Accountability
Colorado School Accountability
Colorado's school accountability program is designed to strengthen and improve each local school through team management appropriate to its community.
- Each accountability program - district and building level - is guided by a representative advisory committee which reviews effectiveness plans, makes recommendations, and reports its progress frequently and clearly to the appropriate audience whether it be the general public, the State Board of Education, the local school board, or the school community.
- Annual reports are disseminated by each school to its public, and by each district to the community on progress toward local and state goals as well as action plans for the next school year.
In Colorado, the focus of accountability is at the school level. The accountability process at this level requires an annual planning cycle. The school committee determines and/or re-examines the vision and mission for the school, reviews a school performance profile (e.g., demographics, student performance, community satisfaction) and priority goal areas, and develops an effectiveness plan for the year's school improvement. At the end of the school year, the cycle continues with the annual evaluation of results and reporting of those results to the public and to the local school board.
For more information, visit http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeedserv/account.htm
District Accountability:
At the Thompson School District in Berthoud and Loveland, the District Accountability Advisory Committee (DAAC) is composed of community members and district staff. This group monitors the district accountability process and school effectiveness plans. Each building also has a school accountability advisory committee (SAAC).
View the DAAC meeting schedule here, DAAC meeting minutes here.
Responsibilities:
- Approve and monitor school action plans annually.
- Conduct a review of the school performance profile.
- Seek input from SAAC's on district budget priorities.
- Make budget recommendations based on SAAC input and review.
- Examine the vision/mission statement of the district annually and recommend changes if appropriate.
- Communicate with and provide training for building accountability committees.
- Carry out other charges as directed by the Board.
- Recruit and educate new membership and elect officers.
- Create by-laws and adhere to them.
- Initiate ongoing exchange of information with staff, SAACs, community and Board.
School Accountability:
At each school, responsibilities revolve only around the school improvement plan (SIP) as outlined in the school's site-based shared decision-making (SBDSM) model and derived from the district's strategic plan. Each building's School Accountability Advisory Committee (SAAC) is composed of staff and parents as determined by state law. SAAC's role is to:
Responsibilities:
- Observe mandated state law pertaining to school accountability.
- Recruit and educate new membership and elect officers.
- Create by-laws and adhere to them.
- Assist in the development of the SIP.
- Align the SIP with the district's strategic plan.
- Monitor the progress toward goals identified in the SIP including mid-year and end of year reports.
- Initiate ongoing exchange of information with staff, District Accountability Advisory Committee (DAAC) and community.
- Evaluate the SIP at the end of the year to determine the success of the plan.
- Adjust and revise the SIP based on the changing needs of the student population as derived from testing/survey data.
- Evaluate building budget to reflect the SIP goals.
