READ Act -Independent Evaluation of Colorado READ

Background

The Colorado State Legislature passed the Reading to Ensure Academic Development (READ) Act in 2012 and updated the Act in 2019. The revised Act requires an independent evaluation to identify and assess strategies that the state, local districts, and schools have taken to support Colorado students in achieving proficiency in reading. In 2019 West Ed was chosen as the vendor to support this work and complete the evaluation. 

West Ed's evaluation for the 2020-21 school year included:

• Conducting independent evaluations of Local Education Provider (LEP) schools regarding the use of per-pupil funds
• Conducting independent evaluations of Early Literacy Grant (ELG) schools regarding the use of per-pupil funds
• Evaluating CDE's READ Act Advisory List of Instructional Programming, Professional Development and Assessment

Materials Written Report

This report focuses on the findings related to approved assessments, advisory lists for Instructional Programming and Professional Development, and the Colorado Department of Education’s processes for selecting materials for these lists.

CO READ Act Evaluation Materials Written Summary Report

Evaluation Summary Reports

The reports below are based on annual evaluation summaries provided by West Ed. The reports include statewide inventories and virtual site visits conducted along with analysis of achievement and financial data held by CDE.

Year 1 Evaluation Summary Report

Year 2 Evaluation Summary Report

Individual Reports

The individual reports and documents referenced in the Per-Pupil Written Summary Report and Materials Written Summary Report reports are available for public viewing. 

View Individual Reports

On August 18, 2021, CDE hosted a webinar to provide a high-level overview of the READ Act Implementation Evaluation conducted by WestEd and to share links to individual reports with the field.

For questions please email ReadAct@cde.state.co.us.