Indicator 8 - Parent Involvement

SY 2025-26 Parent Survey

The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) and Administrative Units (AUs) conduct a survey every school year to learn how parents are involved in their child’s special education program. Please refer to the short webinar and the survey guide below.

Parent Survey – Required Annual Monitoring

Administrative Units are required to conduct a survey every school year to learn how parents are involved in their child’s special education program. This mandatory annual monitoring data collection is open on September 1, 2025, and must be completed no later than June 30, 2026.

Indicator 8: Parent Involvement Parent Surveys Webinar

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2025-26 Parent Survey Training (PowerPoint)
Survey Guide for AU 2025-26 (Word)
If the AU prefers to print the survey, please print one of these mail-merge ready Word documents:

English version of the 2025-2026 Parent Survey (Word)

Spanish version of the 2025-2026 Parent Survey (Word)

Print on a Ledger size (17” x 11”) paper Landscape
Add student name and unique URL code
Scan and upload the completed survey to the Data Management System, tag the document "SPP" then "Indicator 8."
Email Josh Fails (Fails_J@cde.state.co.us) that the completed surveys were uploaded

Definition:

Percent of parents with a child receiving special education services who report that schools facilitated parent involvement as a means of improving services and results for children with disabilities.

(20 U.S.C. 1416(a)(3)(A))

Measurement

Percent = [(# of respondent parents who report schools facilitated parent involvement as a means of improving services and results for children with disabilities) divided by the (total # of respondent parents of children with disabilities)] times 100.

At the beginning of every school year, the Colorado Department of Education randomly selects students with disabilities whose parents will participate in the parent survey. CDE sends these surveys to Administrative Units of the students’ attendance, which in turn distribute the surveys to the selected parents. The survey collection closes at the end of the school year.

How is Colorado doing on this indicator?

Line graph showing the state parent survey response rate from school year 2020–21 through 2024–25. The response rate increases from 22.5% in SY 2020–21 to 26.6% in SY 2021–22, then rises to 37.6% in SY 2022–23 and peaks at 44.4% in SY 2023–24 before slightly declining to 41.5% in SY 2024–25. graph 2: Line graph showing the percentage of parents who report their schools facilitate parent involvement from school year 2020–21 through 2024–25. The percentage starts at 82.2% in SY 2020–21, decreases to 78.6% in SY 2021–22, remains steady at 78.7% in SY 2022–23 and SY 2023–24, then increases slightly to 81.2% in SY 2024–25.

Targets for the Current SPP/APR Cycle

**Indicator 8 targets - 6-year SPP/APR cycle**
Federal Fiscal Year (FFY)	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Data from School Year	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25	2025-26
Target >=	82.19%	82.19%	82.19%	82.19%	82.19%	82.20%

Improvement Strategies for Parent Survey (Indicator 8)

Colorado Department of Education’s (CDE) Special Education Specialists and Directors will follow up individually with the Administrative Units (AUs) that need to increase their parent survey return rates. (2021-22)

The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) will utilize its Special Education Director Mentors to ensure that all new Directors of Special Education understand the importance of increasing the parent survey response and utilizing the data to improve outcomes for students. (2022-23)

The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) will engage our State Special Education Advisory Committee (CSEAC) members to work with local Special Education Advisory Committees (SEACs) to communicate the importance of completing the parent survey. CSEAC will help us to create a “Communication Blitz” through our Parent Training and Information Center (PTI), state conferences, and by working with other Parent Centers in Colorado to distribute flyers on the importance of completing the Parent Surveys. (2022-23)

Additional Resources

The feedback period has closed, this video is included for information on the target setting process

For more information, contact:

Orla Bolger
Supervisor, Data and Monitoring Liaison
Email Orla Bolger
Phone: (720) 921-0524

Josh Fails
Online Project Coordinator (DMS) & Data Consultant
Email Josh Fails
Phone: (720) 618-0538

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