Summary


SB 139 (Open States or Colorado Legislature) ensures that all high school students in Colorado have access to taking at least one supplemental on-line course each year by designating a single Boards of Cooperative Educational Service (BOCES) to contract and administer online courses with non-profit providers. It also requires annual parent, teacher, and student satisfaction surveys and provides guidelines for collecting and reporting data related to student participation and performance in on-line classes.

Legislative Analysis


Many school districts, particularly small and rural districts, lack the capacity and resources to create their own supplemental on-line courses and provide support for blended and on-line learning. SB 139 tries to address this issue by creating a process to subsidize the provision of these services, and centralize the administration of these services with one BOCES.

In this process, a state designated BOCES will contract, through a request for proposal (RFP) process, with one or more nonprofit providers to provide resources in the form of supplemental on-line course offerings, professional development for educators, and consulting assistance for schools and school districts wanting to use on-line and blended learning for their students. The first RFP process will be created on or before February 15, 2015, and will be repeated every third year thereafter.  It is important to note that the legislation specifically stipulates that the only eligible providers are nonprofit.

Each high school student in Colorado may take at least one supplemental on-line course per year. Course providers must report to the designated BOCES data on student participation and academic performance in their on-line courses, including completion and passage rates. The BOCES must report this data to the Colorado Department of Education.

Students, parents, and teachers will be surveyed annually regarding participation in and satisfaction with supplemental on-line courses from BOCES-contracted nonprofit providers. The bill requires the Division of Online Learning to      prepare an annual summary report of data relating to students who participated in a supplemental on-line course offered by a nonprofit provider and submit the report to the provider, the state education department, and the House and Senate education committees.

This legislation could support digital learning by enabling more students to take high quality, effective, and affordable on-line courses. It allows districts and schools to provide students with a more varied curriculum. It also provides support for districts, schools, and teachers in developing their own on-line and blended learning programs and strategies, and for making data-driven decisions regarding students, programs, and strategies.

The success or failure of this legislation will depend on the implementation and execution of the BOCES charged with contracting and providing these courses. This should increase ease of access for districts rather than complexity and bureaucracy, but unfortunately limits the authorized providers to solely non-profit providers. This sets an unfortunate precedent and could greatly impact BOCES ability to contract with the best of all providers.

Legislative History

Detailed Vote History: Legiscan |  Open States

Approved by Governor John Hickenlooper on 4/19/2013