Colorado uses a local-first, state-supported model in which districts and local providers initiate cross-sector work and state policy scales successful innovations¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · qualitative r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Colorado's cross-sector work emerges from districts and local providers, with the state scaling innovations through grants, convenings, and research partnerships. → Harrington 2026

Evidence¶

Harrington 2026¶

Harrington, H., Willis, J., Bishop, J. P., & Cazares-Minero, M. (2026). Highly mobile youth: How state policy and local implementation can work together to support youth. WestEd; Center for the Transformation of Schools, UCLA. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED681372

q2 · i? · qualitative · r2

Case study of Colorado based on interviews with 13 state and local leaders and a policy scan. The report describes cross-sector work emerging "from the ground up" via the Educational Stability Grant Program's 3-year grants to districts and education providers.

"In Colorado, cross-sector work has often emerged from the ground up. The Educational Stability Grant Program (created in 2018 through HB 18-1306) is one of the only state initiatives in the country that provides 3-year grants to districts and other education providers to build community partnerships"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Respondents viewed local foundations, businesses, and community groups as promoting cross-sector collaboration, while competition, political divisions, and teachers' unions may hinder it — related
• Cross-sector leadership programs were widely viewed as the most successful collaboration grant activities, while limited grant time period and scope and lack of goal clarity hindered implementation — related
• Compact collaboration activities did not yield systemic change within the grant period but were perceived to have produced small-scale improvements in instructional quality and human capital practices and increased availability of school effectiveness information — related
• Stronger working relationships emerged among highest-level central office administrators, but rifts and skepticism about systemic change remained among other staff — related
• Direct service providers and statewide nonprofits play indispensable connector roles between youth needs and policy in both states — related
• Washington advances cross-sector coordination through a policy-driven, centralized model anchored in legislation such as Project Education Impact and standardized definitions — reports the opposite
• States used four approaches to generate political support for summer learning investment — related
• State administrators report using external entities such as regional centers and nonprofits to extend school improvement capacity and reach local needs — related
• The coordinated school health approach saw scattered US adoption, hindered by pressures on administrators and lack of integration into School Improvement Plans — related
• State policy activity toward competency-based and personalized learning is broad but shallow: seventeen states reached advanced adoption while most efforts remain limited to pilots — related
• In both Colorado and Washington, youth in foster care and youth experiencing homelessness are consistently prioritized in policy and practice, while migrant and justice-involved youth remain less reliably supported — related