Colorado is receiving $171M in State Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. The Colorado Broadband Office will provide a brief update on the eligible uses and timeline of these funds and then open each session with some guided questions to hear your feedback on the needs of your community. Register ahead of time at the provided link.
Everyone is welcome to participate (ISP, community members, COGs, Rural Electric, Community Anchor Institutions, Utilities, Non-profits,etc)
School districts and education companies from across the country will be on hand to meet with potential new hires
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan. 20, 2022) – In order to help organizations that are affected by ongoing staff shortages and individuals who are looking to enter the education field, the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS) is hosting a virtual National Career Fair from 1 - 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Feb. 11 and Feb.12, 2022. School districts and education companies from across the country will be at the online event to recruit for a wide variety of jobs, including teachers, school counselors, school and district superintendents, and other education positions, as well as for company jobs such as education consultants. The event includes workshops for job seekers with interview tips, resume feedback, and mock interviews. For school districts and companies, it offers an opportunity to make connections with the ALAS network to support diversity within staff.
The Colorado Department of Higher Education’s Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative (COSI) program has launched the new Fund My Future Grant, which will award up to $1.5 million in grants to LEPs for student aid completion programs. This grant focuses on increasing student aid application completion (FAFSA/CASFA) among high school seniors in Colorado. COSI is seeking proposals from local education providers interested in receiving funds to help implement programming and student services with the goal of having all high school seniors complete an application for student aid before graduation.
Some highlights of this opportunity include:
More information on the timeline as well as application materials and support can be found on the COSI website. An informational webinar will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 27. Use this Zoom link to access the meeting.
The Student Re-engagement Grant Cohort 3 is accepting new grant applications. The Request for Applications is due Wednesday, Feb. 16. Colorado’s Student Re-engagement Grant provides educational services and supports to local education providers to maintain student engagement and facilitate student re-engagement at the secondary level. The grant, authorized by state statute C.R.S. 22-14-109, is managed by the Office of Student Engagement and Dropout Prevention.
Funding for this three-year grant is awarded through a competitive grant process and is based on state appropriations. In each fiscal year, $1.9 million is distributed to grantees. The grant program focuses on LEAs serving sixth to 12th-grade students.
Visit the Student Reengagement Grant Cohort 3 RFA webpage for more information.
The Educator Preparation office will review the current reading teacher and reading specialist endorsement standards in early 2022 and seeks to establish a working group for possible revisions. The initial meeting for the stakeholder group will be held at 3:15 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 27. A full-day working meeting will follow on Friday, Feb. 4. Interested stakeholders must be able to commit to both of these dates and times. Meetings will be held virtually.
We’re seeking participation from a variety of stakeholders, including:
Interested participants must complete the interest form by Thursday, Jan. 20. Notifications will be sent out to all interested participants next week with details about the review process.
A strong educator pipeline that can prepare, recruit and retain high-quality and diverse educators is essential for improving student success. However, many Colorado districts are experiencing teacher shortages and high turnover. To address this challenge, CDE and the Region 12 Comprehensive Center are launching an online community of practice initiative in 2022 for K-20 peer teams to engage in collaborative analysis, discussion, planning, and action to improve educator preparation, recruitment, hiring, diversity, and retention.
We’re seeking participation from leaders, key staff, and stakeholders from a variety of organizations, including:
Applications for the Early Literacy Assessment Tool project for the 2022-23 school year are due Friday, Jan. 31.
A recording of the Nov. 17 application training webinar can be accessed on the ELAT webpage.
The ELAT Project is designed to assist teachers in meeting READ Act assessment requirements. The online tool will allow teachers to obtain real-time assessments of the reading skill levels of their K-3 students. Based on assessment results, the online tool will generate intervention plans and materials to support students.
Participating local education providers will select a vendor and will be supplied with the software to use the assessments and supporting professional development opportunities. Participants will choose between:
All participating LEPs will receive software to use the assessment. Districts will be responsible for providing their own hardware.
DENVER -- Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Commissioner of Education Katy Anthes urge all school-based educators and support staff to complete the statewide survey of teaching and learning conditions, which will be available Wednesday, Jan. 19, and will remain open for a month.
Results from the Teaching and Learning Conditions Colorado Survey provide school, district and state policymakers with reliable data on teaching and learning conditions in public schools throughout the state. The results from the anonymous survey can give leaders information on areas that deserve attention in the school environment.
The U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that it is requesting public comment on a wide range of policy and program considerations associated with new broadband grant programs authorized and funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL): the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, the Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program, and the State Digital Equity Planning Grant Program.
The BIL provides $65 billion to expand broadband in communities across the U.S. Of those funds, $48.2 billion is allocated to NTIA to deploy broadband to unserved and underserved locations, create more low-cost broadband service options, deploy middle mile infrastructure, and address the digital equity and inclusion needs in our communities. To fulfill the goals of the statute, NTIA is interested in input on the program design, policy issues, and implementation considerations for these new programs. Commenters are encouraged to address any or all the questions enumerated in the Request for Comment that is available here: ntia.gov/other-publication/2022/.... Written comments may be submitted to regulations.gov by 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on February 4, 2022. All comments submitted will be posted publicly on regulations.gov.
Join us for our annual discussion of key education topics likely to surface during the upcoming legislative session. This year’s conversation will be held virtually on Zoom Webinar from noon - 1:30 MT on Tuesday, Jan. 11. Join here.
Last year, our conversation with lawmakers ranged from standardized testing and learning loss to funding for K-12 and higher education and school discipline.
CASB believes that quality public education is the foundation for our nation’s economic prosperity, community’s quality of life, and every child’s opportunity to live their best life. The following are current events and opportunities for our members:
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
On December 21, President Biden announced additional actions to protect Americans and help communities battle the COVID-19 omicron variant.
“We know a lot more today than we did back in March 2020,” the President emphasized. “For example, last year, we thought the only way to keep children safe was to close our schools. Today…we have more resources to keep those schools open. You can get 5- to 11-year-olds vaccinated -- a tool we didn’t have until last month. Today, we don’t have to shut down schools because of a case of COVID-19. Now, if a student tests positive, other students can take the test and stay in the classroom if they’re not infected, rather than closing the whole school or having to quarantine. We can keep our schools open -- and that’s exactly what we should be doing.”
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Today, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Education (Department), that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is giving states the option of waiving the portion of the commercial driver's license (CDL) skills test that requires applicants to identify the "under the hood" engine components. All other components of the written and road test will remain.
This announcement aims to alleviate some of the labor shortage challenges schools are facing and is one of many resources the Department continues to provide to safely keep schools open for full-time, in-person learning.
