This grant will help Colorado achieve its ambitious P-20 education reform agenda by providing comprehensive data that will be used to prepare students to succeed in college and a career.
“This Recovery Act grant provides a critical component of Colorado’s education reforms that we have been spearheading over the last few years through a strong collaboration with stakeholders in the Colorado education community,” Gov. Ritter said. “By establishing a statewide data system of this scale, we will be able to track student progress in a way that has never been done before and then use this data to create a world-class education system that prepares our students for success in the global workforce.”
The competitive grant was announced today by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan as part of $250 million awarded this year to 20 states. All states applied and Colorado’s award is the fourth largest among the winning states. The funds will pay for a statewide longitudinal data system to enable Colorado to track student progress from early childhood until their career while also protecting privacy.
The data system was developed by the Governor’s Office of Information Technology, the Governor’s Office of Policy and Initiatives and the Colorado Departments of Education, Higher Education, Human Services and Labor End employment. This enhanced data system was recommended in 2008 by Gov. Ritter’s P-20 Education Council. Last year, the Colorado General Assembly passed legislation authorizing inter-departmental data sharing to pave the way for the implementation of this project.
The new system, called Project SchoolView, will capture student data from multiple sources, allow for data sharing across multiple agencies to inform policy, and will make data available to parents, students, educators, policymakers and researchers.
Commissioner of Education Dwight D. Jones said, “Thanks to longstanding support from the Governor’s Office, the Colorado State Legislature and the State Board of Education, Colorado has been in the forefront using longitudinal data analysis of school and student performance for many years. The grant announcement today by the U.S. Department of Education confirms that we indeed are heading in the right direction and provides a welcome jolt of resources to help us achieve our goals. Gov. Ritter’s Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids requires a robust, reliable data system at its foundation, and this grant immediately puts us on a much swifter construction timeline.”
The Recovery Act, signed into law in February by President Obama, is expected to bring Colorado at least $7.1 billion through more than 140 different programs, including tax cuts for most working families, increased safety net services and investment in infrastructure projects and growth industries.
For more information about the Recovery Act in Colorado, visit www.colorado.gov/recovery.
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