Yazmin Navarro, Vice-chair | Colorado Department of Education
The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) has opened registration for its professional learning cohorts for the 2025-26 school year. These cohorts aim to bring together district leaders, school leaders, and educators from across the state to discuss and share best practices in improving student outcomes in areas such as chronic absenteeism, rural leadership, and special education support.
Colorado Education Commissioner Susana Córdova expressed enthusiasm about the initiative: “We’re pleased to launch these new learning cohorts, recognizing that some of the best ideas in education come from educators learning and working together.” She cited author David Weinberger's perspective: “The smartest person in the room is the room.” The goal of these cohorts is to leverage collective insights to support meaningful progress for students across Colorado.
During the 2024-25 school year, over 350 leaders from 78 school districts, BOCES (Boards of Cooperative Educational Services), and charter schools participated in sessions on topics like chronic absenteeism and community schools. For the upcoming year, CDE has tailored its cohorts for school, district, and BOCES leaders with a focus on bilingual leadership, elementary English language arts leadership, nontraditional teachers, among others.
Kenny Davis, principal at Washington Elementary School within Lamar School District RE-2 who took part last year said it was “a very worthwhile and excellent experience” noting it as “the best training experience I have had in a long time.”
The new cohorts will begin their sessions in September. Applications are available on CDE's website with limited seats anticipated for each cohort. The deadline for applications is August 30.
CDE maintains a vision of creating equitable educational environments where all students and staff thrive. Its role involves enhancing student outcomes while ensuring access to high-quality schools throughout Colorado by serving its 178 school districts and BOCES.
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