4. No Silos! Our data on postsecondary pathways cannot be limited to college enrollment. Colorado needs to connect data, and needs to collect information on students pursuing pathways or going directly into the workforce. Our understanding of what is working and what isn’t would be significantly bolstered if K-12 education data were linked to data on postsecondary outcomes beyond college enrollment. The Department of Education should ensure that it fosters a culture of learning that allows for these types of projects when they arise. However, it is also incumbent on other state departments to share relevant data so that we can better understand which pathways are being used by students, and which pathways can be improved upon.

5. Improved data collection, both categorically and qualitatively. The stories we see here show one part of the picture. The limited answers we can provide is directly related to the limited data that is publicly reported. Quality data will allow us to ensure that all students, and as many different experiences as possible, are counted. We strongly urge the Colorado Department of Education to continue to interrogate the ways that they can report data that is unsuppressed, and disaggregated. This transparency issue is foundational so that we, as a state, are able to hold districts accountable and see which districts are beating the odds.

Data & Methodology

Data sources:
Data are accessed through the Colorado Department of Education and the Colorado Department of Higher Education. All data are publicly available, except for the underlying data used to calculate A+’s unique District Demographic Index. To ensure we could accurately calculate the District Demographic Index, the Colorado Department of Education provided unsuppressed aggregate district-level rates of student eligibility for free or reduced priced lunch, students who are emerging multilingual, students receiving special education services, and student mobility. 

Calculations:
Across measures, these dashboards prioritize district-level data; state rates are calculated based on the reported district-level data, and exclude data that is suppressed at that level.