The Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab was created in 2017 under the leadership of the Governor’s Office to unlock data-informed solutions to our most pressing social problems. Working together with a broad range of government and community partners, we conduct research with rigor to obtain the best available evidence to address these challenges.
We operate under the belief that government can be most effective and efficient when all sectors—public, private, nonprofit, community, and academic—work together to develop solutions to society’s most pressing problems.
So we meet our partners where they are, work together to innovate, achieve targeted goals, and ensure that resources are used wisely.
We use the Colorado Steps to Building Evidence model to conduct research and evaluation with rigor. We want to understand the core causes of problems and build evidence to inform, activate, and sustain efforts that improve the lives of Colorado residents.
When we do this, we leverage data to inform policy and practice and set the wheels in motion to achieve and sustain change.
Six Denver-area charter schools delivered summer programs that included academic, social-emotional, and experiential components. The Colorado Lab created a learning community to support these schools in sharing best practices and identifying and testing solutions to emerging challenges.
RISE funding supported the Montrose County School District in its work to develop a referral process and support systems to increase access to mental health resources in six elementary schools. Colorado Lab staff met with the team in Montrose to synthesize work into a Student Wellness and Engagement Program Guide.
The Colorado Lab supported Centennial BOCES in addressing the unique needs of families in rural communities exacerbated by the pandemic by helping them identify key program elements and intended outcomes, develop tools for data collection, examine data to make meaning of progress, celebrate successes, troubleshoot barriers to implementation, and integrate lessons learned into next steps.
