August 2025 CDE Update for Superintendents and BOCES directors

Dear Superintendents and BOCES directors,

Welcome back to the 2025-26 school year! I hope you had a chance to rest, relax and recharge over the break. It was great seeing so many of you at CASE and hearing about the exciting work happening in your districts to prepare for the new year. Even better was the news that federal title funds will be coming soon, which will help continue the work underway.

The start of school is always a busy time, and at CDE, we are preparing for some important data releases, including CMAS/PSAT, attendance, and preliminary frameworks. We’ll be sharing dates and timelines on those soon.

On the topic of attendance, make sure to sign up your district for the 50% Chronic Absenteeism Reduction Challenge to receive monthly communication, tips, and resources to help reach your goals. Currently, 44 school districts and 44 schools have signed up. We will be launching our 2025-26 Attendance Challenge Kickoff at 8 a.m. Sept. 4.

Finally, our monthly superintendent calls will resume at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 12. We sent out invitations in July, but let Chief Communications Officer Emma Garrett-Nelson know if you haven’t received it at garrett-nelson_e@cde.state.co.us.

Warm regards,

Susana

Dr. Susana Córdova
Colorado Commissioner of Education

Due 12/31/25: Training on preventing discrimination in schools required by SB 24-162

• SB 24-162 requires public schools to provide anti-discrimination training for all school employees.
• Training must be consistent with these best practices
• Contact for questions: Joanna Bruno at bruno_j@cde.state.co.us.

CMAS and PSAT/SAT data released at State Board meeting on Aug. 21

• School- and district-level embargoed CMAS and PSAT/SAT and disaggregated achievement data will be released to district assessment contacts on Monday, Aug. 18.
• Our public release will be Thursday, Aug. 21, at the State Board of Education meeting.
• Some important reminders:
  • Schools and districts received confidential student-, school- and district-level results throughout June and July.
  • Families have been able to access their students’ CMAS scores directly through the Family Score Report Portal since June.
  • English and Spanish assessment communication toolkits are available for you to use with your school communities.
  • If you have had personnel changes, please notify us about your new District Assessment Coordinators. Submit your updates through the DAC Appointment Form or DTC Appointment Form.

New Integrated Timelines for the 2025-26 school year are available

• New integrated timelines for 2025-26 are available to help superintendents and principals plan for the year ahead.

Educator Career Navigation monthly office hours and support

• We hold office hours on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month from 11 a.m. to noon for anyone with questions about hiring, educator licensure, or early childhood qualifications.
• Register once to join a session—after that, you’re welcome to drop in anytime.

The Local Food Program has been extended for 2025-26; apply by 4 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 21

• Open to sponsors of Healthy School Meals for All, charter schools, residential childcare institutions, and facility schools.
• Sponsors that served more than 2.15 million lunches in 2023-24 are not eligible.
• Contact for questions: Becca Boone at boone_r@cde.state.co.us or 720-450-4357.

Academic growth and performance frameworks preliminary release set for the end of August

• Districts will receive embargoed preliminary performance frameworks on Wednesday, Aug. 27, with public release planned for Wednesday, Sept. 3.
• WIDA ACCESS growth data has been available since July 1 via Syncplicity.
• Visit CDE’s Accountability webpage for tools and resources.

Applications for alternative education campuses to be reviewed by SBE

• The State Board of Education will review applications for Alternative Education Campuses (AEC) at its August meeting to determine schools that can use the AEC designation for accountability purposes.

Deadline for Accreditation Forms is Sept. 26

• Accreditation Reports are due by Thursday, Sept. 26. Forms are available in the Accreditation Portal (within the UIP/ACI system) for District Accountability Contacts.
• Learn more on CDE

Keep your district’s accountability contact updated

• Make sure to update your district’s accountability contact information to access the performance framework and growth data. Visit this document for instructions on the UIP online system setup.

New Family, School and Community Partnerships Year-at-a-Glance Calendar

• Our 25-26 Family, School and Community Partnerships yearly calendar of events is available.
• Our 2025 Promising Practices Book highlights 70 practices at schools across Colorado.
• Add district contacts to the Office of FSCP's monthly distribution list.

Districts to receive embargoed 2024-25 attendance data Aug. 22

• District data respondents will receive embargoed data about their attendance on Friday, Aug. 22.
• School- and district-level attendance data, including chronic absenteeism and daily average attendance, will be released publicly on Wednesday, Aug. 27.
• Join the Attendance Campaign to help raise awareness and connect with others.

PWR Regional Trainings and a Town Hall to discuss changes in programming and funding

• Our Office of Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness (PWR) will hold regional training sessions starting in September.
• We are also hosting a town hall at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 13, on changes to PWR programming and funding.

CDE and InquiryHub are offering free PD for science teachers

• We are working with CU Boulder and the InquiryHub to provide free professional development for K-12 teachers with a focus on the Colorado Academic Standards for science.

Three-part e-learning series on overcoming chronic absenteeism this fall

• Register for the three-part e-learning series with Attendance Works on how to tackle the complex problems of attendance and chronic absenteeism.

Upcoming sessions: Preventing School Violence Training Series

Educators, administrators, counselors, community members, and law enforcement can register to join our free 45-minute trainings.

• Wednesday, Aug. 27, at 9 a.m.: Restorative Practices: Building Trust Before Conflict
• Wednesday, Oct. 8, at 9 a.m.: Cultivating Mental Health Awareness

Sign up for 2025-26 professional learning cohorts

• This year’s Leadership Learning Cohorts include bilingual leadership, chronic absenteeism, teaching elementary English language arts, rural leadership, new educator leadership, highly mobile student leadership, and instructional coherence leadership.