Colorado Department Of Educations Resource Guide For Schools And Districts

The Colorado Department of Education developed this resource guide to support schools and districts that engage external service providers as part of their school improvement process. A number of schools and districts are incorporating external expertise into their turnaround or transformation strategies with support from School Improvement Grants or Tiered Intervention Grant. Regardless of whether services are purchased with grant funds or per pupil revenue, spending public money requires the highest level of transparency and prudent decision-making when it comes to purchasing processes. This guide is designed to inform best practice when it comes to identifying potential providers, issuing a request for proposal based on identified needs, evaluating potential providers and their proposals, contracting with an external provider, and evaluating and monitoring the provider’s ongoing performance.

Practical, effective, evidence-based reading interventions that change students' lives Essentials of Understanding and Assessing Reading Difficulties is a practical, accessible, in-depth guide to reading assessment and intervention. It provides a detailed discussion of the nature and causes of reading difficulties, which will help develop the knowledge and confidence needed to accurately assess why a student is struggling. Readers will learn a framework for organizing testing results from current assessment batteries such as the WJ-IV, KTEA-3, and CTOPP-2. Case studies illustrate each of the concepts covered. A thorough discussion is provided on the assessment of phonics skills, phonological awareness, word recognition, reading fluency, and reading comprehension. Formatted for easy reading as well as quick reference, the text includes bullet points, icons, callout boxes, and other design elements to call attention to important information. Although a substantial amount of research has shown that most reading difficulties can be prevented or corrected, standard reading remediation efforts have proven largely ineffective. School psychologists are routinely called upon to evaluate students with reading difficulties and to make recommendations to address such difficulties. This book provides an overview of the best assessment and intervention techniques, backed by the most current research findings. Bridge the gap between research and practice Accurately assess the reason(s) why a student struggles in reading Improve reading skills using the most highly effective evidence-based techniques Reading may well be the most important thing students are taught during their school careers. It is a skill they will use every day of their lives; one that will dictate, in part, later life success. Struggling students need help now, and Essentials of Understanding and Assessing Reading Difficulties shows how to get these students on track.

This is a resource for supporting Colorado school district employees, administrators, and teachers in developing an understanding of the Rubric for Evaluating Colorado Teachers. As individuals apply the rubric to their own teaching and to that of others, the Resource Guide can be used to support observers and coaches in accurately identifying evidence for the professional practices and for classroom teachers to accurately reflect on their teaching and plan for implementation of specific practices in their instruction. The research and examples provided along with the glossary can be used to support the development of a common language by which Colorado school district employees can analyze, reflect, and plan instruction.

Don’t jump from problem to solution without first investigating root causes. This book helps you more accurately focus on school improvement issues, so you can avoid wasting precious time and resources. It is clearly written, contains lots of real examples, and is presented in a style and format designed for the non-expert. It will help you make decisions which will improve learning for all students.

Small changes can lead to big results! Best-selling author Jim Knight presents the high-leverage strategies that make the biggest difference in student learning. Featuring checklists, numerous observation tools, and online videos of teachers implementing the practices, this revolutionary book focuses on the three areas of high-impact instruction: Content planning, including using guiding questions, learning maps, and formative assessment Instructional practices such as the use of thinking prompts, effective questions, challenging assignments, and experiential learning Community building, in which you shape a classroom culture that promotes well-being, creativity, learning, and high expectations

The Colorado Department of Education is creating extensive communications resources to support districts in successful implementation of improved educator evaluations, revised Colorado Academic Standards and aligned assessments. This guide is provided to help you quickly identify available resources for specific communications needs.

Provides vision for strong school library programs, including identification of the skills and knowledge essential for students to be information literate. Includes recommended baseline staffing, access, and resources for school library services at each grade level.

An advocacy brochure on library standards to be sold in packs of 12 for school librarians to hand out to teacher, principals, administrators. Content comes from AASL Standards publication.

Actions to increase effectiveness of schools in a rapidly changing world Schools, in order to be nimble and stay relevant and impactful, need to abandon the rigid structures designed for less dynamic times. The NEW School Rules expands cutting-edge organizational design and modern management techniques into an operating system for empowering schools with the same agility and responsiveness so vital in the business world. 6 simple rules create a unified vision of responsiveness among educators Real life case studies illustrate responsive techniques implemented in a variety of educational demographics 15 experiments guide school and district leaders toward increased responsiveness in their faculty and staff