Supporting Student Success: Academic Guidance for Parents, Families, Caretakers, and Communities

Working Together: Colorado Department of Education’s (CDE’s) guides for Supporting Student Success aim to support a strong partnership between caregivers, students and educators. These guides offer ideas, questions and tips to help families support student learning at home. While these guides offer a helpful starting point, your child’s teacher is the best source of information about what your child is learning and how to support them. Staying connected with your child’s teacher can help you better understand classroom goals and how to build on that learning at home.

Grade-Level Focus: Available in four grade bands (PreK-2nd, 3rd-5th, 6th-8th, and 9th-12th) the guides are grounded in the Colorado Academic Standards and highlight essential skills like problem solving, communication, and civic engagement.

Sharing These Guides: Educators are encouraged to share these guides with families in ways that work best for their communities, whether by linking to them on school websites, emailing them home, or printing copies to hand out during conferences, open houses or other school and family events.

Using the Guides at Home: By using these guides in everyday conversations and routines, families can spark meaningful discussions with their children and their teachers, helping students grow, thrive and succeed in school and beyond.

Where can I learn more?

As always, the best place to learn about what your child is learning is from your child's teacher and school. The Colorado Academic Standards describe goals, but how those goals are met is a local decision.
The Colorado Academic Standards were written for an audience of professional educators, but parents and community members looking to dig deeper may want to read them for themselves. Visit the Standards and Instructional Support homepage for several options for reviewing the Colorado Academic Standards.
If you have further questions, please contact the content specialists in the Office of Standards and Instructional Support.

Elementary (Grades PreK - 2)

Preschool and early elementary students are curiosity-driven learners who greatly benefit from support both in and out of school.

Read the Supporting Student Success guide for preschool through second grade. PDF versions in English and Spanish are coming soon.

Elementary (Grades 3 - 5)

Upper elementary students are using their emerging reading and reasoning skills to make sense of more information everywhere they go.

Read the Supporting Student Success guide for third grade through fifth grade. PDF versions in English and Spanish are coming soon.

Middle School (Grades 6 - 8)

Middle school students dig deeper into content areas while forming their identities and who they want to be.

Read the Supporting Student Success guide for sixth through eighth grade. PDF versions in English and Spanish are coming soon.

High School (Grades 9 - 12)

High school students begin to specialize and make plans for transitioning to postsecondary and becoming adults in the world.

Read the Supporting Student Success guide for ninth through twelfth grade. PDF versions in English and Spanish are coming soon.