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History of Project |
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Colorado’s School Readiness Indicators: Making
Progress for Young Children is the culmination of a
two-year, 17-state collaborative project funded by the
David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the E. Marion
Kauffman Foundation, and the Ford Foundation. Made
possible by a grant through the Governor’s Policy Office,
led by the Colorado Department of Health and Environment
and coordinated by the Colorado Children’s Campaign, the
project’s work plan included the creation of a
multiple-disciplinary task force comprised of staff from
the Colorado Departments of Education, Public Health and
Environment, and Human Services, as well as private sector
data collection and analysis specialists. The Colorado
task force met over a two year period of time with the
other 16 state task forces to define, measure and finally
select the 62 indicators in this report.
At the conclusion of the national project, the consortium
of 17 states identified a set of core indicators to serve
as the beginning of a national understanding of school
readiness. While many of the core indicators are common
across all states, each state has their own set of
indicators reflective of the needs and demographics of
their respective populations. To see other state’s
reports, please see the “Resources” presented on this
website.
The Colorado school readiness indicators were chosen with
input from communities around the state that included
child and public health professionals, mental health
experts, early care and education providers, public school
educators and administrators, business representatives,
community services organizations, and family
representatives.
The Colorado School Readiness Indicators Project Task
Force will continue to monitor and engage efforts to
create a set of national indicators and to assess progress
being made on Colorado indicators. Additionally, statewide
coalitions, businesses, communities of faith, opinion
leaders, and local communities should target indicators,
based on the data and gaps in services, to begin to impact
systemic and policy change. With greater understanding of
what influences school readiness, Colorado will be poised
to ensure that all children are ready to enter and succeed
in school. |
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