Colorado’s state preschool program doesn’t serve English learners well, report finds

Colorado also doesn’t know how many of the 22,000 preschoolers in its state-funded slots speak a home language other than English.

Colorado’s new minimum wage means raises for child care workers and tuition increases for parents

“I don’t know how much more parents can pay,” said Diane Price, who heads a nonprofit network of seven centers in Colorado Springs.

An earlier start: Once rare, more Denver charter schools are embracing preschool

One Denver childcare chain is trying to address the shortage of qualified preschool teachers

Mile High Early Learning, which operates seven centers around Denver, launched the training program to help solve one of the field’s most intractable problems.

Colorado highlighted in national report on easing transition from preschool to kindergarten

Such initiatives matter because the move from preschool to kindergarten is a pivotal time for kids and researchers have found that a rocky transition can cut into learning and hamper consistent attendance.

Closure of Clayton Early Learning center in far northeast Denver exposes pain points in early childhood care

Colorado gets good marks on preschool access for 3-year-olds, not so much on funding

Colorado ranked 11th for 3-year-old access among 33 states offering preschool to 3-year-olds.

Amid Colorado’s push to get child care providers to seek higher ratings, some say, ‘No thanks’

Up until a couple years ago, Colorado’s child care rating system was voluntary and only a fraction of the state’s providers chose to participate.

How Colorado is trying to boost access to quality child care for poor kids

While Colorado policy-makers have made an array of changes to the complicated $86 million subsidy program in recent years there’s a long way to go to ensure poor kids get the same level of care available to upper-income kids.

It seemed like a sure thing. Now a Colorado bill limiting early childhood suspensions and expulsions is on life support.

Legislation has hit a late and possibly fatal roadblock — opposition from the state’s rural school districts.

Colorado could be at the forefront in reforming early childhood suspensions and expulsions. Here’s how.

Aside from losing learning time, being removed from school in the early grades increases a student’s likelihood of being suspended and expelled later, dropping out of school and ending up in prison, advocates note.

Colorado’s year in early childhood: Bright spots and persistent challenges

Efforts to improve child care quality in Colorado gained steam in 2016 amid ongoing concerns about abysmal pay for child care workers and excessive regulation in the field.

Investing early in quality child care for at-risk kids pays off big later, research finds

New research reveals that despite hefty up-front costs, quality child care programs for disadvantaged children starting just after birth and continuing to age five produce major financial dividends over the long term.

Plans for tackling Colorado’s early childhood suspension and expulsion problem coming into focus

Last spring, after plans fizzled for legislation to address the suspension and expulsion of young children, a loose-knit group of early childhood advocates and state officials began meeting monthly.

How one program is training mothers, aunts and grandmothers in the ABCs of child care

In Colorado and nationally, so-called Family, Friend and Neighbor care is legal and ubiquitous. It cuts across racial and socioeconomic lines, with many parents choosing it because they know and trust the caregiver.

Once the public learns how little early childhood teachers make, the vast majority support wage increases

Boaters have returned to the South Platte, but what about everyone else?