CDE Update - Strategic Priorities

The Educator Effectiveness Unit trainers are scheduling and conducting trainings with pilot districts on the teacher rubric throughout the upcoming months. Two additional trainers will support district needs during the next school year. The Unit is working through a wait-list of non-pilot districts that want to be trained in both the principal and teacher state model rubric. In addition, the Unit is completing the collection of data from pilots on the principal rubric and the process for the principal evaluation. The Unit will present a year-one pilot report to the State Board in August or September.

Work continues through the summer months to calibrate and score the final state model teacher rubric with videos from the Gates MET (Measures of Effective Teaching) Project.  This will give districts a standard from which they can work toward consistency of evaluator scoring within their school district. The team is also developing four potential models of how to bring the 50 percent student growth score together with the 50 percent professional practice score for pilots to practice with and give CDE feedback on before the final method is selected in July 2013.

The legislature will vote on the appeal rules by the end of this legislative session. Districts should start planning in the upcoming school year, what evaluation model they want to use—whether they are going to create their own model (which meets state law) or use the CDE- created state model evaluation system.  On the Educator Effectiveness website there is a transition guide that takes district leaders through the Top 10 readiness questions for implementation of all requirements of SB 191 in 2013-14. 

On April 25, CDE launched its first standards implementation survey. Addressed to superintendents and/or designees, the survey will gather information from across the state regarding district levels of awareness and stages of transition to the new Colorado Academic Standards. Ultimately, the results of the survey will help CDE identify the most valuable, effective and feasible support options for standards implementation and for the transformation of teaching and learning. The survey can be found at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Standards_Implementation_Survey

• On May 18, CDE’s Standards 411 Summit brings together vendors, community partners, and instructional service providers for a half-day informational summit about the new Colorado Standards. Participants explore the unique attributes of the standards and how their organizations can learn from the Department’s efforts to support school and district alignment with the new standards.
  Details are located at:http://www.cde.state.co.us/otl/Standards_411_May18.htm
• At the CDE Summer Symposium, the standards implementation session supports participants in gaining a clearer understanding of successful transition planning for the new Colorado Standards, the instructional shifts required by the Standards, and the ways in which the Standards are reflected in the teacher effectiveness rubric.

None at this time.

The GED study will be complete in three weeks. The online study will be ready for the Unit of Innovation and Choice and UCD next month.

The analysis of the labor force data in collaboration with the Colorado Department of Higher Education will be complete in May.

None at this time.

NCLB Flexibility Waiver. The most recent Frequently Asked Questions include information around the 2012 district and school performance framework reports, English language proficiency (CELApro), and Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs). To view the new FAQs visit http://www.cde.state.co.us/Accountability/NCLBWaiver.asp. For additional questions, e-mail Liz Lenz (lenz_e@cde.state.co.us). CDE staff will use your questions to add to the FAQs.

Unified Improvement Plans: Posting.  Thank you for submitting district-level and school-level Unified Improvement Plans (UIPs) for public posting on SchoolView.org. Those who have not submitted or have UIPs missing in Tracker will be contacted directly. All submitted UIPs will be posted to SchoolView.org this summer. 

Unified Improvement Plans: Needs Assessment.  More than 130 districts responded to CDE’s request for feedback on UIP support and resource needs. CDE will use survey data, observations from the UIP review process and additional data to inform adjustments to the UIP template, trainings and resource development over the course of the year. 

Accreditation Contracts.  Districts Accredited with Priority Improvement or Turnaround Plans need to renew their accreditation contracts with CDE by June 30.  A model accreditation contract for renewal was sent to these specific districts via an e-mail from Associate Commissioner Keith Owen in early April. Accreditation contracts for all other districts will automatically renew without any additional action required by those districts.

Supplemental Educational Services and School Choice.  As many of you know, Title I SES and School Choice options for low performing schools were retained under Colorado’s NCLB Flexibility waiver granted by the U.S. Department of Education. CDE is working with stakeholder groups to develop guidance related to the new rules tied to these two requirements. CDE expects to finalize and release the guidance by May 14.

NCLB Consolidated Application.  CDE is still awaiting FY 2013 state and school district NCLB allocations from the USDE but expects to receive them within the next two weeks.   Once school district allocations are complete, CDE will launch the consolidated application and release a schedule of webinars and other training opportunities in support of school district and BOCES consolidated application development. 

Requests for New School Codes. Requests for new school codes, school closures, name changes and grade changes for the 2012-13 school year are due to CDE by June 30.  This information is crucial for ensuring accurate Title IA funding, NCLB ESEA waiver implementation, on-time and accurate release of the School Performance Frameworks and earlier dissemination of the pre-populated Unified Improvement Plans.  Additionally, having a final 2012-13 school list earlier will allow for better reporting in SchoolView and access to grade specific assessment materials.

Alternative Education Campus Applications. The deadline for districts to submit applications for all new and current Alternative Education Campuses is July 1. Application will include (1) an assurance that the school qualifies as an AEC, and (2) a selection of measures to be reviewed by CDE for inclusion on the 2012 AEC SPF report. Additional information will be forthcoming, with the updated AEC application materials released by June.

District and School Performance Framework Reports. The Department is updating the District and School Performance Framework (DPF/SPF) reports for the preliminary August 2012 release. The 2012 DPFs and SPFs include the addition of two key measures: (1) growth in English language proficiency (CELApro) and (2) disaggregated graduation rates. Additional information is forthcoming, and districts will have an opportunity to see initial drafts of the report template and the simulated results (2011 DPF/SPF data using the 2012 modifications) this summer.

Updated UIP Template.  Based upon feedback from the field (e.g., UIP Needs Assessment) and CDE’s review of plans, the UIP template is being updated for the 2012-13 school year. However, changes in the template will be kept to a minimum.  Preliminary changes include: (1) updates due to the ESEA waiver (e.g., deleting references to AYP), (2) updates that reflect changes in the SPF/DPF, (3) shifts in the formatting of the data narrative to ensure that requirements are being met and (4) more programs will be requiring addenda to meet specific program requirements.  The 2012-13 school and district UIP templates should be available by the end of May.

School Support Teams (SST) and Comprehensive Appraisals for District Improvement (CADI).  The Department is currently working to dramatically re-work the SST and CADI standards, indicators, rubrics, and protocols.  These new and improved (and less expensive) diagnostic reviews will be offered to schools and districts identified as Priority Improvement or Turnaround beginning with the 2012-13 school year.

• June 30: Deadline for districts to submit requests to CDE for new school codes, school closures, name changes, and grade changes for the 2012-13 school year.

• June 30: Deadline for districts Accredited with Priority Improvement or Turnaround Plans to renew their accreditation contracts with CDE.

• June 30: Deadline for LEAs to submit Consolidated Applications for ESEA Title funding.

• July 1: Deadline for districts to submit Alternative Education Campus applications for CDE review.

• Summer 2012: CDE publishes final district and school UIPs on SchoolView.org.

• The annual Innovation Report and the new guidance for schools and districts to pursue innovation status were presented at the State Board Meeting on April 11. The annual report provides an overview of Districts with Innovation Schools, including data about academic performance before and after innovation implementation. Both documents can be found on the Innovation Schools webpage at http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdegen/SB130.htm
• Four online teachers and three online counselors have been selected for the 2011-2012 Online Recognition Award and will be honored at the May State Board of Education meeting. These individuals were selected for their ability to use data to customize teaching strategies that resulted in a positive impact on student achievement. Profiles of the awardees can be found at http://www.cde.state.co.us/onlinelearning/whatsnew.htm.
• Awardees for the Highly Effective School Library Program will be recognized at the May State Board of Education meeting and at a special reception at 3 p.m. on Monday, May 21. Librarians in these schools demonstrated through a competitive application process that they meet or exceed exemplary school library program criteria established by the State Library. The libraries submitted action plans, letters of recommendation, and 3-minute multimedia presentations showcasing the competencies required for program excellence.
• CDE and the Colorado Legacy Foundation created a video to launch the Expanded Learning Opportunities Strategic Plan and will be shared with the state board at its May meeting. The video is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRTDDO_zMXU

The last of the 3-part Blended Learning Summit will take place on May 17. This event will focus on how blended learning can be implemented under current policy, and provide a platform for discussion about changing policy to improve the quality of blended and online learning.

None at this time.

LEA’s submitted scopes of work that detail planned use of their RTTT funds to CDE for review in mid March. CDE has reviewed the scopes of work and submitted them to the U.S. Department of Education (USDoE) for final review and approval. CDE hopes to have USDoE approval in May/early June after which time award letters will be sent out that include details about accessing funds. 

LEAs will be notified of approval or request for revisions of their scopes of work in May/early June.

May/early June: Anticipated approval of scopes of work from USDoE; award letters sent to LEAs.