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 providers ongoing performance.
Supplemental Educational Services (SES) are additional academic instruction designed to increase the academic achievement of students in Title I schools with a status of Priority Improvement or Turnaround outside the regular school day. These services, which are in addition to instruction provided during the school day, may include academic assistance such as tutoring, remediation and other supplemental academic enrichment services. SES must be high quality, researchbased and specifically designed to accelerate student academic achievement.
This manual has been prepared for all District Assessment Coordinators, Transitional Colorado Assessment Program (TCAP) test proctors, Colorado Alternate assessment (CoAlt) test examiners, Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners (ACCESS for ELLS®) test administrators, teachers, school specialists, principals as well as other interested groups. It includes information about the following topics: CDE contacts, important dates, responsible assessment practices, administration guidelines, test administration for students with a variety of special circumstances, student data variables, and an overview of assessment reporting practices.
