Alternative Education Campus Accountability

Which students are considered high risk students?

AECs have specialized missions, nontraditional methods of instruction delivery, serve students with severe limitations, and have student populations that are comprised of at least 90% high risk students.

High risk students are those who meet one or more of 15 conditions:

Note: The shared experience of a global pandemic does not qualify as meeting the "other high risk" definition on its own"

Which schools are designated as AECs?

Below is the list of current AECs as approved by the State Board of Education.

• Schools Designated as Alternative Education Campuses 2025-26

• Schools designated as Alternative Education Campuses 2024-25

How is performance assessed for AECs?

In addition to Academic Achievement, Academic Growth, and Postsecondary & Workforce Readiness, AECs have an additional required measure of Student Engagement, and weightings of measures are slightly different from traditional schools to account for the high-risk population of students served.

What overall ratings are assigned for AECs?

AECs are assigned one of four ratings based on the percentage of points earned across the four performance indicators shown in the pie chart above. Insufficient state data is assigned if there is not enough outcome data to assign a rating.

AEC Performance Plan - AECs with a Performance Plan are meeting expectations on the majority of performance metrics.

AEC Improvement Plan - These AECs are identified as lower performing. They may be meeting expectations on some performance metrics, but they are not meeting or are only approaching expectations on many.

AEC Priority Improvement Plan - These AECs are identified as low performing. They are not meeting or are only approaching expectations on most performance metrics. The state will provide support and oversight to these schools until they improve.

AEC Turnaround Plan - These AECs are identified as among the lowest performing schools in the state. They are not meeting or are only approaching expectations on most performance metrics. The state will provide support and oversight to these schools until they improve.

AEC Insufficient State Data - Historically, the Insufficient State Data plan type has not been assigned to AECs. In 2022, given the lack of required data available, a portion of AECs did not have enough data to meaningfully determine their performance. Insufficient State Data plan types were assigned to AECs using the same criteria used to assign this plan type to non-AEC schools. 

Contact Us 

For more information, please contact:

• B Sanders, PhD - sanders_b@cde.state.co.us, 303-866-2865

• April Thompson, thompson_april@cde.state.co.us 303-358-7363