The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association's (SHEEO) "Communities of Practice" project builds upon SHEEO's ongoing efforts to measure the capacity and effective use of state postsecondary data systems and provides states with opportunities to develop solutions to common issues with those systems. The sixth Community of…

The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) is the nation's first federal nutrition education program for low-income populations. Without question, accelerating equity in programming has long been a priority of EFNEP. Historically underserved populations with limited financial resources are often people of color and at increased risk…

Charter school Alternative Education Campuses (AECs) leverage the nimbleness of the charter school model to create unique learning opportunities nationwide for students who experience challenges that make it difficult to excel academically. Some of the challenges include homelessness, pregnancy, parenting while in school, or interaction with the…

This report follows the high school graduating class of 2020 into their first year of college--high school seniors when the pandemic began. The initial impact of the pandemic on college-going pathways and outcomes is a focal point. While the data is concerning, there are successes: (1) Dual enrollment participation continues to increase; (2) More…

This Policy Brief defines dual enrollment and common barriers to entry for historically underserved student populations. It identifies three opportunities for policies to expand access and make it more equitable: (1) Protect low-income students' access to dual enrollment; (2) Re-examine student eligibility policies; and (3) Encourage greater…

In this brief annual report, Colorado Children's Campaign shares a few examples of their work in 2016. The Campaign's early childhood work in 2016 focused on making child care and early education more accessible and of higher quality. Among other changes, teen parents and domestic abuse survivors have better access to child care subsidies so they…

Every adolescent faces challenges as they navigate their teenage years, but for some these challenges imperil their ability to complete their education. While these four students' experiences are dramatically different, they have one thing in common: high school didn't work for them, meaning that each faced long odds of ever attaining a diploma,…

Business leaders in Colorado cannot find the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) talent they need to stay competitive. Students' lagging performance in K-12 is a critical reason why. The good news is that the nation's most effective STEM education programs can help turn the tide. The good news is that Colorado students have…

Early college schools are succeeding at our nation's most daunting educational challenge--propelling students from underserved backgrounds to graduate high school and earn postsecondary degrees. These schools combine high school and college in rigorous, yet supportive environments that embrace acceleration over remediation. Their "college for…

Denver Public Schools (DPS), the Denver Scholarship Foundation, The Piton Foundation, and the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education undertook a study to learn how DPS graduates perform in college. The report describes who enrolls in college, and who persists and earns a college certificate or degree. In addition, the…

"Moving the Needle on Poverty" is designed to provide Colorado leaders with an up-to-date picture of the diverse strategies that states across the nation are pursuing to lift individuals, families, and communities out of poverty. As the report indicates, many states are choosing to set specific and measurable goals for poverty reduction,…

As the United States moves toward becoming a "minority-majority" country, what more can--and should--college presidents and governing boards do to provide low-income students and students of color with a pipeline to high-quality education? Ongoing discourse about shifting demographics locally and nationally must be built into…

John Merrow, president of Learning Matters, Inc., has been reporting on K-12 education since 1974, but only recently has he begun to draw attention to higher education. This award-winning broadcaster is shedding light on the underbelly of higher education--and is arguing that something must be done before it's too late. This article presents the…

This past fall, as part of a major higher education reform initiative, Colorado became the first state to implement a voucher system for funding higher education. The vouchers are the culmination of a reform effort initiated in the summer of 2001, when Governor Bill Owens created a blue ribbon panel to examine several issues, among them…

Recommendations presented to the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas represent both an assessment of the demographic and educational challenges faced by these states, in which minority populations will become the majority in the foreseeable future, and a call for action to deal with these challenges. The report is the…