Archive: News and Updates

June 22, 2023 - U.S. Department of Education approves Colorado’s Amended ESSA State Plan.

Due to the impact of the pandemic on the availability of longitudinal state assessments, revisions are required to the ESSA State Plan, which outlines the methodology that Colorado uses to identify schools for support and improvement under ESSA. On January 31, 2023, Colorado submitted proposed changes to its ESSA State Plan, which have been approved.

Public Comment Period Open until December 19, 2022

Due to the impact of the pandemic on the availability of longitudinal state assessments, revisions are required to the ESSA State Plan, which outlines the methodology that Colorado uses to identify schools for support and improvement under ESSA. The webinar recording below explains the proposed changes and the survey can be used to provide feedback to CDE on the proposed changes to the ESSA State Plan.

Recorded webinar that explains the proposed changes
Survey to provide feedback on proposed change
- ESSA State Plan – Redlined Proposed Changes

ESSA Identification Addendum Approved

Every state that accepts funds under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) must have an approved methodology for meaningfully differentiating the performance of and identifying schools for support and improvement. Colorado’s methodology was approved by the U.S. Department of Education in 2018 as part of the ESSA State Plan (for specifications on Colorado’s ESSA identification methodology, please visit CDE’s website on the ESSA Identification Methodology and Criteria). Due to the extraordinary circumstances created by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the U.S. Department of Education invited State educational agencies (SEAs) to submit an addendum to modify their approved ESEA consolidated State plans for the 2021-2022 school year, in order to identify schools for support and improvement in fall 2022. On May 12, 2022, the U.S. Department of Education approved Colorado’s request to amend its approved consolidated State plan to account for short-term changes in the identification methodology for the fall 2022 identifications. Specifically, Colorado was approved to implement the following short term changes:

Shift forward long-term goals for academic achievement, graduation rates, and progress in achieving English language proficiency by two years.
Modify the Academic Progress indicator to only include mathematics growth for grades 5 and 7 and English language arts growth for grades 4, 6, and 8, due to an approved waiver which did not require Colorado to administer statewide assessments to all grades in the 2020-2021 school year.
Modify the School Quality or Student Success (SQSS) indicator to exclude science achievement and alter the definition of chronic absenteeism to include unexcused absences only. More information regarding the approved changes to the SQSS indicator can be found in the following recorded webinar (https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/o3dyvOLa_KX5ZTbr0KPpoDrhr5VMffn80ziM35hd0d60jIYvedb5S08n8MG-X3_m.BXxMvTYy9osQvhv9?startTime=1646089291000).
Use one year of accountability data, instead of 3-years of aggregated data, to identify schools for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CS), Targeted Support and Improvement (TS), and Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATS). More information regarding the approved changes can found in the following recorded webinars.
For schools identified for CS in Fall 2022, modify the exit criteria such that schools will exit CS status if they no longer meet the identification criteria that resulted in their identification and are not re-identified for CS for two consecutive years, rather than three consecutive years, following identification. More information regarding the approved changes can found in the following recorded webinars.
- CS – Lowest 5%: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/vVN8RtkrlY3A9igongVFmelkWl4ZZkYm1OByjftCM5qxcWzUEymLKUAaEzE9uSSC.Wu3lmzkX6XWGffUW?startTime=1645137901000
- CS – Low Grad: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/vVN8RtkrlY3A9igongVFmelkWl4ZZkYm1OByjftCM5qxcWzUEymLKUAaEzE9uSSC.Wu3lmzkX6XWGffUW?startTime=1645138950000

ESSA Identification Addendum

Academic Achievement
Academic growth on state assessment
Graduation Rates
Progress on English language proficiency for English learners
Indicator(s) of school quality or student success (SQSS)

Due to the extraordinary circumstances created by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the U.S. Department of Education has invited State educational agencies (SEAs) to submit an addendum to modify their approved ESEA consolidated State plans for the 2021-2022 school year, in order to identify schools for support and improvement in fall 2022.

CDE is proposing to use this flexibility to propose one-year changes to its methodology for identifying schools in fall 2022. The proposed changes to each type of school are explained in the following PowerPoints and recorded webinars.

Please use the following Survey Forms to provide feedback on the proposed methodology for each type of school:

CDE is also proposing to use this flexibility to propose one-year changes to the School Quality or Student Success (SQSS) Indicator. The proposed changes to the SQSS Indicator are explained in the following PowerPoint and recorded webinar.

SQSS Indicator: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/o3dyvOLa_KX5ZTbr0KPpoDrhr5VMffn80ziM35hd0d60jIYvedb5S08n8MG-X3_m.BXxMvTYy9osQvhv9?startTime=1646089291000

Please use the following Survey Form to provide feedback on the proposed changes to the SQSS Indicator:

SQSS Indicator Input Form

Public Comment Opportunity: SQSS Indicator Metrics

Every state that accepts funds under the Every Student Succeeds Act must have an approved methodology for meaningfully differentiating the performance of and identifying schools for support and improvement. Colorado’s methodology was approved by the U.S. Department of Education in 2018 as part of the ESSA State Plan. The following indicators must be used in the identification methodology (for additional details, please visit the CDE website on the ESSA Identification Methodology and Criteria):

Academic Achievement as measured by performance on state assessments

Academic growth on state assessment
Graduation Rates
Progress on English language proficiency for English learners
Indicator(s) of school quality or student success (SQSS)

Prior to submitting the ESSA State Plan to the U.S. Department of Education for review and approval, CDE had worked with various stakeholders to develop the methodology and identify which metrics to use for each of the required components listed above. At that time, stakeholders identified reduction of the chronic absenteeism as one of the SQSS indicators; however, CDE was asked to continue to research other possible metrics to use for this indicator. Since that time, CDE has been working with stakeholders to research other options.

After taking into consideration availability, reliability, validity, and research-based of numerous options, the following recommendations have been made by stakeholders for CDE to continue to use reduction of chronic absenteeism and add:

A growth to standard measure, which would measure how students are progressing towards meeting academic standards

A metric for measuring school safety or climate, including surveys from families, students, or educators

Before CDE can adopt and begin using a growth to standard or a measure of school safety or climate, the ESSA State Plan must be revised, reviewed, and approved by the U.S. Department of Education. Prior to submitting the revised ESSA State Plan, CDE is seeking public comment on the possibility of adding the above recommended metrics to the SQSS indicator.

The following PowerPoint and recording provide greater context and background on this matter.

PowerPoint presentation on the SQSS indicator
Recording of presentation

Please email feedback on the SQSS indicator to Nazanin (Nazie) Mohajeri-Nelson.

Public Comment Opportunity: Request for Waiver from Federal Accountability and Reporting Requirements

The U.S. Department of Education (USDE) released a streamlined template for State Educational Agencies (SEAs) to use to request a waiver from federal accountability and reporting requirements under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students, families, schools and districts, CDE is proposing to request this waiver from the ESSA accountability and reporting requirements.

Requesting this waiver would allow CDE to not be required to use data from the 2020-2021 school year for identifying schools for support and improvement under ESSA in fall of 2021 and to skip the following requirements for one year:

Measuring progress toward long-term goals and interim progress based on state assessments;
Adjusting the academic achievement indicator to hold schools accountable for student participation on state assessments when participation drops below 95%; and
Public reporting related to ESSA accountability and school identification.

As part of applying for this waiver, CDE would agree to continue implementing the following ESSA requirements:

Report chronic absenteeism to the USDE and publicly;
Publicly report data on student and/or teacher access to technology and high speed internet, to the extent that this data is collected by the CDE or LEAs;
Continue to provide supports and services to schools identified under ESSA for support and improvement in 2019-2020;
Only exit schools that were identified based solely on graduation rates; and
Resume identification of schools for support and improvement under ESSA in fall 2022.

CDE received input on the draft waiver request for submission to the USDE. For any questions about the waiver request, please email: ESSAquestions@cde.state.co.us.

U.S. Department of Education Issues Template and Guidance for States to Update ESSA State Plans

On Oct. 20, 2020, the U. S. Department of Education (USDE) provided states with a draft state plan addendum document that outlines the flexibility available to states to request changes to their ESSA plans due to the absence of 2019-20 state assessments data. Stakeholders have until Friday, Nov. 20, 2020, to send their comments on the draft addendum document via email.

Once the template is final, states will have until Feb. 1, 2021, to submit any requested changes to their ESSA state plans for identification of schools for ESSA support and improvement in the fall of 2021.

The draft state plan addendum document is intended to provide states with a common streamlined template for requesting technical changes to their ESSA accountability plans for the 2020-21 school year due to the absence of assessment data for the 2019-20 school year. CDE will engage its primary accountability stakeholder groups, the Committee of Practitioners and the Accountability Work Group, as well as district federal program directors, BOCES, and district leaders as it develops its plans to submit the addendum by Feb. 1, 2021, for changes needed for the 2020-21 school year using this streamlined approach. States that wish to amend their ESSA state plans beyond what is included in the template must follow the regular amendment requirements provided by the USDE in past years. CDE will make its recommended technical changes to Colorado’s ESSA plan in December.

The draft state plan addendum document does not include the option to request a waiver for assessment requirements under ESSA for the 2020-21 school year. In the frequently asked questions section on this issue, the USDE indicates that “based on information currently available, the Department expects that an SEA will meet all ESEA assessment, accountability, school identification, and reporting requirements in the 2020-2021 school year.”