebrated on Valentine’s Day and throughout February in school districts across the country as a way to raise awareness and appreciation for the hundreds of thousands of school bus drivers who safely transport school children to and from school each day.
ASBC estimates more than 26 million children arrive safely to and from school each day on 480,000 school buses. According to the National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT), National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS), and the National School Transportation Association (NSTA), school buses are the largest and safest transportation system in the country.
In Colorado for the 2009-2010 school year, 832,368 students were enrolled in Colorado public schools. Transportation departments across the state safely carried 331,907 or about 40 percent of these students. Our 6,300 school buses traveled 53,120,711 miles to and from school.
We would like to recognize the safe transportation that Colorado provides. The last student fatality accidents in Colorado were:
Inside a school bus on route – December 14, 1961
Inside a school bus on activity trip – June 2, 1989
Outside school bus in the danger zone – May 15, 1987
The National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and other authorities agree that school buses are the safest form of transportation for getting children to and from school.
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For More Information, Contact:
Greta Bleau
Transportation
Phone: 303-866-6656
Email: bleau_g@cde.state.co.us
Conference
2011 Special Education Legal Conference
Attn: All
The 2011 Special Education Legal Conference will be held Wednesday, April 13, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Red Lion Hotel, 4040 Quebec St., in Denver.
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For More Information, Contact:
Kim Hubbard
Exceptional Student Leadership
Phone: 303-866-6690
Email: hubbard_k@cde.state.co.us
Exceptional Students
Transition Regional Cadres Registration Closes Wednesday, Jan. 26
Attn: Special Education Directors, Special Education Coordinators, Transition Team Leaders
Transition Regional Cadres are scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 8 (South Metro), Wednesday, Feb. 9 (North Metro), Thursday, Feb. 10 (Pueblo) and Wednesday, Feb. 23 (Grand Junction).
The cadres will focus on reviewing Transition Action Plans (TAPs) developed at the Transition Leadership Institute last June. Emphasis will be on evaluating the impact of your efforts to improve secondary transition education and services. The goal is to provide specific strategies AUs can use to ensure that TAPs actually lead to the desired outcomes for students. This work will directly link to TAP development at the summer Transition Leadership Institute June 21-23, 2011. Cadre registration closes Wednesday, Jan. 26th.
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For More Information, Contact:
Wendy Ulibarri
ESLU
Phone: (303) 866-6799
Email: ulibarri_w@cde.state.co.us
Federal Programs
Supplemental Educational Service Providers RFP Now Available
Attn: Superintendents, District Personnel, Education Providers
The Supplemental Educational Services Providers Request For Proposal (RFP) is now available. The purpose of this RFP is to identify quality providers of Supplemental Educational Services to be included on the 2011-2012 Approved Supplemental Services Provider List. The main purpose of the Supplemental Educational Services Program is to:
• Increase the academic achievement in reading/ language arts or mathematics of eligible students as measured by the state’s assessment system; and
• Enable these students to attain proficiency in meeting state academic standards in reading/ language arts or mathematics.
This is not a competitive grant in that as many providers can be included on the approved provider list as meet the specified criteria. Proposals will be due on Wednesday, March 9.
Note: Application training will be held Tuesday, Feb. 8, from 9 a.m. to noon. An application training webinar will be held on Thursday, Feb. 10, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
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For More Information, Contact:
Nazanin Mohajeri-Nelson
Office of Federal Program Administration
Phone: 303-866-6205
Email: mohajeri-nelson_n@cde.state.co.us
Consolidate Application Post Award Revision System
Attn: Superintendents, Federal Program Contacts
There will be two opportunities for local education agencies to submit a post award revision request for the 2010-2011 Consolidated Application. The post award revision system will be available: Monday, Jan. 17 to Tuesday, Feb. 15 and Tuesday, March 15 to Thursday, March 31.
LEAs may only submit one revision request during each window. Accordingly, revisions for every applicable Title Program must be included in the request -- separate requests cannot be submitted for individual Title Programs. Program consultants will not review requests until the submission window closes.
Resources are available on the Web site to assist with the submission process. A PowerPoint presentation with audio explains the purpose of the post award revision Request system, how to submit a request (http://connect.cboces.org/p22155435/) and a step-by-step instruction list.
The Post Award Revision Request System is available at: http://www.cde.state.co.us/scriptscfpu/consapp/index.asp
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For More Information, Contact:
Cheryl Miller
Federal Program Administration
Phone: 303-866-6214
Email: miller_c@cde.state.co.us
FYI
Concurrent Enrollment Programs Act FAQs
Attn: Principals, Superintendents, District Finance Office and School Counselors
In May 2009, the Colorado State Legislature the Concurrent Enrollment Programs Act. In order to help clarify the Concurrent Enrollment and ASCENT programs, we will release responses to frequently asked questions.
FAQs for this week:
Q: In the 5th year, is there any limit in the number of credits that a student can take?
A: If a student is taking classes during the 5th year through ASCENT, there are no limits to the numbers of credit hours a student can take unless otherwise restricted per a college’s maximum credit policy. However, if a student was retained for a 5th year due to not meeting graduation requirements, the student is limited to 9 credits total during his/her 5th year, with a maximum of 6 credits allowed in one semester.
Q: Will Concurrent Enrollment credits be included in the student’s College Opportunity Fund tally?
A: Yes, with the exception of basic skills courses.
Q: Do basic skills courses taken as Concurrent Enrollment count against the credit hour limit for COF?
A: Remedial courses are COF eligible but are not counted against the lifetime credit hour limit.
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For More Information, Contact:
Charles E. Dukes
Phone: 303-866-6142
Email: dukes_c@cde.state.co.us
Important Due Date
Grant program for AP and IB exams
Attn: Superintendents, High School Principals, Advanced Placement Coordinators, International Baccalaureate Coordinators
"ESCAPE: Eliminating Student Costs for AP/IB Exams" is a federal program that covers the cost of AP and IB exams for eligible low-income students.
Interested high school AP and IB coordinators should submit an Intent to Participate form by Friday, Feb. 25. The grant will pay for all exams taken by the eligible low-income student based upon the conditions of application.
An eligible student is one who meets the eligibility requirements for the free and reduced lunch program or other conditions defined in the guidance document. AP/IB coordinators will also need to submit an assurance checklist and a copy of the exam billing invoice by June 10, to verify actual number of low-income students and costs.
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For More Information, Contact:
Katherine Keck
Gifted Education
Phone: 303.866.6794
Email: keck_k@ cde.state.co.us
Reminder
Tell Survey Preparation
Attn: Superintendents, Principals, District and School Leaders
The TELL Colorado survey -- an anonymous, online survey for educators to share their perceptions of teaching and learning conditions in school buildings -- opens on Monday, Jan. 31.
CDE will offer several webinars over the next couple of weeks to provide more information regarding the implementation and use of data.
Make information available to educators now. Every school will receive a packet the week of Jan. 24. The packet will contain letters with six-digit access codes so that educators may access the online survey. An information poster will also be included - the poster is also available on the Web site if you would like to print more. The Web site is another great source of information and now highlights several brief video clips (teacher, association representative, superintendent) about how the survey works and it has resulted in positive outcomes.
Make the experience relevant. The results from this survey are intended to help guide school and district improvement - and to drive state level policy. Schools and districts that reach the 50 percent participation threshold will be able to access their own data after the survey window closes.
Make it possible. Based on the 2009 survey, schools and districts that actively supported the survey had the best participation rates. This was especially true when district and school leaders (including administrators, and association leaders) worked together to encourage educators to participate. Some activities included using staff meetings to complete the survey, offering incentives (e.g., pizza party) to the school that hit the 50 percent participation threshold, or even emailing, calling or visiting educators to offer encouragement.
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For More Information, Contact:
Lisa Medler
Phone: 303-866-6993
Email: medler_l@cde.state.co.us
Update
Jobs Bill
Attn: Superintendents, Business Managers
Districts can now requests up to 90 percent of their current Jobs Bill allocation. These allocations are still preliminary and subject to change.
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For More Information, Contact:
Elizabeth Conway
Grants Fiscal Management
Phone: 303-866-6886
Email: conway_e@cde.state.co.us
Colorado Department of Education
201 East Colfax Avenue
Denver, Colorado
80203-1799
Phone: 303-866-6822 or 303-866-2334
Do you know somebody in your school district who needs to read The Scoop each week? Send an e-mail to: CDE_Communications_Office@cde.state.co.us with "Sign Me Up For The Scoop" in the subject line. If you are having trouble signing up, please call the communications office at the telephone numbers above.
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