School Counselor Corps Grant Program

Project Abstract

Colorado law Title 22, Article 91 creates the Colorado School Counselor Corps Grant Program (SCCGP). The statutory intent of this four-year grant is to assist local education providers to access effective school counseling in order to increase graduation rates, decrease dropout rates, and increase rates of matriculation into institutions of higher education.

In analyzing the program’s annual legislative reports, over its 10 years of implementation, the SCCGP has shown promising results in achieving all of its stated goals. A formal, rigorous outcome evaluation of program effectiveness last occurred in 2016, with strong results shown for schools receiving the grant compared to similar schools that had not received the grant. However, as the pool of grantees grew over time, most target schools received the treatment, so finding comparison schools that had not received the grant became difficult. Therefore, no additional comparative evaluation of program effectiveness has taken place in recent years. While anecdotal evidence exists for a strong return on investment (ROI), no formal analysis of ROI has taken place. The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) has been awarded a grant from the Office of State Planning and Budgeting (OSPB) to develop a plan and prepare to conduct a rigorous evaluation of program effectiveness and measure the program’s ROI.