SB 212, Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids ~ April 28, 2008

The Senate Education Committee gave SB 212, Governor Bill Ritter's omnibus education bill, final approval and the bill is now in the House.

CEA is monitoring (or "tracking") the progress on the bill which overhauls the entire system of standards, curriculum, assessments, graduation requirements, etc., with no new funding.

This is one of CEA's major concerns about the bill. We do not believe that educators and school districts can do this work without significant new funding. We also want classroom teachers to be directly involved in the development of the new standards and assessments and in the implementation of the wide range of changes the bill will cause.

SB 212 has some new acronyms: PESE: Preschool-Elementary-Secondary Education; PWR: Postsecondary-Workforce Readiness; IRP: Individual Readiness Plan. Other acronyms used here are SBE (State Board of Education) and CCHE (Colorado Commission on Higher Education).

Following is a basic summary of the process outlined in the bill including the Senate Education Committee's amendments. Many of the amendments simply changed the timelines in the original bill. The summary is divided into three sections: School Readiness, K-12 Standards and Assessments, and Postsecondary-Workforce Readiness, with a fourth section at the end that includes other provisions.

SCHOOL READINESS STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS

• By December 2008 - State Board of Education (SBE) adopts a description of "school readiness"
• By December 2010 - SBE adopts one or more school readiness assessments aligned with its school readiness description
• Beginning in August 2012 (fall semester) - School districts create individual readiness plans (IRPs) for every preschool student entering the system
• Beginning in August 2013 (fall semester) - Districts create or revise IRPs for every kindergartner
• By July 2015 and every six years thereafter - SBE reviews/may revise school readiness description and assessments

K-12 STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS

• By December 2009 - SBE adopts revised knowledge and skills standards for preschool through grade 12 (minimum of reading, writing, math, science, history, geography, visual and performing arts, physical education, world languages, economics, civics); standards must align with the PWR description; take into account 21st century skills; and allow measurable longitudinal growth data; these standards are called PESE Standards (Preschool, Elementary, and Secondary Education Standards); standards must include the levels of attainment that a student shall achieve to demonstrate readiness for promotion through the grade levels
• By December 2011 - SBE adopts an assessment system aligned with the PESE standards and the PWR assessments that measures students' attainment of the standards and that, at a minimum, provides relevant, timely data; facilitates longitudinal measurement of academic growth; provides results that may be used across the P-20 continuum into higher education; and maintains high accountability levels, federal compliance, and measurement of school performance (e.g., must align with NCLB if the federal law is still in place and has current requirements)
• By December 2010 - Teacher preparation programs have to include training on how to teach to the new PESE standards
• By July 2015 and every six years thereafter - SBE reviews/may revise PESE standards
• By July 2016 and every six years thereafter - SBE reviews/may revise PESE assessments
• By December 2011 - School boards review and revise local content standards to meet/exceed the state standards and ensure PWR demonstration by the end of grade 12; school districts adopt curricula aligned with the state standards

POSTSECONDARY-WORKFORCE READINESS STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS

• By December 2008 - SBE and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE) adopt a Postsecondary-Workforce Readiness (PWR) description that includes subject matter and English competency levels that students must demonstrate; description must align with 100-level college/university courses and 21st century skills
• By December 2010 - SBE and CCHE adopt one or more PWR assessments that include, at a minimum, a standardized, curriculum-based college entrance exam (e.g., ACT) and ACCUPLACER, the basic skills placement test administered by Colorado higher ed institutions
• By July 2011 - SBE adopts criteria that districts can use for endorsements to high school diplomas that indicate PWR (but allows districts to choose whether to use these endorsements)
• By December 2011 - School districts review and align high school curricula to PWR state standards; districts can move away from Carnegie units or traditional course numbering; all students must be included in the PWR programs (special education students can have goals in IEPs to help them meet the PWR
• By December 2012 - All high schools administer the PWR assessments to all students in grades 9-12

OTHER PROVISIONS

• The Senate amended the bill to replace the high school CSAP tests with the ACT system called EPAS. The House Education Committee replaced EPAS with a pilot program in which school districts may volunteer to give EPAS alongside CSAP in 2008-09, after which the State Board and CDE will evaluate the pilot results. Then it is possible that EPAS will replace CSAP in grades 9-10. EPAS includes the EXPLORE assessment in grades 8-9, PLAN assessment in grade 10, and the ACT which all Colorado high school juniors must already take.
• In adopting the P-12 (PESE) assessments, the SBE will recommend a school rating system that recognizes schools' success in supporting students' longitudinal academic growth and growth in achieving AYP under NCLB.
• The bill provides that students who get diplomas with PWR endorsements have priority consideration for admission to some state colleges and universities. It also requires the SBE to consult with the Colorado Commission on Higher Education and the governing boards of state colleges/universities on high school diploma endorsements, and move forward with them only if the other entities approve.
• The Senate Education Committee amended the bill to include an independent study of the costs of implementing SB 212 as each phase of the bill is adopted.
• The committee's amendments also include regional meetings, beginning in the 2008-09 school year, at which educators will meet to "collaborate in the implementation of the alignment of the various systems in SB 212: school readiness, PESE, and PWR standards; instruction in grades P-20; and the assessments in P-20."