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News release - State Board directs Montezuma-Cortez elementary school to partner with external management for improvement

May 10, 2018

State Board directs Montezuma-Cortez elementary school to partner with external management for improvement

Board approves, hears further changes to Colorado Academic Standards

DENVER - The Colorado State Board of Education directed Montezuma-Cortez School District RE-1 to work with external management organizations to improve student outcomes at Manaugh Elementary School. The school will enter its sixth year with the lowest rating on the state’s School Performance Framework.

Colorado’s 2009 Accountability Act requires the board mandate specific actions to boost student academic outcomes at schools with more than five consecutive years of poor performance in the state’s accountability system. The School Performance Framework measures attainment on key performance indicators identified in state law: academic achievement and academic longitudinal growth for all schools and postsecondary and workforce readiness for secondary schools.
 
A proposed final written determination regarding the external management pathway for Manaugh Elementary will be submitted by the district in partnership with CDE staff. As part of this pathway, the district will work with the University of Virginia, its selected management partner, to provide targeted professional development and ongoing accountability. Relay, a secondary support partner, will also work with the district to provide deep instructional coaching for school leadership to implement the pathway plan. The board will take a final vote on Manaugh’s pathway at its June meeting.

Standards review and revision

In its review of proposed revisions to the Colorado Academic Standards, the state board withdrew a proposed amendment that would have added a U.S. citizenship test to the high school social studies standards. The board adopted revisions to the math and social studies standards before approving the standards as amended.

The board also heard final recommendations for:

  • The comprehensive health and physical education standards.
  • Reading, writing and communicating standards.
  • Adaption of the Next Generation Science Standards for Colorado’s state science standards.

The board is expected to take action on all of these final recommendations in June. A schedule of content presentations and decisions by the board is available on the standards review and revision homepage.

Public hearings for proposed changes to Educator Talent rules

The board held rulemaking hearings to review feedback on proposed amendments for educator licensing, preparation and effectiveness rules. The board collected written feedback from educators and other members of the public about these changes throughout March and April. Public comments for each of the rules are available to view on Board Docs.

Proposed changes to the licensing rules include a draft provision designed to ensure teachers -- both those in educational preparation programs and working educators -- have at least basic knowledge about teaching English language learners.

  • As proposed, the rules would require all educator preparation programs to ensure English language learner educator standards are fully taught and practiced. The rules would require at least six semester hours or 90 clock hours of training in educator preparation programs.
  • The rules would include a one time requirement for current teachers in core content areas (math, English language arts, social studies and elementary education) over their five-year renewal cycle to demonstrate they have completed three semester hours or 45 clock hours of training in instructional strategies for English language learners.
  • Waivers from these requirements would be available for districts with an average of 2 percent or fewer English language learners enrolled over the last three years.

Additional proposed changes to educator preparation and effectiveness rules include:

  • Updating Teacher Quality Standards;
  • Revisions to rules around educator endorsements, including adding an endorsement for middle school math and expanding pathways to school counselor and school nurse endorsements.

The board is expected to vote on these rules at its June meeting. For more information, visit the Educator Talent section of the CDE website.

In other actions, the board: