Accreditation and Accountability

Colorado’s statewide education accountability system provides information to the public and holds school districts accountable for the performance of their schools. Pursuant to the Education Accountability Act of 2009 (the Act), the State Board of Education annually reviews school district performance and assigns each district to one of five district accreditation categories. These accreditation categories are: Accredited with Distinction, Accredited, Accredited with Improvement Plan, Accredited with Priority Improvement Plan and Accredited with Turnaround Plan.

Each district’s accreditation category is determined based on a formula that incorporates:

• student achievement levels on statewide assessments;
• student longitudinal academic growth on statewide assessments;
• progress made in closing the achievement and growth gaps; and
• postsecondary and workforce readiness, as measured by student achievement on the SAT, graduation and dropout rates, and the percentage of students who enroll in a career and technical education program, community college or four-year institution of higher education.

The accreditation formula also takes into account progress made by students who are identified as having a significant reading deficiency based on early childhood reading assessments.

Priority Improvement or Turnaround districts

Districts assigned to Priority Improvement or Turnaround are responsible for specific actions.

As a benefit of CASB membership, CASB’s Member Legal Resources Team developed a legal memo, “Priority Improvement and Turnaround Status: Role of Local School Boards.” To access this memo, please sign in with your CASB username and password. CIick here to access. Members Area

Additional resources

• CDE’s District accountability handbook
• CDE’s District accountability handbook supplement, Priority Improvement and Turnaround districts and schools