Special Education Directors' Corner

30th SPED December Count initial error-free due date and beginning of initial report review week before duplicates next week. Data changes can be made during this
week to ensure accurate data before the duplicate process.

31st Federal Application Project Narrative Amendment Window #2 closes

31st SPED December Count complete error-free snapshot is due prior to the resolving of duplicates process next week.

Educational Surrogate Parent (ESP)

Address Educational Surrogate Parent (ESP) questions to:

Katherine Rains
Rains_k@cde.state.co.us

Submit form via FAX to:

303-866-6767

Mail form to:

Colorado Department of Education
Exceptional Student Services Unit, ESP Assignments
1560 Broadway, Suite 1100
Denver CO 80202

New Special Education Director

AU Special Education Director of Record and Fiscal Contact Information

ESSU must have current contact information for all state-level Special Education Directors and Special Education Fiscal Contacts. Our office communicates important updates and information through our listserv, please be sure that we have accurate, updated information. Communications from this listserv will come from CDE_SPED.

AU Director of Record & SPED Fiscal Contact Form

ESSU Newsletter

The ESSU e-newsletter is our office's primary form of communication with the field. It is published once a month and contains information from the Office of Gifted and Talented, Office of Facility Schools, and Office of Special Education.

ESSU Newsletter Sign-up

Archived ESSU Newsletters

What's New

ML Enrollment Scenarios Flowchart

It is the Administrative Unit's responsibility under Child Find to locate and identify all students with disabilities including Multilingual Learners (MLs) with disabilities. School teams must not identify MLs with disabilities when linguistic and cultural differences or lack of instruction in literacy and math are the determinative causes for their difficulties in school. When parents or staff members report concerns about a student's academic, social-emotional, functional, or behavioral concerns, IEP teams including educators who are knowledgeable in language acquisition and acculturation should work to investigate these concerns before the special education evaluation referral.

Special Education Teacher Shortage Grant

The Colorado Department of Education’s (CDE) Office of Special Education is offering 2024-2025 IDEA grant funding to administrative units and local education agencies to reduce the critical shortage of special education teachers. McVey and Trinidad (2019) noted that the lack of special education teachers has been the most frequently cited shortage since the late 1990s. This funding aims to assist a cohort of special education teacher candidates in fulfilling the requirements to achieve full licensure. CDE is asking Local Education Agencies (LEAs) and Administrative Units (AUs) to serve as fiscal agents in partnership with university educator preparation programs to recruit, employ, and support teacher candidates from preservice to induction. By fostering partnerships at the state, regional, and district levels, we can create a robust support system that ensures every student, regardless of location, has access to qualified and dedicated educators. Visit here For more information on the Special Education Teacher Shortage Grant

10/17/24

Memos to AU and Special Education Directors

New or Reorganization Application & Checklist

*Applications for New or Reorganized AUs, dates for the 25/26 school year TBD.

Resources

Comprehensive Plan Documents:

Supporting Displaced Special Education Students

There are many ways that children and families can be displaced. There are floods, fires, and other types of natural disasters that can destroy homes or make them uninhabitable for periods of time. Families can also experience hardships that result in major home life changes.

Supporting Displaced Students: Special Education

Dr. Paul Foster
Assistant Commissioner, ESSU
Email Paul Foster
Phone: 720-926-4033

Having trouble with this webpage?

If you have problems with broken links or accessing the content on this page, please contact the Exceptional Student Services Unit at ESSU@cde.state.co.us. Please copy the URL link for this page into the email when referencing the problem you are experiencing.