About Us
The Office of Dropout Prevention and Student Re-Engagement was launched in 2009 and was created to expand efforts in reducing the dropout rate, increasing the graduation rate and advancing credential attainment.
This effort is authorized by Colorado Revised Statute 22-14-101 and builds on the state’s commitment to ensure graduation and school success for all students and re-engaging out of school youth.
There are five components to this work:
- Analyzing student data pertaining to dropout, completion rates, truancy, suspension and expulsion rates, safety and discipline incidence and student growth.
- Coordinating efforts across CDE and leading initiatives to address dropout prevention, student re-engagement and adult education.
- Identifying and recommending best practices and effective strategies to reduce student dropout rates and increase student engagement and re-engagement.
- Tracking progress and results.
- Securing and managing resources to fund services and supports.
The Dropout Prevention and Student Re-Engagement Unit includes six programs that in 2015-16 represent over $22.5 million in funding to support communities, local education agencies, and schools.
September is National Attendance Awareness Month
Daily attendance is essential to student success at all grade levels, too many absences can lead to students falling behind and ultimately dropping out. In Colorado, the 2017-18 attendance rate was 92.53 percent – a statistic that has not shown progress over the last two years. An area of focus is the state’s chronic absenteeism rate, which is when a student misses 10 percent or more of a school year or approximately 18 days a year. That is equivalent to two days every month. In Colorado, 1 in 5 students are chronically absent.
Visit the Attendance Information webpage to see how your school or district compares to the state attendance, truancy and chronic absenteeism data.
School Attendance Strategies and Best Practices
Use these strategies and best practices to help ensure students attend school regularly and identify early signs of chronic absenteeism and act to prevent it.
Family and Community Engagement:
Relationships with families are strengthened when schools work closely with families to communicate the importance of attendance, which has been shown to improve attendance, lower dropout rates and improve attitudes towards school.
- Establish a family and community partnership
- Home visits
- Conducting workshops for families on attendance
- Community engagement
Early Warning Systems
An effective way to ensure that all students attend school is to create an early warning system that tracks students attendance, behavior and course performance (ABCs).
School-based health centers:
School-based health centers and interventions have a direct impact on educational outcomes, like attendance.
- Partnerships with community health partners
- Healthy Schools
Latest News and Updates
State's Graduation rate improves slightly to 79 percent
Resources and Tools for Graduation and Dropout Rates
- Full press release of Graduation and Dropout Rates
- Overview of Graduation and Dropout Calculations (PDF)
- Colorado Graduation and Dropout Rates from 2010 to 2017 (PDF)
Join the Colorado Re-Engagement Network
