Ed Review_5Feb2021

by: Susan Meek

Category: Newsletter

Feb

05

February 5, 2021

NSBA Federal Insider Podcast

by: Susan Meek

Category: Newsletter

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School choice Community Insights

Dec

22

The South Carolina Supreme Court recently prevented South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster from using federal coronavirus relief aid from the CARES Act to provide tuition grants for private schools in SC. Joining the conversation around this topic is South Carolina School Boards Association Executive Director & CEO, Scott Price.

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CDE Update

by: Susan Meek

Category: Newsletter

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Community Insights

Dec

01

Nov. 30, 2020

For more information, contact:
[email protected]

Dear Superintendents and BOCES Executive Directors,

We hope you all had a restful and safe holiday break.

In this special edition of the CDE Update, we've included a reminder that districts must notify teachers by tomorrow about the extended READ Act teacher training deadline.

Below there is also information about the updated COVID-19 cases and outbreak guidance from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and news about the postponement of 2021 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) assessments. Finally, we've included information about the Governor's Back-to-School Working Group.

Past editions of the CDE Update, and all COVID-19 special editions, are available on our website. Visit the COVID-19 Resources for Schools webpage for additional resources.

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READ Act

READ Act teacher training deadline extended; districts must notify teachers by Dec. 1

The State Board of Education granted a six-month extension for kindergarten through third-grade teachers to complete the training requirements in evidence-based reading instruction required by the READ Act. Teachers will now have until Jan. 31, 2022, to complete their training requirements.

The extension is contingent upon districts notifying all K-3 teachers of the requirement by Tuesday, Dec. 1. The department anticipates including an assurance that districts, BOCES, and charters schools have communicated the requirement as part of the annual READ data collection this spring. Districts, BOCES and charters that do not meet the requirements will be ineligible for READ Act funds for the 2022-23 school year.

Teachers have various avenues for completing the requirement, including a no-cost option provided by CDE.

For more information about the training requirement, visit the CDE website, or contact Andreia Simon, in the the P-3 Office, at [email protected].

Public Health Guidance

Updated isolation guidance and decision tools for educators

CDPHE recently updated the decision-support tools for educators, to aid them in determining who needs to quarantine after an exposure in the classroom or school setting.

The update is based on outbreak data and stakeholder input and is expected to result in schools being able to maintain staffing and remain in-person to a greater extent. This update also standardizes the protocol no matter what phase a county is on the Colorado COVID-19 Dial.

For a list of detailed changes, visit the Archived Latest Updates: 2020-21 Planning Framework and Toolkit webpage.

For more information, visit the CDPHE guidance on cases and outbreaks webpage.

Assessments

National Assessment of Education Progress postponed until 2022

NAEP grade four and eight mathematics and reading assessments have been postponed through the spring of 2022 due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as decided by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Commissioner, with support of the National Assessment Governing Board.

Based on how NCES has approached sampling in the past, we expect that a new sample will be selected for 2022, meaning that schools selected for the reduced administration in 2021 may not be selected for 2022 and additional schools will be selected for the typical sized sample for 2022.

The pandemic has presented a number of challenges that prevent a NAEP administration in the 2020-21 school year. Local restrictions on access to schools by outside personnel would reduce NAEP’s ability to validly, reliably, and safely collect and report NAEP data in 2021. In addition, the use of variable instructional models such as full-time online and hybrid instruction would have created administration challenges, such as requiring multiple sessions with smaller number of students within a school. Multiple NAEP administration sessions may create health and safety concerns for both testing proctors and students by increasing the risk of COVID-19 transition between NCES proctors and students, in part because the NAEP assessments are administered on NCES-provided devices.

NCES continues to believe the exploration of educational experiences within the context of COVID-19 could be valuable to states and districts for the 2020-21 school year. NCES developed questions related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic for inclusion in the school and teacher questionnaires, and is considering delivering them to teachers and administrators originally selected for the 2021 administration, despite the postponement of the NAEP assessments themselves. We will share more information on the questionnaires as it becomes available.

Updates from Governor's Office

Back-to-school working group convened by governor

Gov. Polis recently announced the formation of a back-to-school working group to help plan the safe return of students to classrooms in January 2021.

The working group consists of teachers, other school staff, superintendents, elected school boards, charter school leaders, health officials and parents. The group will share perspectives and feedback with the governor, Commissioner of Education Katy Anthes and key public health leaders about school reopening.

The group held its first meeting on Nov. 25. For a list of group membership, read the governor's press release.

CDE Update

by: Susan Meek

Category: Newsletter

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Community Insights

Oct

19

Colorado Department of Education

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CDE The Scoop Newsletter

by: Susan Meek

Category: Newsletter

Oct

08

Wednesday, October 07, 2020

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CDE Update

by: Susan Meek

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Community Insights

Aug

27

Aug. 26, 2020

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The Scoop

by: Susan Meek

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Community Insights

Aug

27

USDOE: Ed Review_21Aug20

by: Susan Meek

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Community Insights

Aug

21

COVID-19 Policy Implications Stakeholder Group

by: Susan Meek

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Accountability Student achievement Community Insights

Aug

19

Background on the Stakeholder Group

In the 2020 legislative session, the Colorado General Assembly included in the School Finance Act (HB20-1418 (PDF)) the creation of a stakeholder group to address issues presented by the COVID-19 crisis. The purpose of the group is to review the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting disruption of the 2019-2020 school year, including student transition to remote learning and the cancellation of the state assessments, accountability, accreditation, and educator evaluation systems. The COVID-19 Policy Implications Stakeholder Group will discuss how the cancellation of state assessments will impact accountability, accreditation, and educator evaluations during the 2020-21 school year and whether future modifications are needed for these areas in response to the pandemic.

The COVID-19 Policy Implications Stakeholder Group is being formed under the direction of the Commissioner and will work from the fall 2020 through December 2020. By early January 2021, the findings and recommendations from the working group will be completed.

CDE News Release

by: Susan Meek

Category: Newsletter

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Community Insights

Aug

15

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Aug. 13, 2020

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CDE Communications Division

News Release

State Board reauthorizes MSU Denver's educator preparation programs

Board reviews progress of schools and districts on accountability clock

DENVER - The Colorado State Board of Education at its regular monthly meeting held on Wednesday and Thursday approved both MSU Denver’s traditional and alternative teacher licensure programs except for two endorsement areas. These two areas, elementary and early childhood, were approved on a conditional basis only for the 2020-21 academic year, allowing the university to continue implementing changes to content and instruction. Another review of the elementary and early childhood programs will be conducted, along with a state site visit, in spring 2021.

Staff presented progress of schools and districts on accountability clock
CDE staff presented information about the progress of 12 schools and two districts that are implementing improvement plans directed by the state board after five or more years of low student achievement. The presentation focused on adjustments to the school and district improvement plans as a result of the shift to remote learning last spring and planned adjustments this fall. The presentation and the progress monitoring reports for each school and district are available on the CDE website.

Board maintains exclusive chartering authority of Pueblo 60
The state board denied a request from the Pueblo School for Arts and Sciences to revoke Pueblo School District 60’s exclusive chartering authority. Among its arguments, PSAS cited concerns that the district failed to assist the school with its long-term facility needs and unlawfully withheld $70,000 in per pupil revenue. Following the hearing, the board determined that the Pueblo School for Arts and Sciences failed to prove the district demonstrated a pattern of not providing fair and equitable treatment to its charter schools.

Updates provided on implementation of the READ Act
CDE staff updated the board on the review process for creating the Instructional Programming Advisory List and Professional Development Advisory List required by the 2019 changes to the READ Act. Districts using READ funds to purchase instructional programming must select programming that is included in the Instructional Programming Advisory List.

The process of reviewing instructional programming for inclusion on the list started with CDE staff developing eligibility requirements that meet statutory requirements. Publishers submitted 123 programs to be considered for the list, and a review team made up of 30 district experts and 12 CDE program staff reviewed the submitted instructional materials. Following appeals as allowed by the READ Act, 56 programs were included on the Instructional Programming Advisory List. At this point, staff are still working to review 11 programs.

Office of Intergovernmental Affairs

by: Susan Meek

Category: Newsletter

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Community Insights

Aug

12

Office of Intergovernmental Affairs

Kids First: Getting America’s Children Safely Back to School

President Trump is taking action to ensure schools safely reopen in the fall and empower parents to make decisions about their children's education. The President has made over $13 billion available to support continued education for K-12 students and has requested $105 billion in education funding as part of the next coronavirus relief bill.

Today at 3 PM Eastern, President Trump is hosting parents, teachers, and health and educational experts – alongside Senior Administration Officials –at the White House for a discussion on the importance of safely reopening America’s schools. This discussion is a continuation of the roundtable the President hosted at the White House in July.