Accountability
District Accountability and Accreditation Committee (DAAC)
Parent and community volunteers have long been and will continue to be vital contributors to the success of the Cheyenne Mountain School District. While most volunteer groups and opportunities are based at the school level, one of the largest District-wide committees is the District Accountability and Accreditation Committee (DAAC).
The DAAC is a 27-member committee comprised of principals and parent volunteers from each District 12 school, non-parent taxpayers, parents-at-large, a teacher-at-large, the superintendent, and other District administrators. The two most critical tasks of the DAAC are (1) to review the goals, objectives, and plans of each District 12 school in order to formulate recommendations to the Board of Education regarding each school's accreditation status, and (2) to formulate, conduct, and report the annual District 12 Parent Survey.
DAAC Survey Report to Parents
The annual DAAC Survey, distributed electronically to each student's household, received over 2,300 responses to questions on topics ranging from curriculum to food service, and from school safety to homework.
The data from this survey is used by school accountability and accreditation committees, principals, and faculty members to help identify goals and actions for the subsequent school year. Ultimately, the data from this survey and the associated action plans become an integral part of the DAAC accreditation process.
A summary of the DAAC Parent Survey can be downloaded by clicking the following link:
Monthly Meetings Open to the Public
The District 12 DAAC meets on the second Monday of each month (September through May) at 4:00 p.m. in the community room of the District Office, 1775 LaClede Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80905. All DAAC meetings are open to the public, and visitors are welcome.
DAAC By-Laws
The District Accountability and Accreditation Committee By-Laws can be accessed by clicking the following link:
Annual Report to the Public
District Performance Reports
Each year, the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) releases a series of reports for all school districts (district performance reports). These reports, published for the first time in 2011, are now at the center of the state's accreditation protocol.
The district performance report identifies a school district's accreditation status based on the number of points earned in each of four categories: academic achievement, academic growth, academic growth gaps, and postsecondary and workforce readiness. Performance across these four indicators results in a district rating of accredited with distinction, accredited, accredited with improvement, accredited with priority improvement plan, or accredited with turnaround plan.
While these reports clearly signal a new era of state accountability and accreditation based on a completely new quantitative rating, one thing locally remains the same...the Cheyenne Mountain School District continues to be accredited with distinction.