December 18, 2024
Denver's historic North High School, built in 1883.
The CDE acknowledged current and ongoing "root causes" or challenges in the state include:
- Post-pandemic staffing shortages, attendance issues, and uneven learning recovery
- Siloed data systems limiting information sharing across teams and with schools
- The need to improve internal CDE coordination in supporting schools and districts
- Core CDE operations are mostly manual, leading to redundancies and errors
The strategic plan outlines what the department calls five “wildly important goals” for the next several years, aimed at addressing these challenges and grouped into four priorities: improving student engagement, accelerating student outcomes, strengthening the educator workforce, and achieving operational excellence in the CDE.
Colorado's "wildly important goals"
- Reduce K-12 student chronic absenteeism by more than 50% from its pandemic high of 35.5% in 2021-22 to 15% in 2027-28
- Increase the percentage of third graders meeting or exceeding expectations on ELA CMAS from 42% in 2024 to 60% by 2028
- By 2029, 100% of graduates will have earned a non-degree credential, college credit, or work-based learning experience in addition to a diploma
- By 2027-28, 98% of teachers will have a license, are in a teacher preparation program, demonstrated content knowledge in their endorsement, and are supported by a trained mentor, up from 94.2% in 2023-24
- Over the next three years, increase the percentage of employees who indicate that the department is proactively addressing the critical factors that impact the employee experience (baseline TBD)
The CDE will gather stakeholder feedback on the proposed plan and will begin implementation after January 2025.
Access the slide presentation outlining the strategic plan here.
