About Stand’s Early Literacy Work:
Stand for Children Colorado has a longstanding and deep commitment to improving early literacy outcomes for Colorado students and supporting educators.
In 2012, Stand supported the passage of the READ Act, Colorado’s early literacy policy to provide targeted supports for K-3 students reading significantly below grade level. In 2018, we championed HB18-1393,which strengthened the READ Act by increasing funding for Early Literacy Grants and for evidence-based approaches to be used. SB19-199ensures that evidence-based literacy programming supports teacher training. In 2021, we advocated for the addition of a literacy-specific component to exams for teacher licensure to ensure that training programs prioritize using evidence-based reading approaches. Finally, in 2022, we championed SB22-004, which expands the science of reading training to principals and administrators. These policies were developed after hearing feedback from teachers about changes that would support them, and we are proud to advocate for them alongside educators from across the state. We continue to ensure that educators are part of the conversation about strengthening literacy policies in our state.
We have also developed two reports studying early literacy in Colorado: Improving Early Literacy in Colorado: Realizing the Promise of the READ Act (2016) and The State of Literacy In Colorado (2017).
