CDE Leadership Learning Cohorts

What is a Learning Cohort?

A learning cohort is a group of school, BOCES, and/or district leaders who come together monthly for six to eight sessions to engage in a collaborative environment with other education changemakers. Sessions are facilitated by CDE team members and include experts from across education.

How does a learning cohort work?

Learning Cohorts focus on adaptive challenges that have technical implications and are a safe space for dynamic collaborative thinking around complex issues. Session formats are a mix of virtual and in-person and include expert sessions on best practices, resource sharing, and problem solving protocols as well as optional site visits to highlight implementation of cohort strategies. Cohort participants can expect to do most of the talking during the sessions with ample time to contextualize, plan for, and apply learning.

Why Join a Cohort?

By the end of a Learning Cohort experience, participants will have reflected on their context and begun to implement systems level changes to increase the conditions for student success and impact student learning outcomes.

Educational leaders receive licensure credit for participating in learning cohorts.

Who Should Join?

School, BOCES, and district leaders across the state of Colorado who want to engage in a collaborative problem-solving process in service of continuous improvement. Teams and individuals are welcome to apply, however the team approach is highly recommended. We welcome districts and schools of all sizes, from rural to large environments, as cohorts with diverse participants can offer a valuable learning experience.

An individual school or district leader
A school cohort team typically includes: Principal and/or Assistant Principal, and additional staff who support the work of the cohort topic.
A district cohort team typically includes: Superintendent and/or Assistant Superintendent, Executive Director and/or Director, Coordinators, and/or Liaisons.
A BOCES cohort team typically includes: Executive Director and/or Director, Coordinators, and/or additional staff who support the work of the cohort topic.

How to Apply

We are accepting applications for Learning Cohorts until August 30, 2024. The application process is simple and ensures cohort content responds to the needs of participants. For every cohort session, there is an opportunity to submit a request to attend as a guest (even if you are not a cohort member.) All learning cohorts launch with an in-person session in September.

2024-2025 CDE Learning Cohorts

Learning cohorts are designed for school and district leaders in the state of Colorado. They include both in-person and virtual sessions. All in-person sessions are TBD as locations will be determined based on the locations of participants accepted into the cohort. Visit each cohort page for additional information.

About Our Events

Empty Desks: From Chronic Absenteeism to Engagement

This cohort is focused on chronic absenteeism, root causes of non-attendance, and research-based strategies to increase student engagement. Apply today to elevate your engagement initiatives!

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A Proactive Approach to Connection through Family, School, and Community, Partnerships (FSCP)

This cohort is designed for school principals and focuses on proactive strategies leaders can use to support family, school and community partnerships as a lever for success.

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Navigating New Arrivals: Securing Support Systems for Newcomer Students

This cohort is for district, BOCES, and school leaders who want to network and collaborate with others across the state who have experienced a significant increase in Newcomer students.

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Too Many Hats: Maximizing Impact in Rural Leadership

This cohort is designed for rural principal leaders who are doing it all! The focus is on distributing leadership and maximizing your time through efficient and effective systems.

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Behavior Breakdown: Cracking the Code on School Safety and Discipline

This cohort will create a safe space for leaders to examine post-pandemic student behavior and work to enhance powerful systems and structures to meet students where they are.

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High Demand, Low Resources: Bridging the Divide to Cohesive Special Education Systems

This cohort is designed for school leaders who want to be better informed about Special Education. We will cover do’s and dont’s, current legislation and what it means to you, as well as opportunities to present problems of practice for group brainstorming and problem solving.

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Breaking the Silos: Harnessing the Transformative Power of Community Schools to Connect and Empower

This cohort is designed for leaders interested in learning more about the power of the Community Schools model. Apply now to join a community of new and experienced practitioners who are passionate about this cost-efficient and locally driven solution to school improvement.

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