Identification of Schools for ESSA Support and Improvement Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and Answers

Why does Colorado identify schools for Comprehensive (CS), Targeted (TS), and Additional Targeted (ATS) Support and Improvement?

• Any state that accepts funds under the federal legislation called the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), reauthorized as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), must identify schools for support and improvement based on overall performance of the school (Comprehensive Support and Improvement – Lowest 5 Percent), graduation rates (Comprehensive Support and Improvement – Low Graduation), and performance of disaggregated groups (Targeted or Additional Targeted Support and Improvement).
• ESSA draws more focused attention to the performance of each historically underserved student population, including students with disabilities [in Colorado, students with an individualized education program (IEP0], English learners, economically disadvantaged students (in Colorado, students who qualified for free or reduced meals), and students from major racial/ethnic groups.

Where can I learn more about how Colorado identifies schools for these three categories?

• Colorado’s ESSA State Plan, approved by the U.S. Department of Education in May, 2018, can be accessed on the CDE website by searching for the key phrase “ESSA State Plan” or by visiting CDE’s Every Student Succeeds Act webpage.
• A summary of the methodology for identification of schools can also be found on the CDE website by searching for the key phrase “ESSA Identification” or by visiting CDE’s ESSA Methods and Criteria for Identification of Schools for Support and Improvement webpage.

Is it possible for schools at any grade level to be identified for CS, TS, or ATS?

• Yes, all public schools enrolling students in grades Kindergarten (K) through twelfth grade may be identified, including schools that only enroll students in grades K-2.

Is this the first year that Colorado has identified schools under ESSA for support and improvement?

• No, Colorado identified schools under ESSA for the first time in 2017-2018. The identification process occurs annually.

How often are schools identified?

• Colorado identifies new schools annually. Schools identified as CS remain in that category for three years. The number of years that a school remains in the TS category is determined by the district.

Where can I find a list of identified schools?

• Colorado publicly posts lists of schools identified for support and improvement, separately for each year of identification, on CDE’s ESSA Methods and Criteria for Identification of Schools for Support and Improvement webpage. A list of identified schools can also be found on the CDE website by searching for the key phrase “ESSA Identification.”

My school’s identification category indicates “Eligible for Supports.” What does that mean?

• Schools that were identified as TS or ATS in the 2017-2018 or 2018-2019 school year, but were not re-identified as TS or ATS in 2019-2020 are still eligible for supports, even though they are no longer TS or ATS schools. Those schools are marked as “Eligible for Supports,” and have an identification category which indicates the most recent year in which the school was identified (e.g., “2018-19 Targeted Support and Improvement – Eligible for Supports.”)

My school’s identification category is called “Comprehensive Support and Improvement – Lowest 5 Percent – HOLD” or “Comprehensive Support and Improvement – Low Graduation – HOLD.” What does that mean?  

• Schools identified as either Comprehensive Support and Improvement – Lowest 5 Percent or Comprehensive Support and Improvement – Low Graduation stay in that status for 3 years to allow for implementation of improvement strategies for 3 years prior to the school being exited and no longer receiving supports and services. This is done to allow schools to reach sustained improvements before they exit this status. Schools with “HOLD” reflected in the identification category were not re-identified in the current year (i.e., did not meet identification criteria), but remain in comprehensive support and improvement status as part of the 3-year identification.

How does a school exit Comprehensive Support and Improvement – Lowest 5 Percent or Comprehensive Support and Improvement – Low Graduation status?  

• Schools will exit if they are not re-identified for 2 years subsequent to identification and they no longer meet the identification criteria for the year the school was identified. In other words, the school has to perform higher than the cut-score used for the year the school was identified for comprehensive support and improvement, and not meet the identification criteria while it is in “hold” status for 2 years after identification (3 years, counting the year of identification). The school would exit status in the 4^th year if they are not re-identified.

Does the school have to be Title I (or accepting Title I funds) in order to be identified?

• Only schools identified for Comprehensive Support and Improvement – Lowest 5 Percent or Comprehensive Support and Improvement - Formerly ATS have to be Title I funded schools. The Comprehensive Support and Improvement – Low Graduation, Targeted, and Additional Targeted Support and Improvement schools do not have to be Title I in order to be identified.

Who sets the exit criteria and timeline for the TS schools?

• Districts or Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) are responsible for setting the exit criteria and timeline for TS schools. CDE will be developing, in partnership with stakeholders, recommended exit criteria and timelines that districts may adopt if they choose, or they can choose to develop their own.

How does the district communicate this to CDE?

• Exit criteria and timelines for schools identified for Targeted Support and Improvement will be collected in the Consolidated Application (starting with the 2020-2021 application). Districts or LEAs will be asked to describe the criteria a school needs to meet in order to exit this status, and in what timeline. Districts or LEAs will also be asked to indicate which schools have exited from Targeted Support and Improvement status, and to describe the process for reviewing, approving, and monitoring their targeted support and improvement plans.

Do districts also determine the exit criteria and timeline for ATS?

• Because ATS schools are a subset of TS schools, technically, the district does establish the exit criteria and timeline. However, ESSA requires that the State Educational Agency (CDE) establish a timeline for transitioning ATS schools to Comprehensive Support and Improvement – Formerly ATS, if the school does not meet exit criteria within that timeline. CDE’s USDE-approved ESSA State Plan indicates that schools will have 3 years to improve outcomes for the student group(s) that resulted in the school being identified as ATS. CDE will annually identify TS and ATS schools. Any ATS schools that continue to be identified for the same student group(s) for 3 consecutive years will transition to the Comprehensive Support and Improvement – Formerly ATS category in the 4^th year if they are served with Title I funds. If a school identified for ATS does is not served with Title I funds, it is up to the district to determine the exit criteria and timeline, as well as any additional action to be taken if the school does not meet the district-established exit criteria by the district-determined timeline.

What are the requirements for identified schools?

• Any schools identified for support and improvement under ESSA must develop and implement an improvement plan that addresses the reason(s) the school was identified. For each category of identification, there are specific improvement planning requirements. For example, ATS and CS schools must identify and address any resource inequities. For additional information about the improvement planning requirements, please visit the CDE website and search for the key phrase “ESSA planning requirements” or visit CDE’s ESSA Planning Requirements webpage.
• Improvement plans from CS schools must be reviewed, approved, and periodically monitored by CDE. Improvement plans from TS and ATS schools must be reviewed, approved, and periodically monitored by the district or LEA.

  Are ESSA-identified schools required to send a parent notification within a specific amount of time?

• Although there is no parent notification requirement under ESSA, the statute does require meaningful stakeholder engagement in the improvement planning process. A notification letter that invites stakeholders, including parents, families, and community members, to partner in the development of an improvement plan would be a great place to start the stakeholder involvement.

Specifics about data, criteria, and methods for identification

What years of data are used?

• It depends on the indicator and how many years of data are available for that indicator at the time of identification. When available, three years of aggregate data will be used for the identification of schools for support and improvement. For additional information, please see the summary of identification document. A summary of the methodology for identification of schools can also be found on the CDE website by searching for the key phrase “ESSA Identification” or by visiting CDE’s ESSA Methods and Criteria for Identification of Schools for Support and Improvement webpage.

How are schools that only enroll students in K-2 identified for support and improvement, given that students do not participate in the Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) assessments until third grade?

• For K-2 schools, the following indicators are used to identify schools for support and improvement:
  • Academic achievement: Percent of students with a significant reading deficiency (SRD) on READ Act assessments
  • Academic growth: Percent change of students identified with a significant reading deficiency
  • English language proficiency growth: Median growth percentiles on the English language proficiency assessment, and the percent of students on track to achieve English language proficiency

Is academic growth for K-2 schools calculated based on the percent of students with an SRD in a given year, or is it a comparison of cohorts?

• Academic growth is calculated within cohorts by determining, of the students identified with an SRD the prior year, what percent of students were no longer identified with an SRD the following year.

Are completion rates used to identify alternative education campuses (AECs) for Comprehensive Support and Improvement – Low Graduation?

• Colorado initially proposed to use completion rates, instead of graduation rates, to identify AECs for Comprehensive Support and Improvement – Low Graduation. In addition to students receiving a regular diploma, completion rates give schools credit for students completing with a non-diploma certificate or High School Equivalency Diploma (HSED). However, this plan was not approved by the U.S. Department of Education (USDE). Based on feedback from the USDE, all states are required to use graduation rates (not completion rates) for all public high schools in the state, including AECs.
• States are required to use the 4-year adjusted cohort graduation rate to identify schools for support and improvement, but ESSA also gives states the flexibility to include an extended-year adjusted cohort graduation rate. Colorado has been approved by the USDE to use the 7-year adjusted cohort graduation rate, in addition to the 4-year rate, to identify schools. The 7-year rate gives schools credit for continuing to work with students who may require additional time to graduate high school, such as those enrolled in five-year programs, those who started below grade-level, and those whose coursework is interrupted for a semester or more. Using the 7-year rate, all students receiving a regular diploma in seven years or less (from the time they entered ninth grade) are counted as a graduate.

What weights and cut scores are used?

• Cut scores and weights vary by the indicator and assessments/metrics used. For details, please visit CDE’s ESSA Methods and Criteria for Identification of Schools for Support and Improvement webpage, CDE’s ESSA webpage, or view the ESSA Identification Detailed Dive webinar on CDE’s ESSA School Identification Webinars webpage.

When are schools usually identified?

• ESSA requires identification of schools as early as possible in the school year. Colorado strives for identification of schools in August-September, each year.
• In the 2019-2020 school year, districts were notified in August of all schools identified by Colorado’s accountability system, including schools identified for support and improvement under ESSA and schools on the state’s accountability clock based on the School Performance Frameworks (SPFs).

Where can I find the data used to identify my school?

• Data pertaining to schools identified as CS, TS, or ATS are available for viewing via Syncplicity. All district superintendents, District Accountability Contacts (DACs), Special Education Directors, Consolidated Application Authorized Representatives, and Title I contacts should have received a notification from Syncplicity granting them access to view their schools’ profiles. If you did not receive an email from Syncplicity, you may request access to the ESSA School Profiles by sending an email from a district email address to Michelle Prael.

Identification Due to Participation

Are schools identified for ESSA support and improvement based on assessment participation rates?

• Yes. ESSA requires that any non-participants above 5% be counted as not proficient. Colorado’s ESSA State Plan approved by the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) allows identification of schools based on performance of assessed students first and then identification of schools based on scores of non-participants above 5% adjusted to a non-proficient score for that assessment.
• This 2-phase identification process ensures that schools that meet the identification criteria for support and improvement based on actual assessment results are identified first and prioritized for supports and funds available under ESSA, specifically Title I School Improvement funds through the Empowering Action for School Improvement (EASI) application. If ESSA funds remain after prioritized schools have been served, then schools identified using the adjusted scores for non-participants may apply for support and funding.

How will I know if a school has been identified due to actual performance or due to participation?

• Schools identified based on actual performance will be listed as identified for a specific category (e.g., Comprehensive Support – Lowest 5%), whereas schools identified due to participation will be listed with the words “due to participation” after the category (e.g., Comprehensive Support – Lowest 5% - Due to Participation).
• For additional information, visit CDE’s ESSA Methods and Criteria for Identification of Schools for Support and Improvement webpage or CDE’s ESSA webpage.

When are schools identified for ESSA support and improvement due to participation?

• CDE will conduct analyses for identifying schools for ESSA support and improvement due to participation in latter part of each fall.

How and when are districts and schools notified if a school has been identified for ESSA support and improvement due to participation?

• Districts with schools identified due to participation will receive a phone call in the later fall or early winter and a written notification will be emailed to the district subsequent to the phone conversation.

What are the requirements for any schools identified for ESSA support and improvement due to participation?

• All schools identified for ESSA support and improvement must develop and implement an improvement plan that addresses the reasons for identification for support and improvement under ESSA, including those identified due to participation. All the same improvement planning requirements for ESSA identified schools apply to those identified due to participation, including:
  • Improvement plans from schools identified for CS must be reviewed, approved, and monitored by CDE.
  • Improvement plans from schools identified for TS must be reviewed, approved, and monitored by the district or Local Educational Agency (LEA).
  • Improvement plans from schools identified for CS or ATS must address any resource inequities.