This report provides six mini-case studies of higher education policy reforms enacted in other states, exploring the important role that state policy leadership played in developing, promoting, and implementing these policies aimed at improving higher education outcomes, and discussing the relevance of each reform effort for California. This…

Colorado's Educational Accountability Program was instituted to help schools raise educational quality, to expand student life opportunities, and to provide assistance in comparing the value of school programs with their cost. This program rests on the premise that when a local district and its citizens set educational priorities, design a plan,…

Relates the history of First Impressions, an early childhood initiative in Colorado. Insights gleaned from the First Impressions story are offered for advocates of early childhood education. (BG)

A profile of achievements and future challenges facing Colorado's public education system is offered in this document. Section 1 describes challenges of the future, focusing on needs assessment and the changes in the state's demography. The second section provides information on educational developments and issues, such as accountability, national…

The Colorado Department of Education undertook the establishment of an educational quality database that would contain the information necessary for measuring the effects of various efforts at educational improvement. Five major planning concerns had to be resolved before the database itself could be established. First, it was determined that…

This report presents data and recommendations for the development of Colorado's system of higher education. It deals primarily with the public institutions. Chapter 1 assesses the needs for higher education in the state with regard to enrollment projections, distribution of the population, availability of extension courses, and the number of…

The Colorado Commission on Higher Education was created in 1965 to help provide a unified and long-range view of higher education in the state and help devise a structure of higher education that would be responsive to a changing educational system, social needs and pressures. This report, which reviews the history and functions of the Commission,…

The First Impressions initiative was created in 1987 by Governor Roy Romer of Colorado to increase public awareness of the critical importance of the first 5 years of life, assist communities in developing effective programs for young children and their families, and influence early childhood policy and practice. In 1991-92, the priorities of…

In 1998 the Colorado State General Assembly passed a bill that revised the schedule for implementation of the Colorado Student Assessment Program of state assessments. During the 1998-99 school year, the state assessment was to include third-grade literacy, fourth-grade reading and writing, and seventh-grade reading and writing. The newsletters in…

The major purpose of the Title V program, Designing Education for the Future, is to assist educators and lay citizens in the eight participating States in devising a program of educational improvement. This report by the project director presents information on educational changes covered by the program and builds a rationale for effecting these…

An article on identification of preschool and school age aurally handicapped children and program development by John J. O'Neill precedes discussions of the role of the audiologist in evaluation of these children by Jack A. Willeford, and educational aspects of planning by John J. O'Neill. Three articles are presented on the role of the teacher in…

This standards review is the second in a series of annual reviews of the Colorado Model Content Standards. Its purpose is to identify student performance over time on measures of existing science standards, identify ways to affirm and strengthen standards and more clearly articulate the practices used by Colorado schools to promote student…

The Colorado Adult Literacy Commission assessed the status of illiteracy in Colorado and the degree to which current programs met students' needs. Participants at regional meetings identified these issues: (1) low basic skills hamper economic development; (2) low literacy levels represent a threat to health and safety; (3) illiteracy and crime are…

A LONG-RANGE STATEWIDE MASTER PLAN FOR THE COORDINATED DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNITY COLLEGES AND OCCUPATIONAL EDUCATION WAS DEVELOPED BY A CONSULTANT FIRM FROM DATA DERIVED FROM AUTHORITATIVE LITERATURE, COLLEGE ADMINISTRATORS, KNOWLEDGEABLE PERSONS THROUGHOUT THE STATE, NATIONAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND OCCUPATIONAL EDUCATION CONSULTANTS, AND STATE…