(1) On or before November 1, 2022,
and on or before November 1 of each year thereafter in which state funding is
disbursed on behalf of an eligible graduate, the department shall submit a report to
the department of education, the governor's office of state planning and budgeting,
the joint budget committee, and the education committees of the house of
representatives and of the senate, or their successor committees, which report
must include, at a minimum, the following data and information, as applicable:
(a) The number of eligible graduates receiving state funding in the current
budget year and the high schools from which the eligible graduates graduated;
(b) The amount of state funding awarded to each eligible graduate for the
applicable budget year and the amount of state funding, if any, remitted to an
eligible graduate by the postsecondary program pursuant to section 23-3.3-1304
(2)(a);
(c) Demographic data of eligible graduates receiving state funding;
(d) The amount of money disbursed to a local education provider for
students who graduated early in the prior budget year;
(e) The postsecondary program for which the eligible graduate used the
state funding;
(f) The number of students who have requested state funding for the current
budget year prior to the date of the report, the total amount of state funding
requested, the estimated total expenditures from the fund in the current budget
year, and the amount of state funding that has been forfeited or is projected to be
forfeited for the current budget year;
(g) Requested adjustments to the appropriation for the pilot program and
recommendations for changes to the implementation of the pilot program or
statutory language, if any; and
(h) Outcomes and data described in subsection (3) of this section for eligible
graduates who received state funding.
(2) Notwithstanding section 24-1-136 (11)(a)(I) to the contrary, the reporting
requirements set forth in subsection (1) of this section continue indefinitely.
(3) (a) The department of labor and employment shall communicate the
reporting expectations under the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity
Act, 29 U.S.C. sec. 3101 et seq., to all approved training providers receiving state
funding pursuant to this part 13 to ensure that participation and employment
outcomes for early graduates are included in existing department of labor and
employment reporting.
(b) The department shall communicate reporting expectations to institutions
of higher education receiving state funding pursuant to this part 13 to ensure that
early graduates are included in existing department data collections regarding
outcomes such as completion rates, earnings, and employment outcomes.
(c) To the extent practicable, postsecondary programs receiving state
funding pursuant to this part 13 shall conduct an assessment to determine why an
early graduate who left the postsecondary program prior to completion left the
postsecondary program.
(4) On or before November 1, 2026, the department, in collaboration with the
department of education, shall submit a final evaluation to the governor's office of
state planning and budgeting, the joint budget committee, and the education
committees of the house of representatives and of the senate, or their successor
committees, which must be posted to the department's website and include, at a
minimum, the following:
(a) Analysis of all the data collected pursuant to the annual reporting
requirements of this section to assess the impacts and outcomes of the pilot
program on the student cohorts participating in the pilot program;
(b) Objective measures of changes in student behavior resulting from
implementation of the pilot program, including whether a student enrolled in a
participating school is:
(I) More likely to graduate early; and
(II) More likely to enroll in a postsecondary program, if the student
graduated early;
(c) Analysis of the cost-effectiveness of the pilot program, including the
impact on the state budget of the pilot program's incentives for school districts and
students when students graduate from high school a single semester or a year
early;
(d) Other information relevant to the costs, benefits, successes, and
challenges of the pilot program; and
(e) Recommendations concerning the feasibility and advisability of
continuing the pilot program beyond the pilot stage and changes, if any, that are
needed to continue the program beyond the pilot stage.
(5) (a) The department, in collaboration with the department of education,
may request, and participating local education providers shall provide, data
necessary to complete the final evaluation required in subsection (4) of this section.
(b) Student data collected pursuant to subsection (4) of this section and this
subsection (5) must be disaggregated by gender, grade level, local education
provider type, ethnicity, disability, English language learner status, free and
reduced-price lunch status, and housing status to the maximum extent possible in
compliance with the Colorado Privacy Act, established pursuant to part 13 of
article 1 of title 6; the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Rights Act of
1974, 20 U.S.C. sec. 1232g; and the Student Data Transparency and Security Act
created pursuant to article 16 of title 22. The department and the department of
education shall maintain strict standards for student data privacy; comply with
standards for reporting data for a student with an accommodation pursuant to
section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. sec. 701 et seq., as
amended, and its implementing regulations, or a student with an individualized
education plan; and shall not publicly report individual student data for any
purpose.