Definitions

22-7-1203. Definitions. As used in this part 12, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) Body of evidence means a collection of information about a student's academic performance which, when considered in its entirety, documents the level of a student's academic performance. A body of evidence, at a minimum, must include scores on formative or interim assessments and work that a student independently produces in a classroom, including, but not limited to, the school readiness assessments adopted pursuant to section 22-7-1004 (2)(a). A body of evidence may include scores on summative assessments if a local education provider decides that summative assessments are appropriate and useful in measuring students' literacy skills. For the purposes of identifying students with significant reading deficiencies, body of evidence may include the additional elements identified in section 22-7-1205 (1)(b)(II). (1.5) Characteristics of dyslexia means commonly accepted features of dyslexia, including difficulty with phonological processing, lack of oral reading fluency, difficulty with spelling, and difficulty with rapid naming. (2) Department means the department of education created and existing pursuant to section 24-1-115, C.R.S. (3) District charter school means a charter school authorized by a school district pursuant to part 1 of article 30.5 of this title. (3.5) Dyslexia means a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin and characterized by difficulties with accurate or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and word-decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences of dyslexia may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge. (3.7) Encoding means the process of translating spoken sounds into written letters that reflects an understanding of sound-symbol relationships and conventional spelling patterns. (4) Evidence based means the instruction or item described is based on reliable, trustworthy, and valid evidence and has demonstrated a record of success in adequately increasing students' reading competency in the areas of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, reading fluency, including oral skills, and reading comprehension. (5) Institute charter school means a charter school authorized by the state charter school institute pursuant to part 5 of article 30.5 of this title. (6) Local education provider means a school district, a board of cooperative services, a district charter school, or an institute charter school. (7) Master settlement agreement means the master settlement agreement, the smokeless tobacco master settlement agreement, and the consent decree approved and entered by the court in the case denominated State of Colorado, ex rel. Gale A. Norton, Attorney General v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.; American Tobacco Co., Inc.; Brown &Williamson Tobacco Corp.; Liggett & Myers, Inc.; Lorillard Tobacco Co., Inc.; Philip Morris, Inc.; United States Tobacco Co.; B.A.T. Industries, P.L.C.; The Council For Tobacco Research--U.S.A., Inc.; and Tobacco Institute, Inc., Case No. 97 CV 3432, in the district court for the city and county of Denver. (7.5) Multi-tiered systems of supports means a systemic preventive approach that addresses the academic and social-emotional needs of all students at the universal, targeted, and intensive levels. Through the multi-tiered systems of supports, a teacher provides high-quality, scientifically based or evidence-based instruction and intervention that is matched to student needs; uses a method of monitoring progress frequently to inform decisions about instruction and goals; and applies the student's response data to important educational decisions. (7.6) Oral reading fluency means the ability to read text orally with accuracy, expression, and at an appropriate rate in order to facilitate reading comprehension. (7.7) Oral skills means aptitude with expressive and receptive oral language, including vocabulary, syntax, language comprehension, oral reading fluency, and comprehension. (8) (a) Parent means a student's biological or adoptive parent, stepparent, foster parent, or legal guardian. (b) As provided in section 2-4-102, C.R.S., the singular use of parent includes the plural, and local education providers shall, to the extent practicable, involve both of a student's parents, as defined in this subsection (8), in implementing the provisions of this part 12. (9) Per-pupil intervention money means the money calculated and distributed to local education providers pursuant to section 22-7-1210.5. (9.5) Phonemic awareness means the ability to segment a word into the word's component sounds, or phonemes. (9.7) Phonics means explicit and systematic instruction in sound-symbol recognition that teaches the relationships between the letters and letter patterns of written language and the individual sounds of spoken language. Phonics instruction includes the development of alphabetic knowledge, word-decoding skills, and encoding skills, supporting accurate and automatic word recognition and oral reading fluency. (9.9) Phonological processing means the ability to recognize and manipulate a word's component sounds through phonological awareness, phonological memory, and phonological retrieval or rapid naming. (10) Reading competency means a student meets the grade level expectations in reading adopted by the state board. (10.5) Reading competency skill means a student meets the student's grade level expectations in reading skills as adopted by the state board pursuant to section 22-7-1209 (1)(a). (10.6) Reading comprehension means the ability to understand and interpret written language. (11) Reading to ensure academic development plan or READ plan means an intervention plan created pursuant to section 22-7-1206 to remediate a student's significant reading deficiency. (12) Repealed. (13) School district means a school district, other than a local college district, organized and existing pursuant to law. (14) Scientifically based means that the instruction or item described is based on research that applies rigorous, systematic, and objective procedures to obtain valid knowledge that is relevant to reading development, reading instruction, and reading difficulties. (15) Significant reading deficiency means that a student does not meet the minimum skill levels for reading competency in the areas of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, reading fluency, including oral skills, and reading comprehension established by the state board pursuant to section 22-7-1209 for the student's grade level. (16) State board means the state board of education created pursuant to section 1 of article IX of the state constitution. (17) Teacher means the educator who is the main instructor for a class of students or an educator who provides specific literacy instruction to selected students. (18) Vocabulary development means the process of learning new words and their meanings. (19) Word decoding means the ability to accurately and efficiently translate written letters and letter patterns into their corresponding sounds in spoken language, using knowledge of sound-symbol relationships. Source: L. 2012: Entire part added, (HB 12-1238), ch. 180, p. 648, � 2, effective July 1. L. 2019: (7.5) added, (9) amended, and (12) repealed, (SB 19-199), ch. 154, p. 1823, � 2, effective May 10. L. 2025: (1) amended and (1.5), (3.5), (3.7), (7.6), (7.7), (9.5), (9.7), (9.9), (10.5), (10.6), (18), and (19) added, (SB 25-200), ch. 234, p. 1109, � 2, effective August 6. Cross references: For the legislative declaration in SB 25-200, see section 1 of chapter 234, Session Laws of Colorado 2025.