(1) Repealed.
(2) (a) As soon as practicable under federal law, based on information received by the state board pursuant to section 22-7-1010 and on any information received from the regional educator meetings pursuant to section 22-7-1011, the department of education shall submit to the federal department of education amendments to the state plan for peer review and approval. The amendments, at a minimum, shall include:
(I) Amendments to incorporate the preschool through elementary and secondary education standards adopted by the state board pursuant to section 22-7-1005; and
(II) Amendments to incorporate the system of assessments adopted pursuant to section 22-7-1006.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, in order to preserve flexibility and adaptability at the state level, the amended state plan shall include only those components of the aligned preschool through postsecondary public education systems that are required by or subject to approval under federal law and shall not include any components of the aligned preschool through postsecondary public education systems that are not required by or subject to approval under federal law.
(c) The limitations on the contents of the state plan specified in paragraph (b) of this subsection (2) shall not be construed to prohibit the state board and the commission from adopting, and the state board and the commission are encouraged to adopt, descriptions, standards, assessments, and other components of the aligned preschool through postsecondary public education systems that exceed the minimum requirements of federal law and that are comparable in scope, relevance, and rigor to the highest national and international standards that have been implemented successfully and are consistent with and relevant to achievement of the goals specified in section 22-7-1002.
(3) The department of education shall provide public notice of the amendments to the state plan, any comments and suggestions received through the peer review process, and any changes made to the amendments in response to the peer review comments.
Source: L. 2008: Entire part added, p. 758, � 1, effective May 14. L. 2015: (1) repealed and IP(2)(a) and (2)(a)(I) amended, (HB 15-1323), ch. 204, p. 731, � 51, effective May 20.
22-7-1013. Local education provider - preschool through elementary and secondary education standards - adoption - academic acceleration - definition. (1) (a) On or before December 15, 2011, each local education provider shall review its preschool through elementary and secondary education standards in comparison with the preschool through elementary and secondary education standards adopted by the state board pursuant to section 22-7-1005. Following review, each local education provider shall revise its standards, as necessary, to ensure that:
(I) The standards meet or exceed the state preschool through elementary and secondary education standards; and
(II) The standards are aligned to ensure that a student who demonstrates attainment of the standards while advancing through preschool and elementary and secondary education will be able to demonstrate postsecondary and workforce readiness prior to or upon attaining a high school diploma.
(b) In revising its preschool through elementary and secondary education standards, each local education provider shall ensure that it adopts standards, at a minimum, in those subject matter areas that are included in the state preschool through elementary and secondary education standards, including but not limited to English language competency and visual arts and performing arts education.
(c) In revising its preschool through elementary and secondary education standards, a local education provider may choose to adopt the state preschool through elementary and secondary education standards.
(2) Following the review and revision of its preschool through elementary and secondary education standards, each local education provider shall adopt curricula that are aligned with the standards. The local education provider shall design the curricula to ensure that, beginning in preschool or kindergarten and continuing through elementary and secondary education, each student receives a program of study that will enable the student to demonstrate attainment of each of the preschool through elementary and secondary education standards.
(2.5) (a) Each local education provider shall review its procedures concerning academic acceleration for students. Academic acceleration allows a student to progress through an education program at a rate faster or at ages younger than the student's peers. The local education provider shall consider procedures that may include, but need not be limited to, the following:
(I) The process for referral for academic acceleration and procedures that ensure the fair, objective, and systematic evaluation of the students referred;
(II) A decision-making process for accelerated placement that involves multiple persons, including a student's parents, rather than a sole decision-maker;
(III) Guidelines for the practice of academic acceleration, including the categories, forms, and types of academic acceleration and the award of credit;
(IV) Guidelines for preventing nonacademic barriers to the use of acceleration as an educational intervention; and
(V) An appeals process for decisions related to academic acceleration, as well as a process for evaluating the academic acceleration procedures and its effectiveness in successfully accelerating students.
(b) In designing and implementing the academic acceleration procedures, a school district may utilize any resources made available through the department of education and any national research containing recommendations for developing successful academic acceleration procedures.
(3) Each local education provider shall adopt assessments that are aligned with the local education provider's standards and curricula and that will adequately measure each student's progress toward and attainment of the local education provider's standards for the subject areas that are not assessed by the state through the system of assessments adopted by the state board pursuant to section 22-7-1006.
(4) A local education provider may allow a student who is receiving special education services to demonstrate attainment of the preschool through elementary and secondary education standards and postsecondary and workforce readiness through a differentiated plan if required in the student's individualized education program.
(5) (a) On or before July 1, 2017, and on or before July 1 every six years thereafter, each local education provider shall review its preschool through elementary and secondary education standards and, taking into account any revisions to the state preschool through elementary and secondary education standards, shall revise and readopt its standards, if necessary, to ensure that the local education provider's standards continue to meet or exceed the state preschool through elementary and secondary education standards. The local education provider shall revise its curricula accordingly to ensure that the curricula continue to align with the local education provider's preschool through elementary and secondary education standards.
(b) As part of each local education provider's review, regardless of time frame, each local education provider shall select two youth representatives from nominations received from schools in the local education provider's range to participate in the review. When possible, one youth representative must be from an urban school district and one youth representative must be from a rural or small rural school district, as those districts are designated by the department of education. The department of education shall promote the opportunities for youth involvement to schools within the local education provider's range and request schools within the local education provider's range nominate youth to participate in the review of local education standards. Youth representatives serve without compensation but may be reimbursed for actual and reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of their duties. For the purposes of this subsection (5)(b), youth means the age of eligibility for membership in the Colorado youth advisory council, as set forth in section 2-2-1303 (1)(b)(I).
(6) Each local education provider shall adopt and implement a written policy by which the local education provider will decide whether the students enrolled by the local education provider will use pencil and paper to complete any portion of a state assessment administered pursuant to section 22-7-1006.3 (1)(a) that the students would otherwise complete using a computer. The policy must ensure that the local education provider makes the decision in consultation with parents and, if the local education provider is a school district or board of cooperative services, the public schools that the local education provider operates. The local education provider may decide that the students in one or more of the public schools, or in one or more of the classrooms of the public schools, operated by the local education provider will use pencil and paper to complete the computerized portions of a state assessment. Each year before the start of fall semester classes, the local education provider shall distribute copies of the policy to the parents of students enrolled in the local education provider and post a copy of the policy on the local education provider's website.
(7) (a) Each local education provider shall adopt and implement procedures by which the local education provider, or the public schools that the local education provider operates, shall annually distribute to the parents of students enrolled by the local education provider an assessment calendar. At a minimum, the assessment calendar must specify the estimated hours each testing day that specific classes or grades will take each assessment and identify whether the assessment is required by federal law or state law or selected by the local education provider. The procedures shall specify the timing for distribution of the calendar and require that the calendar is distributed to parents and posted on the local education provider's website.
(b) (I) In addition to the calendar described in paragraph (a) of this subsection (7), each local education provider shall provide written information to the parents of students enrolled by the local education provider that describes:
(A) The state and local assessments that the local education provider will administer during the school year, identifying the assessments that the local education provider is required by federal law to administer, any additional state assessments that the local education provider is required by section 22-7-1006.3 to administer, the assessments that the local education provider is required by other state law to administer, and the additional assessments that the local education provider chooses to administer;
(B) The anticipated calendar for administering the state and local assessments during the school year; and
(C) The purposes of the state assessments administered pursuant to section 22-7-1006.3 and any additional local assessments that the local education provider administers and the manner in which the department of education and the local education provider uses the assessment results.
(II) Each local education provider shall annually distribute the written information to parents as early in the school year as possible and shall post the written information on the local education provider's website.
(c) The provisions of this subsection (7) do not apply to course-specific assessments that are not adopted by the state board pursuant to section 22-7-1006 or to nonstandardized, classroom-based assessments that individual educators choose to administer to students.
(8) (a) Each local education provider shall adopt and implement a written policy and procedure by which a student's parent may excuse the student from participating in one or more of the state assessments administered pursuant to section 22-7-1006.3. The local education provider shall determine whether the process for excusing a student requires a student's parent to submit written notice to the local education provider.
(b) If a parent excuses his or her student from participating in a state assessment, a local education provider shall not impose negative consequences, including prohibiting school attendance, imposing an unexcused absence, or prohibiting participation in extracurricular activities, on the student or on the parent. If a parent excuses his or her student from participating in a state assessment, the local education provider shall not prohibit the student from participating in an activity, or receiving any other form of reward, that the local education provider provides to students for participating in the state assessment.
(c) A local education provider shall not impose an unreasonable burden or requirement on a student that would discourage the student from taking a state assessment or encourage the student's parent to excuse the student from taking the state assessment.
(d) If the department of education or the state board receives a complaint from a parent concerning a local education provider's implementation of this subsection (8), the department shall notify the local education provider of the nature of the complaint.
Source: L. 2008: Entire part added, p. 759, � 1, effective May 14. L. 2010: (1)(b) amended, (HB 10-1273), ch. 233, p. 1022, � 8, effective May 18. L. 2013: (2.5) added, (HB 13-1023), ch. 57, p. 189, � 2, effective August 7. L. 2015: (6), (7), and (8) added, (HB 15-1323), ch. 204, p. 712, � 3, effective May 20. L. 2018: (8)(a) and (8)(b) amended and (8)(d) added, (SB 18-011), ch. 119, p. 820, � 1, effective August 8. L. 2022: (6) amended, (HB 22-1390), ch. 237, p. 1758, � 31, effective May 26. L. 2023: (5) amended, (SB 23-008), ch. 113, p. 404, � 3, effective August 7.
Cross references: For the legislative declaration in the 2010 act amending subsection (1)(b), see section 1 of chapter 233, Session Laws of Colorado 2010. For the legislative declaration in the 2013 act adding subsection (2.5), see section 1 of chapter 57, Session Laws of Colorado 2013. For the legislative declaration in HB 22-1390, see section 1 of chapter 237, Session Laws of Colorado 2022.
22-7-1014. Preschool individualized readiness plans - school readiness - assessments. (1) (a) Beginning in the fall semester of 2013, each local education provider that provides a preschool or kindergarten program shall ensure that each student enrolled in a preschool or kindergarten program operated by the local education provider receives an individualized readiness plan that addresses the preschool standards or kindergarten standards, as appropriate, and knowledge and skill areas in which a student needs assistance to make progress toward school readiness. If a student is identified as having a significant reading deficiency as provided in section 22-7-1205, the local education provider shall include the student's READ plan created pursuant to section 22-7-1206 as a component of the student's individualized readiness plan.
(b) In creating and implementing the individualized readiness plans, a local education provider shall use assessment instruments that are research-based, valid, and reliable to facilitate the systematic measurement of a student's increasing knowledge, skills, and accomplishments within the classroom context. The purpose of the continuing assessments shall be to help direct teachers' practice within the classroom with each student and thereby maximize each students' progress toward demonstrating school readiness.
(2) (a) Beginning with students who enter kindergarten in the fall semester of 2013, each local education provider shall ensure that each student enrolled in a kindergarten program operated by the local education provider progresses toward demonstrating school readiness. Each local education provider shall administer the school readiness assessment within the first sixty days of the school year to each student enrolled in a kindergarten program operated by the local education provider to measure each student's level of school readiness. If the local education provider administers a reading assessment pursuant to section 22-7-1205 (1)(a.5) within the first sixty days of the school year to students enrolled in the kindergarten program, the local education provider is not required to administer the literacy component of the school readiness assessment. The local education provider may choose to monitor a student's progress toward demonstrating school readiness by administering an approved school readiness assessment multiple times over the course of the school year.
(b) The results of the school readiness assessments shall not be used to deny a student admission or progression to first grade.
(3) The department of education, the division of child care, and the staff of the early childhood policy team in the lieutenant governor's office shall, upon request and subject to available appropriations, provide support to local education providers in implementing the preschool standards, individualized readiness plans, and school readiness assessments and in assisting students in progressing toward school readiness. Support may include, but need not be limited to:
(a) Assisting the local education provider in reviewing and revising curriculum;
(b) Communicating with early care and education providers, educators, local school board members, board of cooperative services members, charter school governing board members, school district and school administrators, and parents;
(c) Providing professional development for educators; and
(d) Collecting and making available a resource bank of examples of best practices in national, state, school district, school, and classroom reform efforts in early childhood and school readiness consistent with the intent of this part 10.
Source: L. 2008: Entire part added, p. 760, � 1, effective May 14. L. 2010: (1)(a) amended, (HB 10-1013), ch. 399, p. 1910, � 28, effective June 10. L. 2015: (1)(a) and (2)(a) amended, (HB 15-1323), ch. 204, p. 715, � 6, effective May 20.
22-7-1015. Postsecondary and workforce readiness program - technical assistance - appropriation - repeal. (1) On or before December 15, 2011, each local education provider shall review the curricula provided by the public high schools operated by the local education provider in the subject matter areas included in postsecondary and workforce readiness. The local education provider shall revise its curricula, or adopt new curricula, as necessary to ensure that the curricula content for said subject matter areas are aligned with postsecondary and workforce readiness such that a student who successfully completes the curricula will be prepared to demonstrate postsecondary and workforce readiness prior to or upon attaining a high school diploma.
(2) (a) The revised or newly adopted curricula described in subsection (1) of this section shall constitute the postsecondary and workforce readiness program for each public high school operated by the local education provider. In revising or adopting the postsecondary and workforce readiness program, a local education provider is not required to base its courses or means of awarding course credits on Carnegie units. A local education provider may choose to base the awarding of course credits on a student's demonstration of attainment of the standards addressed by the course.
(b) A local education provider may accommodate the range of student interests and aspirations by adopting multiple curricula that, combined, create multiple postsecondary and workforce readiness programs within a school district or within a high school that are designed to prepare a student for differing post-graduation goals, including but not limited to immediate entry into the workforce or matriculation into career and technical education or higher education. The local education provider shall ensure, however, that every postsecondary and workforce readiness program adopted by the local education provider:
(I) Is aligned with postsecondary and workforce readiness such that a student who successfully completes the program will be prepared to demonstrate postsecondary and workforce readiness prior to or upon attaining a high school diploma; and
(II) Includes courses in visual arts and performing arts.
(c) For purposes of this section, a district charter high school shall be deemed to be operated by the chartering local school board; except that the chartering local school board, by charter contract, may allow the district charter high school to adopt its own postsecondary and workforce readiness program, separate from that adopted by the local school board. Each district charter high school that adopts its own postsecondary and workforce readiness program shall ensure that the program is aligned with postsecondary and workforce readiness such that a student who successfully completes the postsecondary and workforce readiness program will be prepared to demonstrate postsecondary and workforce readiness prior to or upon attaining a high school diploma.
(3) (a) It is the intent of the general assembly that, on or before December 15, 2013, each student who enrolls in a public high school operated by a local education provider shall enroll in and successfully complete a postsecondary and workforce readiness program. Each local education provider shall require each high school student, beginning in ninth grade and continuing through twelfth grade, to enroll in the local education provider's postsecondary and workforce readiness program.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection (3), a local education provider may allow a student who is receiving special education services to demonstrate attainment of postsecondary and workforce readiness through a differentiated plan for purposes of the postsecondary and workforce readiness program, if required in the student's individualized education program.
(4) The department of education, the department of higher education, and the state institutions of higher education, upon request, shall provide support to local education providers in implementing postsecondary and workforce readiness. Beginning with the 2009-10 budget year, the department of education and the department of higher education may include in their annual budget requests an amount necessary to offset the costs incurred in complying with this section. Support may include, but need not be limited to:
(a) Assisting the local education provider in reviewing and revising curriculum;
(b) Communicating with educators, local school board members, board of cooperative services board members, charter school governing board members, school district and school administrators, parents, and members of the business community;
(c) Providing professional development for educators;
(d) Collecting and making available a resource bank of examples of best practices in national, state, school district, school, and classroom reform efforts consistent with the intent of this part 10;
(e) Establishing support through regional postsecondary and workforce readiness coordinators for training that aligns with financial aid, financial literacy, and supports for student federal financial aid application and student state financial aid application completion;
(f) (I) Supporting the number of regional individual career and academic plan coordinators in the state and updating the resources available to the coordinators to support financial aid information and applications;
(II) Requiring the regional individual career and academic plan coordinators to provide additional training and outreach to schools and coordinate with the outreach team in the department of higher education created pursuant to section 23-1-119 (6).
(g) Repealed.
(5) (a) For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the general assembly shall appropriate to the department twenty-five thousand dollars from the general fund for the programs described in subsection (4)(f) of this section. Any unexpended money remaining at the end of the 2022-23 state fiscal year from this appropriation:
(I) Does not revert to the general fund or any other fund;
(II) May be used by the department in the 2023-24 or 2024-25 state fiscal year without further appropriation; and
(III) Must not be used for any other purpose other than the purposes set forth in subsection (4)(f) of this section.
(b) This subsection (5) is repealed, effective July 1, 2026.
Source: L. 2008: Entire part added, p. 761, � 1, effective May 14. L. 2010: (2)(b) amended, (HB 10-1273), ch. 233, p. 1022, � 9, effective May 18; (3)(a) amended, (HB 10-1013), ch. 399, p. 1910, � 29, effective June 10. L. 2015: (3)(b) amended, (HB 15-1323), ch. 204, p. 731, � 52, effective May 20. L. 2022: (4)(c) amended and (4)(e), (4)(f), and (4)(g) added, (HB 22-1366), ch. 244, p. 1813, � 3, effective May 26. L. 2023: (4)(g) repealed and (5) added, (HB 23-1301), ch. 303, p. 1823, � 26, effective August 7.
Cross references: For the legislative declaration in the 2010 act amending subsection (2)(b), see section 1 of chapter 233, Session Laws of Colorado 2010. For the legislative declaration in HB 22-1366, see section 1 of chapter 244, Session Laws of Colorado 2022.
22-7-1015.5. Postsecondary, workforce, career, and education grant program - created - application - criteria - awards - appropriation - repeal. (1) There is created in the department of education, referred to in this section as the department, the postsecondary, workforce, career, and education grant program, referred to in this section as the grant program, to award grants to local education providers to improve the postsecondary options available to students and to increase the number of students completing the free application for federal student aid, referred to in this section as FAFSA, and the Colorado application for state financial aid, referred to in this section as CASFA. Each grant has a term of three years beginning in the 2022-23 state fiscal year. In making a grant award, the department shall specify the amount of each grant.
(2) The department shall distribute the grant money to the local education providers that receive a grant for the following purposes:
(a) Developing and distributing information to students, families, and school leaders regarding the FAFSA and applications for state student aid, and the benefits of completing the FAFSA and applications for state student aid;
(b) Developing and distributing information to students and families regarding the steps required to complete the FAFSA and applications for state student aid;
(c) Training school counselors and other educators on best practices to support students and families with filling out the FAFSA and applications for state student aid, with an emphasis on supporting communities that have historically low completion rates of the FAFSA and applications for state student aid;
(d) Organizing and hosting opportunities for students and families to meet with stakeholders who assist in completing the FAFSA or applications for state student aid;
(e) Incorporating completion of applications for federal student aid and applications for state student aid into individual career and academic plans pursuant to sections 22-32-109 and 22-30.5-525;
(f) Collaborating with the department of higher education's efforts pursuant to section 23-3.3-1007 to support local education providers in exploring postsecondary options under the individual career and academic plans pursuant to sections 22-32-109 and 22-30.5-525; and
(g) Collaborating or partnering with nonprofit organizations to support local education providers and students with education and completion of student applications for federal student aid and applications for state student aid.
(3) A local education provider seeking a grant must submit an application to the department. The department shall review each grant application received and determine whether and in what amount a grant should be awarded to the local education provider. If the department determines an application is missing any information required by rule to be included with the application, the department may contact the local education provider to obtain the missing information.
(4) At a minimum, each grant application must specify:
(a) The current programs related to college and career readiness developed pursuant to section 22-7-1015 and individual career and academic plans pursuant to sections 22-32-109 and 22-30.5-525 that the local education provider uses;
(b) Whether the local education provider has entered into, or has committed to establishing, one or more partnerships with institutions of higher education or postsecondary service providers in Colorado to support and increase the capacity and effectiveness of career counseling and postsecondary preparation services provided to students enrolled in or receiving educational services from the education provider;
(c) The local education provider's plan for use of the grant money, including the extent to which the grant money will be used to increase the number of students who complete federal and state financial aid applications at the local education provider's high schools served by the grant and to provide professional development for school counselors and other educators on work-based learning, completion of federal and state financial aid applications, and integration of all postsecondary options into the individual career and academic plans for students;
(d) The local education provider's plan for involving educators and administrators at the local education provider's schools providing postsecondary preparation supports;
(e) The extent to which the local education provider has developed or plans to develop partnerships to serve the postsecondary needs of all of the students enrolled in or receiving educational services from the local education provider;
(f) The local education provider's use of district-level or school-level existing and potential programming for postsecondary and workforce readiness, as defined in section 22-7-1008;
(g) Whether the local education provider intends to provide matching funds to augment any grant money received from the program and the anticipated amount and source of any matching funds; and
(h) Whether the local education provider needs to update the individual career and academic plan process to accommodate requirements pursuant to section 22-2-136 (1), including financial aid form information, or financial literacy curriculum pursuant to section 22-2-127.
(5) In reviewing applications, the department may consider the following criteria, in addition to any other criteria adopted by rule of the state board:
(a) High schools with low postsecondary credential attainment rates;
(b) The local education provider's high schools with low federal and state financial aid application completion rates; and
(c) The geographic location of the local education provider. The department may prioritize awarding grants to rural areas of the state and provide technical assistance to rural local education providers requesting support.
(6) (a) Subject to available appropriations, the department shall award grants to local education providers pursuant to this section. Each grant has a term of three years beginning in the 2022-23 budget year. In making a grant award, the department shall specify the amount of each grant.
(b) A local education provider that receives a grant shall use the money for the following purposes:
(I) Developing and distributing to students, families, and educators information about and steps to complete the federal and state financial aid applications;
(II) Training school counselors and other educators on best practices to support students and families with filling out federal and state financial aid applications with an emphasis on supporting communities that have historically low completion rates of federal and state financial aid applications;
(III) Organizing and hosting opportunities for students and families to meet with stakeholders who assist in completing the FAFSA or applications for state student aid; and
(IV) Updating the local education provider's individual career and academic plan process with financial aid information and completion of the application forms.
(7) The department may expend no more than ten percent of the money annually appropriated for the program to offset the costs incurred in implementing the program, including the provision of technical assistance to rural local education providers, grant-related professional development, training, and reporting activities.
(8) On or before September 1, 2023, and on or before September 1 each year thereafter for the length of the grant, each local education provider receiving grant money pursuant to this section shall report the following information to the department:
(a) A comparison of the dropout rates, and the college matriculation and remediation rates, if applicable, at the high schools served by the grant for the years prior to receipt of the grant and the years for which the local education provider receives the grant; and
(b) A comparison of the number of students who completed federal and state financial aid applications for the year prior to which the local education provider received the grant, if available, and the number of students who completed federal and state financial aid applications for each of the three years the education provider receives the grant.
(9) Notwithstanding section 24-1-136 (11)(a)(I), on or before October 15, 2023, and on or before October 15 each year thereafter for the length of the grant, the department shall submit to the education committees of the senate and the house of representatives, or any successor committees, a report that, at a minimum, summarizes the information received by the department pursuant to subsection (8) of this section and that the department receives from the department of higher education pursuant to section 23-1-113 (9). The department shall also post the report to its website.
(10) For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the general assembly shall appropriate to the department one million one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars from the general fund for the grant program pursuant to this section. Any unexpended money remaining at the end of the 2022-23 state fiscal year from this appropriation:
(a) Does not revert to the general fund or any other fund;
(b) May be used by the department in the 2023-24 or 2024-25 state fiscal year without further appropriation; and
(c) Must not be used for any other purpose other than the purposes set forth in this section.
(11) This section is repealed, effective September 1, 2027.
Source: L. 2022: Entire section added, (HB 22-1366), ch. 244, p. 1809, � 2, effective May 26.
Cross references: For the legislative declaration in HB 22-1366, see section 1 of chapter 244, Session Laws of Colorado 2022.