New Workforce Development Evidence-Building Hub

The Colorado Lab has launched a Workforce Development Evidence-Building Hub. The new Hub is a partnership with the Colorado Equitable Economic Mobility Initiative, the Colorado Wage Outcomes Result Coalition (Colorado WORC), Opportunity Now, and WorkRise at the Urban Institute. The aim is to learn more about support and training impacts on learner outcomes related to […]

Fostering Opportunities Final Report & Expansion 

The Fostering Opportunities Final Report on the Colorado Lab-led randomized controlled trial of Fostering Opportunities shows the groundbreaking program helped students in foster care to be successful in school and earn timely high school credentials. The program was piloted in Jefferson County (Jeffco) Public Schools.  Initial findings released last fall led to Fostering Opportunities becoming […]

New Measures of Success Guide: Southwest Colorado Education Collaborative

Efforts are well underway in Southwest Colorado to strengthen career and college pathways for rural students. This work is critically important with a mere 19% of students who attended high school in a rural community in the United States holding a college degree (see earlier blog post). The nonprofit Southwest Colorado Education Collaborative (SWCEC), initially […]

New Project: Food Security and College Completion

More than one-third of college students report food insecurity, and evidence increasingly suggests this may be a barrier to degree and certificate completion. The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) offers a way to deliver nutritional assistance to students, yet fewer than half of eligible students participate. The Colorado Lab and LINC are supporting a nearly […]

External Research Partner Spotlight: Roger Low

Roger Low launched the nonprofit Colorado Equitable Economic Mobility Initiative in 2021 to create a more equitable economic ecosystem. As Founder and CEO, Low brings more than a decade of experience working on workforce development, economic mobility, and poverty alleviation. His public sector services include advising U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and launching the first three […]

Fostering Opportunities Now a Proven Practice

Share on twitter Twitter Share on linkedin LinkedIn Governor Polis signs the Foster Youth Success Act. Left to right: Elysia Clemens, Deputy Director/COO, Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab; Minna Castillo Cohen, Director, Office of Children, Youth and Families, Colorado Department of Human Services; Representative Dafna Michaelson Jenet, Chair, House Public Health Care and Human Services […]

Denver-area Charter Schools: Infusing Social-Emotional Learning in Summer Programs

With the support of a RISE grant, six Denver-area charter schools delivered summer programs that included academic, social-emotional, and experiential components (see earlier story). The Colorado Lab created a learning community to support these schools in sharing best practices and identifying and testing solutions to emerging challenges. In August, school leaders came together for the […]

Montrose County School District: Supporting Student Wellness and Engagement

Montrose County School District directed RISE funds toward strengthening their Student Wellness and Engagement (SWE) program, building a tiered system of support to ensure students have their social-emotional needs met. The RISE funding supported the district in its work to develop a referral process and support systems to increase access to mental health resources in […]

Centennial BOCES: Helping Migrant Families Thrive

The Centennial Board of Cooperative Educational Services (Centennial BOCES) administers the largest Migrant Education Program (MEP) in Colorado, serving over 2,500 students in North Central and Northeast school districts and communities. Centennial BOCES secured RISE funding to address the unique needs of families in rural communities exacerbated by the pandemic (see earlier story). The Colorado […]

Evaluation of Colorado Lab Support Provided to RISE Grantees

Laib Evaluation gathered feedback from RISE-funded and Colorado Lab-supported sites to better understand their experiences and to share learnings with funders, partners, and potential partner organizations. Evaluation results were overwhelmingly positive and are being used by the Colorado Lab to identify opportunities for improvement. Results show that the Colorado Lab facilitated collaboration across project teams […]