Cover photo: Dolly Parton reads to children at The Library of Congress. Photo courtesy of Jake Tate; CPR News Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is inspiring a love of reading for children in Colorado, across the U.S. and around the globe. The nonprofit provides books at no cost to families with young children (0-5 years old) […]
Education
2022 Legislative Session: Informing Key Legislation
Colorado Lab studies informed an array of legislation in this year’s session, including bills that were passed to strengthen care and learning for preschoolers and increase pathways to high school graduation. Our efforts included working with partners to conduct research studies, providing expert testimony, and evaluating the effectiveness of models. HB22-1295 – Department of Early […]
Supporting Centennial BOCES to Implement Project READY
Centennial BOCES (CBOCES), home to the state’s largest Migrant Education Program, provides educational services and opportunities to school districts across northern Colorado to support both small and large school districts in partnering on innovation. With funding support from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Funds (RISE) and implementation support from the Colorado Lab, CBOCES is addressing […]
Partnership to Strengthen Career Pathways In Southwest Colorado
In Colorado, an estimated three out of four jobs require education or training beyond high school (Colorado Department of Education). Yet students in rural communities face an array of obstacles and disincentives to obtaining additional training, including: The result? Only 19% of students who attended high school in a rural community in the United States […]
RISE Funders Convening
The Colorado Lab was honored to host Governor Polis and philanthropists at a convening on January 6th to discuss progress on Colorado’s RISE project. RISE—the Response, Innovation, and Student Equity fund—has awarded over $40 million to address the learning challenges in pre-K-12 through higher education related to the economic, social, and health impacts of COVID-19. […]
Charter Schools Coalesce to Mitigate the Effects of COVID
A survey of school superintendents across Colorado at the end of 2020 showed a high level of concern about the loss of student reading and math skills due to the pandemic, as well as negative impacts on the mental health of both students and teachers. National data confirm these worries; a McKinsey study shows the […]
School Counselor Corps Grant Program Evaluation
Nationally, COVID-19 has highlighted the instability of relying on a small number of school counselors to guide hundreds of students through changing academic hurdles, prepare them for an uncertain future, and triage increasing mental health challenges. Colorado has one of the lower students-per-counselor ratios nationally—with 295 students per counselor in the 2019-20 school year—in part […]
RISE: Innovating Improved Student & Family Outcomes in the Wake of COVID-19
Bennett 29J, Strasburg 31J, and Weld RE-3J School Districtst As the 2020 school year wound down, the Children’s Hospital of Colorado declared a state of emergency for youth mental health. Atop already high needs, the impacts of COVID-19 were devastating, resulting in a 90% increase in demand for behavioral health treatment and the emergence of […]
2021 Legislative Review
Several significant bills passed this legislative session, strengthening opportunities to improve the lives of Colorado residents across the lifespan, from prenatal care to early childhood development to adult services. The Colorado Lab worked together with state and local government agencies, legislators, the Governor’s Office, research colleagues, and subject matter experts to inform this suite of […]
DPS and Colorado Judicial Branch Partner with LINC
We are pleased to welcome Denver Public Schools and the Colorado Judicial Branch (adult and juvenile state courts) as new partners to the Linked Information Network of Colorado (LINC). LINC was created through the Lab’s partnership with the Colorado Governor’s Office of Information Technology to help state and local government agencies harness data to inform […]