The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) listening tour was initiated by the Colorado Department of Education to provide a formal way to share initial information about ESSA and receive feedback from stakeholders across the state that will inform the development of Colorado's state ESSA plan.

In 2008, Colorado enacted Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids (CAP4K), which legislated the next generation of standards and assessments to ensure that Colorado students exit high school prepared for postsecondary and workforce success. CAP4K outlined higher academic standards and the development of 21st century skills for pre-school through after high school study in Colorado. Additionally, CAP4K put a focus on critical points of transition with statewide...

A core premise of state school report cards is that publicizing information about how well schools and districts meet specified goals will incentivize school improvement. However, for report card rating systems to be potentially beneficial as a school improvement policy instrument, they must provide fair and valid indicators of school performance.

Each state in the nation is charged with creating their own plan for meeting the goals of ESSA. The purpose of the ESSA Hub Committee was to provide oversight of the ESSA state plan development by individuals who represent a diverse set of key education stakeholders and make recommendations to the State Board of Education for decisions to be included in Colorado's ESSA state plan.