The federal "Every Student Succeeds Act" (ESSA) has stimulated states to revisit school improvement. Previously, the Center analyzed ESSA and the related consolidated state plans using the lens of how the federal legislation and state plans address barriers to learning and teaching and re-engage disconnected students. Such analyses…

This paper presents an analysis of how education reform in Denver Public Schools (DPS) fails to reach its targeted goal of closing achievement gaps between white students and Students of Colour based on its investment in Whiteness. Using a theoretical framework grounded in critical whiteness studies, we trace a history in DPS that includes legal…

Earning a postsecondary credential is increasingly important for individuals, the economy, and the future of Colorado. The Georgetown Center for Education and the Workforce predicts that in the modern economy, two-thirds of entry-level jobs will require training beyond high school. In response to these realities, the Colorado Department of Higher…

This supplemental report explores the developmental needs of Colorado's recent high school graduates, examines the postsecondary success of students who need developmental education and explores equity gaps as they relate to developmental education. It builds upon the report titled "The Postsecondary Progress and Success of High School…

The 2021 "KIDS COUNT in Colorado!" report examines how children fared during the first year of the COVID-19 crisis. The data included in the report illustrate the pandemic's far-reaching effects on Colorado kids, from increased housing instability and hunger to difficulty accessing health care, child care, preschool and K-12 education.…

Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth-and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and for…

Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

This fact sheet provides demographic information for the young Dual Language Learner (DLL) population in Colorado, based on Migration Policy Institute (MPI) analysis of U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) data pooled over the 2011-15 period. DLLs, defined as children ages 8 and under with at least one parent who speaks a language…

American public higher education is in trouble. Besieged by declining state and Federal support for more than 30 years, public colleges and universities are facing a "game-changing" set of challenges that threaten to alter the very nature of the institutions. As two recessions withered state budgets in the first decade of the 21st…

This brief reviews results of an Annie E. Casey Foundation sponsored project that challenged local data intermediaries in eight cities (all partners in the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership, NNIP) to use their data to promote strengthening of their local school readiness systems. The project showed it was possible to develop rich…

Over the past two decades, community organizing has emerged as an effective force for school improvement. In the context of shrinking education funding, stubborn opportunity and achievement gaps between low-income and wealthy children and between children of color and White children, and polarizing debate on school reform, community organizing…

Colorado has seen a growing gap in the achievement of poor and low-income students compared to their more affluent peers. A widening achievement gap has short- and long-term implications for children, as well as the state. Research suggests that high-quality early childhood programs are an effective way to reduce or even eliminate achievement…

Children in communities across Colorado--whether large or small, rural or urban, on the Eastern Plains or the Western Slope--face opportunities and obstacles to reaching their full potential. While some challenges are similar, many are very different depending on the community environment and the resources available to support children and…