Colorado Department of Education: Supporting the New P–3 Office to Build Strong Learning Systems
By Katherine Rowell, Lindsey Allard Agnamba, Mimi Howard, Nicole Sharpe
Overview
The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) places a high priority on giving its youngest learners the start they need to be successful lifelong learners. To do so, CDE acknowledged the importance of connections across early learning and the early grades (preschool through third grade) and made a clear commitment to building these connections as a way to lay the foundation for later learning. With the creation of a P–3 Office, CDE was able to mobilize efforts to build coordinated preschool-through-third-grade programs in schools and districts across the state. The new office needed a way to connect educators with each other and provide them with resources to build P–3 learning systems that could successfully meet the needs and unique contexts of the children and communities they serve—and CDE turned to School Readiness Consulting (SRC) to help. By centering the experiences of P–3 educators across the state, Colorado created a storytelling approach to support leadership development, as well as developing resources for continued learning and implementation across the P–3 space.
Our Process
Collecting and Telling Stories
Our team saw storytelling as a powerful way to connect educators working in diverse settings across the state to share their experiences and efforts with each other. To begin the process, SRC interviewed a cadre of early adopter educators (the “cadre”). Through a series of in-depth listening sessions with each cadre member, SRC developed a series of program profiles that capture each district’s unique approach, experiences, and lessons learned, from planning to implementation. Stories were compiled in a report prepared by SRC and released by CDE. The report, Leading the Way for P–3 Education in Colorado, helped CDE to execute a rich storytelling campaign that effectively communicated the journey of Colorado’s P–3 initiatives.
To ensure these P–3 stories were widely available and to encourage other leaders across the state to share their own work, SRC also built a web-based storytelling platform, an interactive map, and a storytelling guide on the CDE website. Stories from the cadre’s school leadership teams were posted on the map, and school leaders across the state were invited to share stories and exchange ideas.
Supporting Leadership Development
To support ongoing P–3 implementation, SRC developed a P–3 Toolkit that details a three-phase process for planning and implementation. This toolkit includes:
A self-assessment to measure progress from getting started to business as usual
A Learning Tour guide that details strategies and action steps for developing a P–3 implementation landscape analysis or environmental scan
An Action Planning Guide that provides resources from the field and a step-by-step guide for designing a district- or school-wide P–3 action plan
These resources provide leaders with a comprehensive set of resources and guides designed to support efforts at any level to create, expand, or enhance P–3 systems.
The Outcome
Through this effort, CDE was able to support knowledge building and resource sharing among school and district leaders dedicated to Colorado’s youngest learners and their families. The related resources developed as a result of this work continued to build capacity across the state and contributed to Colorado being at the forefront of the important national P–3 movement to strengthen opportunities for early learning into the early grades.
Related Work
SRC Contributors
Lindsey Allard Agnamba
Founder and CEO
Mimi Howard
Advisor for Strategy and Systems
Nicole Sharpe
Senior Director
