State Accountability - School Accreditation and Request to Reconsider

The Education Accountability Act of 2009 aligned the state accountability measures for districts and schools. The Act requires the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) to release District and School Performance Framework reports with an initial accreditation category for each district and an initial plan type assignment for each school.

The process for determining each district’s initial accreditation category and each school’s initial plan type and the process for submitting district and school plans are outlined in the Colorado District Accountability Handbook (PDF).

Districts must submit to the Department the accreditation category that the district has assigned to each school and the performance framework used by the district for that accreditation assignment, including evidence of the school’s level of attainment on the State’s key performance indicators:

• Academic Achievement
• Academic Growth
• Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness

Districts may use the state’s SPF ratings to accredit their schools, or they may use their own local accreditation process, provided that their accreditation ratings correlate to the state’s plan type assignment. In addition, no later than October 16, if a district disagrees with the Department’s initial assignment of an accreditation category for the district or if the district disagrees with any of the Department’s initial assignments of a school plan type for any of the district’s schools, the district may submit additional information for CDE’s consideration.

Announcements

School and District Accountability and Request to Reconsider in 2018

CDE staff will be available to assist schools and districts with the request to reconsider process this summer and fall. If a district would like individualized assistance reviewing any local data in the meantime, please register for your own Office Hours (held via phone). Office Hours will begin Thursday, August 23 and will be held every Tuesday and Thursday from 2-4pm until the request to reconsider process concludes.

CDE will be hosting a webinar on the accreditation and request to reconsider process on Thursday, August 23 from 11am-12pm. Please click here to join the webinar. CDE will be recording the webinar and posting to this website afterwards.

 If you have any questions, please contact Jessica Watson at watson_j@cde.state.co.us.

School and District Request to Reconsider Decisions

These documents summarize CDE's decisions on school and district requests to reconsider.

Submitting School Accreditation Forms and Requests to Reconsider

The resources below detail the process for districts to submit school accreditation categories and to submit requests for reconsideration if a district disagrees with the Department’s initial district accreditation category or initial assignment of a school plan type.

Resource	Last Updated	File Type
Request to Reconsider Webinar Recording This webinar covers the process of districts accrediting schools, the timeline, and the request to reconsider process. https://enetlearning.adobeconnect.com/p1ml5zp4lwsu/	August 23, 2018	Webinar
Request to Reconsider Webinar PowerPoint (PDF) This PowerPoint was used for the Request to Reconsider webinar.	August 24, 2018	PDF
Policy Guidance: Submitting Requests to Reconsider Submitting Requests to Reconsider: this document details the process for Requests to Reconsider, including required forms, request conditions, and CDE review considerations. Request to Reconsider Templates: Request to Reconsider Data Template - To better assist you in submitting your district or school's additional data to CDE, we have created a template to streamline the process as well as give you an idea of what data we need to collect for the Request to Reconsider process.  Assessment Instrument Description Library: CDE has chosen to include external assessments in the request to reconsider template based on previous years' Request for Reconsideration submissions. CDE coordinated with these vendors to determine criteria for review and vetted these assessments for accountability purposes only and in no way does CDE endorse any of these external assessments over another or intentionally exclude an external assessment. More information on the assessments and the questions CDE asked the assessment vendors can be found in the Assessment Instrument Description Library. Submitting a Request to Reconsider for Insufficient State Data: Low Participation This is an example of the letter a district may submit when applying for Insufficient State Data: Low Participation for the district and/or one or more schools. Retroactive Alternative Education Campus (AEC) Designation Template Letter This is an example of the letter a district may submit when applying for retroactive AEC status for one or more schools.	August 21, 2018	DOC
Policy Guidance: Submitting Accreditation Categories This document will detail the process for submitting Accreditation Categories and required forms.	August 2018	PDF
School Accreditation Form Instructions and district login information will be e-mailed to superintendents and district accountability contacts after the DPF/SPF release.	August 2018	URL
Example Request to Reconsider Submissions (PDF) District and school Request to Reconsider submissions will vary, depending on their individual body of evidence, but a submission from 2014 is provided as an example of the type of information considered by CDE for a body of evidence request. District and school Request to Reconsider submissions will vary, depending on their individual body of evidence, but a submission from 2016 is provided as an example of the type of information considered by CDE for an insufficient state data request. District and school Request to Reconsider submissions will vary, depending on their individual body of evidence, but a submission from 2017 is provided as an example of the type of information considered by CDE for a body of evidence.	August 14th, 2018	PDF

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For assistance, please contact Jessica  Watson (née Knevals), Watson_J@cde.state.co.us or 303-866-6778.