Colorado

Leading up to the 2022–23 school year, Colorado schools sought to fill 8,294 teaching positions representing 14.97% of all teaching positions in the state. Of those positions, 2,208 remained unfilled or were filled through a shortage mechanism (e.g., long-term substitutes, retired educators, alternative/emergency authorizations). The ability of schools and districts to retain teachers reduces the demand and expense related to recruitment and limits the negative impact teacher turnover has on student achievement and school improvement efforts. This is particularly true in the lowest performing schools and in high-poverty, high-minority school communities. 

R12CC is collaborating with the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) to assist Colorado education stakeholders to address the statewide educator shortage using custom-designed geographic information system (GIS) maps and related resources (e.g., State Comparison Brief, Colorado Bright Spots Report). GIS maps incorporate a variety of demographic, socioeconomic, and talent management data that allow stakeholders to explore relationships and patterns, and identify possible bright spots where specific workforce pipeline approaches or strategies may have been effective. 

With R12CC’s support, stakeholders will be able to use the GIS maps and related evidence on effective strategies for strengthening the educator workforce pipeline to take action to strengthen one or more aspects of the educator workforce pipeline (e.g., attracting, preparing, and retaining teachers); deepen their understanding of the Colorado educator workforce pipeline, including strategies and current approaches to strengthen and diversify the pipeline; and learn from/network with peers. 

R12CC is also assisting CDE to update the Colorado Dropout Prevention Framework to support continuous improvement in student reengagement and recovery efforts. The current dropout rate in Colorado is 2.2%, an increase of 0.4 percentage points from 2021 and the first time the dropout rate increased since 2015.   

The updated Dropout Prevention Framework’s innovation, utility, and adaptiveness to changing contexts will continuously improve and support CDE’s dropout prevention and student reengagement services in the present and future. To facilitate and support the framework’s dissemination, R12CC is working with CDE on their outreach to stakeholders about the use of the framework, developing strategy-specific implementation stories, building internal capacity for cross-office use, and planning for the framework’s long-term sustainability.