Colorado has been awarded a $17.4 million grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to create a new statewide system to track student and educator data from pre-kindergarten to post-secondary education and the workforce.
“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,” Commissioner of Education Dwight D. Jones said in a statement.
“Gov. (Bill) 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. 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 is part of $250 million awarded this year to a total of 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.